Hi, and a happy new year to you all. I was diagnosed with RA 6 years ago at the age of 48 and have since read quite a lot about the disease. Most people diagnosed with RA are women between 40 and 60 and I wonder about a correlation between the disease and the menopause. Over the last year my symptoms were worse than ever, I assume because of the stresses of the pandemic, and I had some kind of mild joint pain most weeks during 2020. I attended a zoom lecture on HRT and decided that the health benefits would make it worth trying. Since I've been using Evorel Conti patches, my joint pain has stopped almost completely. Admittedly my symptoms were mild and this could just be coincidence or psychosomatic but I do wonder if there is a connection between hormone levels and RA. There seems to be little or no research into this, despite the patient profile of the disease. I'd be interested to hear others thoughts and experiences.
RA/ Menopause: Hi, and a happy new year to you all. I... - NRAS
RA/ Menopause
Yes, very little research.....but logic combined with thousands of women’s experience says there’s a link!
I’m 46 and diagnosed in August with RA it came on quickly and I had a radical hysterectomy in spring 2018 due to health complications this threw me straight into surgical menopause. I’ve been on estradiol gel hrt but my major flare came last summer. I do often wonder if the op caused the onset of it.
Agree with HH! I definitely think there's a link and it infuriates me that there's so little money put into RA research in general, never mind into the menopause link!
Highly likely as HH says!Here's what NRAS website says ... (not much!):nras.org.uk/resource/possib...
Yes, I had a look at that. There's some talk about how the menopause may affect RA sufferers but nothing about causal links between the two.
My hormones are all over the place (I'm 46) and I'm newly ish diagnosed . Sometimes its hard to tell whats from RA and whats peri-menopause
I definitely feel there’s a strong link. My RA symptoms started at the exact time my periods became irregular. Unfortunately, that led to me delaying getting checked out, as like others, I thought it was peri menopause symptoms, and would pass.
I personally think hormones can be responsible for, or at least contribute to, so many things! The role they play throughout the body as a whole is immense! I too started to get problems in peri menopause. Suppose I can't really say I'm in full meno yet even though 56, as blasted things are still rearing their ugly heads sporadically!
There have been articles on aggressive forms of arthritis that can come on in women of a certain age. I certainly questioned all this myself at the start of my issues, particularly those with the hands.
Of course men too can get RD, and again, they too could be suffering from hormonal depletion, depending on their age. And then there is juvenile RD.
All very interesting. Glad you're finding so many improvements on HRT. I can't take it unfortunately due to Endometriosis.
I mentioned this to anyone who would listen over 30 years ago when I became pregnant and my symptoms disappeared. Same thing happened with pregnancy no. 2 and I was told it was quite common. Since then I’ve hoped that research would be done but....
Conversely I had a full hysterectomy and didn’t notice much change in my RA.
I'm sorry that you can't take HRT, as you say, keeping your hormones topped up can help with all sorts of things. I've spoken to many people who are evangelical about the benefits of HRT.
I can't complain as my RA is nowhere near as bad as many who are on this forum but it does get a bit depressing as you start to get incapacitated and needing assistance.
As many others have been, I was prescribed anti-depressants to treat what I now realise was the menopause and I attributed this medication to sparking off the RA, which began as sjogrens with very dry eyes. I now realise it could have been the menopause, combined with stress which I was suffering quite badly at the time.
I'm not really suggesting that hormone depletion is the sole cause of RA but there definitely seems to be a link. I'm looking forward to my next consultation as I will be raising all these things!
Totally agree. Yep, menopause is bad enough on its own, add in stress and you have a recipe for disaster!
Definitely a link my RA became worse when I had my hysterectomy and the night sweats lasted over a year
Did no one suggest HRT?
Hormones do play a part as I was much better after about week 18 of both my pregnancies. I'd had RA since childhood. Not sure where things are with research now, 25 years later, but I took part in blood tests, cord blood tests etc. during my second pregnancy.
That's really interesting. I hadn't thought about the positive effects of pregnancy. Someone would get an excellent PhD from all this. So the samples they took from you were for research into RA?
Research into RA & pregnancy - yes. My midwife approached me about it but I can't remember who was doing the research and it was in 1995/6.
I believe there is definitely a link between RA and hormones. Obviously not everyone whose hormones change gets it and there are plenty of people with RA that are not affected by hormones however I’m sure that hormones have played a significant role in mine.
I was diagnosed 18 months after my daughter was born, although I had been suffering for at least 12 months before that. My rheumatologist said that if young women get RA it is very often soon after child birth. After diagnosis I had a couple of miscarriages, each time I got pregnant I flared massively. Luckily I had a very supportive rheumatologist who did blood tests, and we made a plan to stay on RA meds and to start low dose aspirin. With this combination and steroid injections to stop flares I managed to carry my son to term. My rheumatologist then arranged for me to have IV steroids when he was 6 weeks old to prevent me flaring again as hormone levels dropped.
My daughter is now 14 and she was diagnosed with JIA as she hit puberty (about 6 months before her periods started) so I am convinced hormones played a role in her developing it too.
Now I’m mid 40s I’m slightly concerned how the menopause will affect things. We’ll have to wait and see!!
Sorry about your daughter, I hope she's coping OK with it. I have to confess I'd never heard of JIA. I assume there's an element of heredity involved as well but again, hormones seem to be involved.
JIA is basically what they call RA if diagnosed under 16. They think there are some genetic tendencies to autoimmune diseases but none on my family that I’m aware of before me.
Agreed, I think my inflammatory arthritis (both ankles) was triggered by menopause just over 2 years ago aged 52. I decided to trial HRT about 5 months after being put on MTX, as it wasn't having any effect at the time. Can't say for sure but the inflammation ('no sign of synovitis or odema' to quote Rheum clinic letter ) disappeared after being on HRT for about 3.5 months. I had to come off though due to unwanted side effects/supply issues and my ankles flared again this time last year and are still flared now, all the time being on MTX. Dose increased and now trying injections but ankles haven't been nearly as good as when I was on the HRT. Still get hot flushes so hormones havent settled yet.
Wish there was more collaboration between Meno and Rheum research, so many shared/overlapping symptoms; is it active disease/menopause/side effects???; a minefield working it out. There are 34 symptoms of menopause apparently, it's not all hot flushes and bad moods.
Useful symptom info on Megs Menopause. My Menopause Doctor for info on HRT.
Also an interesting article I found last year;
Same with me, was diagnosed with RA just after my 45th Birthday, around the same time started having irregular periods.Definitely a link between hormones and RA or similar Autoimmune diseases. Wish there would be more research into this & cure along with treatment.
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