Suggest Treatment For Muscle Weakness During Perimenopause

Posted on Mon, 24 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 Answered on

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : 49 married woman of two adult children. Peri menopausal, very mild night sweats...no hot flashes due to benefits of daily drinking Green Tea. Medicine: 5mgs of Lisinopril for the last 5 years. 2014, started noticing chronic muscle fatigue. Walking/exercising has dramatically decreased (duration 30 mins at best). Housework and other activities that require long standing periods have diminished. Thankfully, my libido is yet active; no signs of loss of interest in that department. I drink plenty of water, have an excellent diet consisting of protein, grains, vegetables, fruit, fish, poultry, etc. Additionally, I take age required vitamin supplements. My muscles get very tired and diminishes my ability to function. What could be causing this? Is there a holistic solution? Please help! I miss the energy of my 20-40s. Thanks for yor attention to my health concern.

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Rule out myopathy Detailed Answer: Dear patient, Thanks for your query. Muscle weakness is certainly not a normal feature of perimenopause, so alternative explanations should be sought. From these, a myopathy (disease of the muscle) or neuropathy (disease of a nerve) should be ruled out; there are basic blood tests that look for inflammation such as CRP and ESR, and others that look at muscle damage such as CK and aldolase. An electromyography is a great test to directly assess function of both nerves and muscles. As you can imagine, the best specialists to orchestrate such workup would be a neurologist or rheumatologist. Hope this helps, wish you the best, Dr Brenes-Salazar MD Mayo Clinic MN

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar