I am a 50 year old female who until about 3 years ago was extremely active. Work and laziness got in the way of 2 hours daily racquetball. I had left ankle surgery for an accident in 1981 but other than that, until the recent problems have been pretty much injury free. Until March 2009, I was steady at 95 pounds, 4'11" and never really varied more than a pound or two from that number for what seems like forever.
Since March, despite a low calorie diet (I've been on weight watchers for over 10 years and eat very well, but just not a lot), I shot up in weight to 108 pounds and started getting severe charlie horses in my left calf (never the right). I also have dull pain that seems to radiate from my right hip down through my right femur that is bad enough that I can't sleep on that side. I did a little internet research and decided to try taking chelated magnesium for the charlie horses. I also found articles on metabolism changes and tightening ligaments with age, which I decided to attack by exercising again. I started running/walking through a local park 3-4 days a week. The charlie horses are a little better, but when they hit, they are really bad but don't happen while I am running - come on afterwards and also for no reason at all when I'm sitting at my desk. The hip/femur pain wasn't causing me any trouble during the run, so I figured running/walking was a good exercise. However, yesterday when I was running, I suddenly started getting sharp stabbing pain only on the outside of my right knee. My knee is NOT swollen at all, I can easily bend my knee and pushing all over it causes no pain. It only stabs when I'm jogging on that leg. Today it was way worse. It's not bad when I walk, but it's over the top when I run. The hip/upper femur pain is constantly present, but worse when I sit.