How do you all deal with bone aches?

deelightful

Hello everyone, 

My mother has been having severe bone aches.  She says it feels a lot like cramps.  I'd like to know how you all handled this?

Thank you.

mdg

Is it from the neulasta shots during chemo?  For that I took Claritin and Aleve and it worked really well for me.  Lots of girls take that here for bone pain from neulasta.

deelightful

Hello Mdg,

I believe it is from the neulasta shots.  She's been taking aspirin and ibuprofen.  It doesn't seem to help that much.  I'm going to buy her the Claritin and Aleve to see if this will work.

Thank you.

encyclias

Which chemo drug is you mom taking?  The most common side effect of Taxotere is pain, which is very often mistakenly blamed on the Nulausta shots. 

Carol

deelightful

Hello,

She's taking Cytoxan and Taxotere.

slv58

I also believe it is the docetaxol (taxotere) as I had FEC treatment first 3x each one followed by a neulasta shot and had no bone pain. When I started my docetaxol tx exactly three days after infusion I experienced terrible bone pain. I tried Tylenol extra strength and it did nothing. Then MO prescribed morphine which unfortunately also did nothing ( maybe took the edge off a bit, but still left me crying in pain). Good news is, after about 3 days, the pain subsided drastically. My advice would be to make sure MO knows the level of pain she is in. {{{hugs}}}

encyclias

I had four rounds of A/C chemo and two Neulastra shots and never felt a bit of pain from either.  Reading posts over time, I hardly recall anyone taking A/C chemo and Neulastra shots mentioning pain at all.  Of course, everyone is different in their response to different drugs.

Carol

kickin-cancersbutt-2014

I had these awful pains as well,they felt like restless leg syndrome.  I had these aches non-stop around the clock for a solid week taking only Motrin and extra strength Tylenol which really neither did much.  I used heating pads which seemed to take the edge off enough to get some sleep at night.  The only thing that seemed to have done anything is to have leg massage front and back of both legs.  I am now 2 wks post Chemo and only feel a dull pain periodically when I don't have massage.

Diamond_lil

I am up to week 4 taxol ( 4x A/C prior to that). I had a little bone pain post first neulasta shot, but none subsequently. I have leg/ bone pain from the taxol and find the best thing is to exercise. I also work full time and when I work the pain abates.

LIL

Kicks

You might want to be sure what your K (potassium) level is.  Also Zinc and Magnesium levels and ratio of all 3 is very important for any/all of them to function correctly.   Roughly 1/2 way through 12 Taxol, my K levels plummited (Z and Mg stayed fine).  I did have pain and cramping and 4+ yrs post chemo, I still have issues with keeping my K levels up in the normal range even with daily K suppliments.  When my K gets low, I get pain/cramping in ankle at night so I get up and take an extra K.  Within 1/2 hr, the pain is gone.  I then double up on my daily K for a few days.  This may well not be an answer for many and should be checked out with anyones Dr before doing 'it'.  I do it with the full approval of my Drs as long as if issues continue (or worsen), I call and get blood work to check levels/ratios or see if something else is going on.

I'm a firm believer that being active helps 'whatever ails you' - physically AND mentally.  The first time I saw my Chemo Dr, he told me to keep doing everything I had been doing (I'm very active outdoors) as it's important to over all health.  He did tell me not to decide to start training for the Boston Marathon while on chemo (had to laugh - I'm not a 'runnner', going long distances I want preferrably 4 legs under me - 2 wheels are OK) but to maintain what I normally do.  I also have a lot of arthritis in upper back and I definately find the more exercise I do, the better it is.

I never had any pain with Neulasta while on A/C.  I've heard/read that Claritin (not the long acting form) is good for Neulasta pain.  My SE with Neulasta was diferent than any I've heard of (Dr said he'd never heard of it before either).  Almost to the minute, 2 hrs after injection, I'd fall asleep for 2 hrs and wake up fine.  We are each so unique!

bride

My oncology PHARM told me to start on Claritin morning and evening for 3 days (double the OTC dosage) starting the AM of shot. No bone pain at all. In fact, I had very few side effects after changing from receiving only hormonal and the evil Taxol chemo. I'm not a good match with Taxol. First chemo fog, then neuropathy -- likely made worse because the Taxol  caused my K to crash which caused not bone pain but, in addition to the neuropathy, did give me the fog and some nasty joint pain.

Kicks, your experience with K and Taxol is very much like mine. Can you point me to any information that might help? For example, I wasn't aware of the importance of Z and Mag with K. And I just yesterday found out about the cardiac issues of crashed K. If there isn't a forum, Kicks, could you PM me: all I was told was eat bananas, leafy greens veggies and that's not cutting it.

Many thanks,

bride