Bone and joint pain

anotherday2015

Did you hae a MUGA test? It measures how well your heart pumps blood. I had it done, plus a baseline retinal exam, before starting Tamoxiofen.

anotherday2015

Chris,

Some people go through tx like a breeze, but do not bounce back well. I was one of them. All of those pills, poison, radiating and slicing and dicing do a lot to you. Sometimes it takes a few years to catch up with you.

The most common site cancer metastizes is the bones. I don't want to alarm you. Talk with your doctor about haing a PET scan. That's what confirmed my haing mets and where. I had complained to all of my docs for more than a year about pain in certain places. Nobody een looked or took it seriously. Guess which bones it spread to? Grrr. And I adocate for myself.

anotherday2015

Nights and mornings are always the bad times for people that are sick.

Some other posts were about the cold. Our bodies do not like the cold after cancer treatment. Take OTC meds, or ask your doc for something stronger. The answer is to go to Florida from Jan to March or somewhere else warm, a Mediterranean climate like the South of France ; ). Arizona is good because it is dry heat.

anotherday2015

Remoing a breast, cutting neres, and all the other things they do to you can effect your balance, especially if you are weak to begin with. I hae falls--sometimes I land flat on my back and conk my heard to boot.

Sorry about the typos--one of my laptop keys does not work.

jramick

hey everyone!

I too, like many of you, started having new joint pain after all treatment. I am 5 years out...I was also a good patient to look at from a research perspective because of issues prior to cancer dx and had previous xrays and scans. My onco doc feels that some patients develop arthritis from chemo...my pet scans have shown this after chemo on a large scale in multiple locations in my body.

april485

I did not have chemo, but am experiencing a lot of joint and bone pain, particularly in my legs and it is likely from the exemestane. I am grateful for the drug but sheesh, the pain is very debilitating and it is getting harder to fall asleep cause I cannot get comfortable due to the pain. BC...the gift that keeps on giving. Ugh!

Maasai32

hi,

, I have pain in knees and lower back and developed osteoarthritis. Oncologist won't believe I have significant pain and sends me to Orthopod. Orthopod sends me back to oncologist. This may sound unusual, but I have found that walking every day alleviates knee pain. Have appt w PT re lower back. Although it is counterintuitive, try to walk and use pedometer app. xo

Addie29

just wondering if anyone starting getting back pain after they started chemo and the neulasta shot? My back pin started about a week after my neulasta shot and hasn't stopped. It isn't a non stop pain just comes and goes. I know that surgery can also cause back pain- especially since having these expanders in. My posture has changed. I know my oncologist said that your back produces a lot of marrow so maybe it's just from amixture of everything.

Jerseygirl927

if the pain continues do not give up complaining, get your Dr s attention, it's not his/hers body, it's ours and they are poisoning us with this stuff, I do not trust the big pharmacy and the fda so if you feel your body is being too damaged ask if they will reduce dosage or give your a break from it. It can be done. Also read the side effects of all the chemo drugs, they are quite extensive and debilitating, sorry for the downer, but we are all Guinean pigs in this. I am doing it for my daughters and granddaughters. But I wish there was a better way. Feel better gals.

Addie29

I go back in on the 19th for treatment I'm going to mention it again. Thank you

NY2TXbaby

I got terrible pains after nuelasta shot but it usually only lasted 3 days or so. Many people recommended taking Claritin a minimum of of 5 days before and after treatment. Many people swore it helped. I took it everyday and perhaps that is why my pains only lasted the 2-3 days each treatment cycle. I also did dose dense. I figured it couldn't hurt and it might help. I truly can say "I feel your pain" wish I could take it away. Sending hug

NY2TXbaby

addie29 - I forgot to mention that I asked my MO not to give me the nuelasta shot during Taxol and she agreed it would be okay provided my white count came up high enough. The Taxol doesn't lower your white cell count which is the reason they give nuelasta after A/C. My pains were in lower back, hips and legs. And I too walked hunched because of the pain. Good luck - try the Claritin.

NY2TXbaby

addie29 - I forgot to mention that I asked my MO not to give me the nuelasta shot during Taxol and she agreed it would be okay provided my white count came up high enough. The Taxol doesn't lower your white cell count which is the reason they give nuelasta after A/C. My pains were in lower back, hips and legs. And I too walked hunched because of the pain. Good luck - try the Claritin.

Jerseygirl927

I took the Claritin longer prior and after, and almost no pain on 5th day. It works. Give it a go...

ganzgirl2010

Good morning everyone..Im new to this thread. I feel kind of funny writing a post here because it seems like everyone here has had chemo and/or rads.

My story ? Going into my bmx this past august, chemo was in my future. After surgery the path report showed my cancer was smaller than the doc's originally thought so I didn't have to have chemo or rads. My onc started me on Tamox in March. That was a nightmare, the hot flashes were unbearable ! So she switched me to arimidex. Hot flashes and not really anything to speak of thank goodness but the bone and joint pain is horrible. My hips, shoulders, back  and legs constantly hurt. Sleeping is next to impossible. My onc prescribed Percocet so I take one 5mg at bedtime and usually one during the day along with motrin. She also ordered an mri or my left shoulder, which hurts way more than the right (but that hurts pretty bad too). The mri showed that I have arthritis now in that shoulder so now she wants me to see a shoulder surgeon. Apparently it showed the humorous bone is extremely worn down. I am 42 years old and never really had any kind of pain other than an occasional backache. Then there was breast cancer. What the hell is happening to my body ? That's a rhetorical question...Im so frustrated because my quality of life is zilch ! I work as a waitress and cant work because of all this chronic pain. Does it ever get better ?? I see that a lot of the ladies here are using Benadryl, clariton and some others. My question is...how well do these meds work ? I am desperate. I so badly want to go back to work but I need some kind of relief..

Jerseygirl927

clariton works for me,, if you are on the daily pill already, then start and hope it kicks in within a few days, I take benedryl to keep me asleep most of the night, unless the sweats are worse, get off soy products as they are hormonal base, which could contribute to the flashes, I used evening primrose oil before cancer and that helped, so consult dr, but that might reduce flashes? Until menopause kicks in, don't think much else can help. Unless you remove ovaries, which is optional! Lots of side effects from most of this crap, read and figure what they are so you can prepare more. Feel better!

Chrissy26

I have not been on this thread for awhile. I see that many of us are still struggling with ongoing bone/joint pain complaints. I finished chemo aug 2014 and rads in nov 2014. I took effexor from mar 2015 to May 2015, not a long time but long enough to give it a try. I did not feel that it was working so have just recently weened off. Having said that, my knees and legs and back have been mega sore the last four days. My guess is that perhaps the effexor did work even if it was a wee bit. Question to the group.......

Before I reassess whether to go back on this particular anti depressant (effexor), is anyone else using an anti depressant to help manage joint pain? And if so which one. And is it effective for you? I know that there are a couple of them that are used but looking for your personal experiences here. All comments are welcome.

I have heard that cymbalta is particularly good for joint paint and osteoarthritic pain in the knees. Feedback anyone?

Thank you for the previous posts about walking. I will try a little harder with this. I have a terrible pain in my left foot which has caused me to barely walk at all. I have orthotics but the pain in my bunion is horrible. I will persevere and thank you for giving me more strength to try this again. Let's hope that we all find something to make us more comfortable in all that we have to do every day. And let's hope that there is a solution in the not so far future

Comfort and peace to all, with everything that you are suffering from. I just never knew what this journey would be like at the time of diagnosis. And when will it ever end.Chris

Jennie93

I was going to ask if anyone has tried Cymbalta for this kind of pain. There is a trial going on right now to see how it works. Wish I lived close enough to participate.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01912...

dunesleeper

I have used Cymbalta, and it helped with pain in general. This was long before the cancer dx.

I currently take Neurontin/Gabapentin, and I think it helps a little. I definitely don't want to go off it.