Severe Ankle and Foot Joint Pain

evjaq

I have been taking Letrozole/Femara for 2 and a half years now. When I first starting taking it my hands were affected. They were painful and achy and I had trigger finger. Then that subsided and I started to have trouble in my feet. I have arthritis so I was attributing the problems to that. The foot Doctor diagnosed it as Bursitis and spurs and possible gout. It has continued to get worse and now my ankles are affected. Now it is rare that I can walk normal. I'm always having some kind of spur or Bursitis attack. At this point my foot Doctor seems stymied. I spoke to my Oncologist about what's going on and he seems on the fence about it. I'm at my wits end. I fear I'll never be able to walk right again. Has this happened to anyone else? Please I really need some feedback Thanks

Moderators

Hi evjaq,

We're so sorry to hear you're suffering from this terrible side effect. You may be interested in checking out the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Bone and Joint Pain, which lists some helpful suggestions for managing this awful side effect, including some complementary techniques that could help!

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

kmpod

I hear you, evjaq.

I've been on Arimidex for over 3 years now. Within a few months of starting it my knee and bone pain almost immobilized me. To be honest, I should have been using a cane. Now the pain seems to be moving more into my feet and i've recently dealt with a bout of plantar fasciitis.

I've found a number of things, used in combination, keep the pain down to a dull roar; and, though my mobility is still limited, it's enough to allow me to remain on the medication.

I supplement with Omega 3's, Magnesium, and a natural joint pain remedy called 7 Joint Complex by Sisu, which contains boswellia among other things.

I take Claritin daily. I find it essential to controlling my bone pain. If I don't take it the pain keeps me awake through the night.

I have acupuncture every 2 weeks.

I do Tai Chi, sometimes using knee support.

I wear Birkenstock sandals, even when in the house.

Sometimes I'll use walking poles when I'm out for a walk.

Each of these items seems to play a role in pain control. I've found that I really can't leave out even one part of the puzzle or my mobility begins to suffer. Unfortunately I'm unable to use NSAID's.

Also, I've just obtained a rebounder and I'm hoping that it will allow me to get more exercise without putting undue stress on my joints. I haven't used it enough yet to know whether or not it will be a help.

I hope that you find even a few of these suggestions helpful. QOL is important if we're to continue these meds for as long as is suggested.

Tomboy

Hi evjaq, nice to meet you, and yes I have this horrible same problem. I had started with arimidex, and made it about nine months, till trigger finger and bone and joint pain made it impossible for me to forget my DX of BC, all.Day. Long, 24/7. Then I tried tamoxifen, but it made me half crazy, mental fog, pain- altho maybe not quite as bad, hard to remember that pain, probably like women forget the pain of childbirth. I mean, you remember there WAS pain, but you couldn't conjure up just exactly how painful. And I did start to get worried about endometriosis and blood clots, etc. So, Femara. I somehow managed to stay on it for about 8 months, but it was excruciating to my feet, especially, and ankles.. really bad, where I can hardly walk. Told onc who is skeptical, and got permission to stop. Valentine's day was my last Femara pill, and by Cinco De Mayo, I could actually tell that my feet were a little tiny bit better. But just a little bit better, then they seem to have reached a pain level that is still unacceptable, but there is nothing I can do about it now. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, it's like-- rattle dem bones-- it's audible, and sounds like my feet bones are crunching. I mean to find a podiatrist, because they are just not getting any better. I am back on tamoxifen now, and don't know if I am going to be able to continue with it, but I had many positive nodes, and also have "spots" on my liver, lungs, bladder, and a few other places, they call them just spots, and call me lllc. Hmmmmn.

Like kmpod, I try and wear excellent supportive shoes like merrells', keens, borns, etc. ( I will have to try birkenstocks again.) That does seem to help. I have just randomly started to take benadryl for its anti inflammatory properties. I take one gabapentin each day, four #10 percocets, which are prescribed for a different pain (side effect of TX), but seem to keep my feet barely tolerable to walk on. And I LOVE to walk. And garden. And basically just like to use my body. So these things do help a little, but I don't want to be on these pills for the rest of my life.

I sleep with a heating pad on my feet almost year around. Even when its very hot.

I did read here about magnesium, have been taking 250 msg a day for about a month now. And a turmeric capsule every day for its anti inflammatory properties too.

I just added glucosamine/condroitin.

And one thing I love to do at the end of the day, is soak my feet in epsom salt bath, hot as I can stand it, for as long as I can stand it. Then, when I take my feet out, I stand on a crumpled rolled heap of a towel, and kind of rock and move my feet around on it. Wadded up seems to work best, because something about my foot bones settling down for a couple of minutes on an uneven surface, I can kind of hear them 'clicking' into place. I am almost drooling just to think of it, : 0 !!! It feels so great, and at least gives me a chance to feel good before getting into bed.

But I swear, if the tamoxifen makes them hurt more, I am quitting all estrogen therapy. I will just take my chances of cancer coming back. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my life, I am just heartily sick of pain.

I have been treating myself to a pedicure, the gals let me soak my feet in the hot bath for as long as I want to. Can only afford that like once every other month, but oh my, what a treat.

Walking on them anyway seems to help.

70charger

I suffer from extreme ankle pain & swelling since Nov. DX with arthritis, fallen arch causing over rotation of the ankle. Have not been able to get swelling down or pain under control. Cream they gave me gave some relief for a week. Must make another apt with podiatrist. This pain is horrible. Arch supports not helping.

evjaq

Thank all you brave ladies fighting the never ending fight for all your advice and recommendations. It has helped me a great deal. We're all in this together. Again thank you! Tomorrow I'm going to the foot doctor again....Let's see what happens

Meow13

yes joints at my right ankle and both feet in pain I believe it is from the exemestane. I had to take Tylenol with codine to fall asleep the other night. Now having to down stool softeners. Ugh wish we didn't have to take this stuff.

Meow13

I forgot to mention Voltaren gel helps temporarily.

One_Bad_Boob

My first chemo was 7/30 (Cytoxan and Taxotere) and by day three I had severe joint pain (lower back down to my ankles). I had to take Oxycodone left over from lumpectomy to sleep. My oncologist just put me on Flexeril (muscle relaxer) and will reduce the Taxotere at chemo #2. So far the Flexeril seems to be helping.

Medical and recreational marijuana is legal in my state. I've never smoked before but I tried it because the pain was getting intolerable. It seems to have helped me relax my body at night but for sure I notice a difference with using Flexeril