Tendonitis in wrist from Anastrozole?

Anonymous

Tendonitis in wrist from Anastrozole?

cah21

I haven't been on this forum for a good while as I am trying to move on from bc and try not to think so much about the "what ifs", but I have a question and this is the first place thought to ask! After completing chemo and radiation, I started Tamoxifen. I got really bad pain in my foot. I bought special innersoles and did stretches but nothing helped. I then after a few months got my ovaries removed so my onco changed me to Anastrozole. Within a month, my foot pain was gone ( my onco didn't believe that it was the Tamoxifen, but I do). But now, after being on Anastrozole for 7 months, I have developed tendonitis bad in my wright wrist. I tried treating it at home but it got worse, so I finally went to see my onco today. He again does not believe it is the medicine. After being persistent, he said to go off of the Anastrozole for a month and see what happens. If it goes away, then he will put me on something. Has anyone experienced painful wrists while taking Anastrozole??

Moderators

Hi cah21, we're glad to see you again!

You're sure to get some others weighing in with their experiences with anastrozole, but we wanted to share with you the main Breastcancer.org site's side effect page on Bone and Joint Pain, which does list Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole) as a cause of this effect, so it sounds logical it could be the medication! There's also some good tips on that page to help manage the pain.

We hope this helps and that you find relief soon!

--The Mods

Meow13

yes it probably is from anastrozole maybe doctor will switch you to exemestane but it has its problems too.

exercise_guru

I think they underestimate the after effects of Chemo. Likely your foot pain was from that. My foot would ache and go numb mostly at night for about a year after Chemo. It wasn't better or worse on Tamoxifen. But then I did the same thing and had my ovaries out and went on Arimidex. Within a few months I had Carpal Tunnel in my right hand trigger finger in two fingers and D'quervaines in my left wrist. My hands would also go numb at night. I went off Arimidex and it improved but no amount of therapy every got it to go away. I then went on Femara and it came back and was worse. at this point I could no longer do my job so I chose to go back on Tamoxifen.One year after having my ovaries out I had Hand surgery . This improved the numbness and took care of the pain but I still have terrible hand and wrist problems. They beleive it is neuropathy and after effects from Chemo. Every so often my foot still goes to sleep and my knees have lost a lot of the protective effects estrogen provides.

After all this I have come to conclude that these effects on my body are more from the Arimidex and oophrectomy doing their job . Estrogen had protective effects on the bones muscles and heart. Don't feel bad that your MO didn't acnowledge it. I haven't found many doctors who want to deal with the side effects of chemo and Hormone therapy. They understand it sucks but they know its cancer and do all they can to keep you in treatment.

If you search "Arimidex and Carpal Tunnel" you will see that wrist and hand problems do happen with Hormone therapy. I think it just only happens in a small population. I suspect in the population that also had Chemo and or oophrectomy.

Also many of us had breast surgery or radiation. That can really affect the muscles in your core and your shoulders. My hand therapist told me I was shifting much of the tension to my wrists and gave me exercises to strengthen my core and shoulders to take the pressure off my hands and wrist. The very best one was to go swim and get in the water and do shoulder rotations. It helped immencley. You might want to explore how your shoulders and core are that might take pressure off your wrist and let it heal.

Mommato3

One of the side effects of Anastrozole is tendonitis. I've had it off and on in both my elbows. In December, after 20 months on Anastrozole, I developed it in my left wrist. At first it was just a little sore. But now it's pretty painful at times. I have difficulty grabbing things and if I accidentally get it caught on something, I want to scream in pain. I mentioned it to my new MO in April but she just looked at me and said, yep, that's one of the side effects. Not sure what to do about it except to stop taking the drug. Hopefully someone else can give us ideas.

ChiSandy

AIs can affect the tendons. If the tendons of the fingers (formation of nodules on which the tendon sheath gets “caught up” during flexion & extension), aka “trigger fingers,” are a well-known SE of all AIs, it stands to reason you can have tendinitis (the correct spelling) anywhere: wrist, Achilles, etc. Welcome to the club.

Ruby3813

YES! I'm taking yet another break from Anastrozole because of various side effects. Right now, I'm off it because of a lady parts problem that, at first, I thought was a yeast infection (swab test was negative), and sore wrists. I had taken to using a wrist brace so as not to tweak it too much. I only started taking the drug on May 12th and evidently its depleted so much estrogen that I'm drying up at a rapid pace. My lady parts problem turned out to be atrophic vaginitis...drying up of the who-who. I'm going to make an appt with my MO about trying a different AI soon. Its rediculous that the drug that's supposed to be helping us is causing even more issues that lead to us taking MORE drugs to get rid of those! I'm on the fence about whether to continue taking an AI due to my diagnosis and onco type score (5).

farmerlucy

I struggled with Achilles' tendon issues on Tamoxifen. I started and stopped three times, and always after a few weeks on it they started aching. Definitely had wrist pain on the AIs. I started using a wrist splint at night and that helped me a lot. AIs in general caused my tendons/ ligaments in knees, hips, and elsewhere to be stiff.

cah21

Thank ladies for your input. I will wait and see what 4 weeks brings. I don't know if I want it to stop hurting while off the medicine or not. I don't want to start another medicine. I looked at my visit notes online and it mentions trying Lomutine. Anyone heard of that?

cah21

So, after doing some research on the Lomustine, I found out that it is not something used for breast cancer, but for brain tumors and can only be taken for 6 weeks. So I called my onco and explained the situation. I got a call back today and the medicine he said about putting me on is Exemestane.Which means, the notes in my record was wrong... that's really reassuring! Is anyone on Exemestane? What side effects are you having?

Meow13

I had less joint pain but developed severe dry eye had to quit exemestane.

cah21

Meow13, that's a new one never heard dry eye. Is that the main reason you quite exemestane or were there other symptoms?

Brutersmom

My eye Dr. said that dry eye is not uncommon on Anastrozole or drugs like it. Different people react differently. I stopped hormonal therapy back in April due to extreme side effects. Since then I am on round 3 of tendinitis. First it was my foot and now it is my elbows and wrists. I saw my medical Dr. for a routine check up and sever muscle pain. After ruling out lymes disease (for now), I asked him what next. He said he would prefer to wait a while longer before doing lots of test because he has seen women have lots of issues after going off of hormone therapy and returning to "normal life" My blood work is good. He encouraged me to try and get moving more, exercise regularly, and eat better as a first step. He felt it could take me up to a year to completely heal from everything the drug did to my body. Of course he did tell me to call if things got worse or continued.

Meow13

Yes the main reason was my eye. It really scared me it was severe but healed up after I discontinued.

sarahrae

Great thread!

I have been taking arimidex and goserelin since October 2017. I have recently gone off of Arimidex due to intense muscle pain including ligament(feet, hands, knees, elbows) pain. I have been off the AI for 1 month now and at 2.5 weeks 70% of the pain went away. Now, I am left with very sore feet, left knee, hands, and elbows. My current pain seems to be residing in ligaments, and predominantly on the medial side(weird?). I have thought about quitting the goserelin to rule out non-treatment related issues, but perhaps I will wait a bit longer. Sounds like there is a good chance that this pain is AI related. Asked MO to add inflammation and the auto-immune tests onto my regular blood work last week and they both came back negative.

I will likely try letrozole next. Interesting that it took so much longer for me to see diminished SE's(2.5+ weeks off AI) than others I know. Most claim to feel better within the week.

I am going to start acupuncture(even though needles give me the jeebees) now that I am taking a break from Lymphedema PT. I think that the acupuncture will likely help quite a bit with the ligament issue. Also, starting to exercise more since everything shifted last year.

I will report back if the ligament/tendon pain gets better the longer I stay off of the AI and if acupuncture is a win.

take care!

Mommato3

I saw a different MO last week. He said tendinitis is definitely a side effect from an AI. We discussed trying a different one but other than the tendinitis, I've done well on Anastrozole. He prescribed Mobic which is given to people that have osteoarthritis. Mobic is similar to ibuprofen and Aleve. It last 24 hours and is much better according to the pharmacist. I've been taking it for a week now and the pain has almost disappeared.

vlnrph

Nice that mommato is feeling better. One caution on the NSAID group of pain relievers is that, used long term, they can damage the kidneys. Your doctor should do annual blood tests to monitor. Also, take with food or they can be hard on the stomach (a common warning but easy to forget!)

I had trigger finger from my AI therapy which a steroid injection into the joint was able to resolve. It's amazing how significant estrogen is to our general well-being...

Mommato3

Yes, I'm aware of all side effects of both the medications that I take. The MO prescribed the lowest dose available. Since I don't have osteoarthritis, it won't need to be taken long term. It's possible after a month or so of the pain being under control I can start taking it every other day. The only other option was to stop taking the AI which at this point is not an option.

sarahrae

Agreed! estrogen is truly vital throughout our system, which makes the current treatment protocol for hormone BC completely frustrating.

I am concerned that I haven't been taking my ai for 4 weeks now, but I have continued with the goserelin shot and am taking DIM daily along with all of my other supplements.

I have thought about stopping the shot as well to confirm that these symptoms are SE's only and not permanent issues brought on by the radiation treatment, etc. I have scheduled a meeting with my RO, just to get her guidance around the SE issues.

I am going to give my body another 2 weeks off the AI to see if I feel any let up of the tendon issue. I do not want to rely on a prescription pain reliever if I don't have to. Hoping that the acupuncture and a new Qigong practice will be supportive enough. we'll see!

thanks for the convo, feels good to here from others with similar issues, helps with ideas and solutions too!

hugs

2ND20

Yes painful everythingl....feet, anxles, wrists fingers....ugh

hope70

hi Sarahrae! Does your Dr approve DIM supplement while your are on AI? I recently stopped taking it after I saw DIM on the list of supplements to avoid while you are on AI. What I have noticed is within a month of stopping DIM ( I have been taking it all alone for 4 yrs with Tamoxifen first and exemestane later) I developed severe vaginal dryness side effect. Not sure if this is a coincidence. Thinking to go back on DIM but worried now since I saw it involved a lis “ to avoid

sarahrae

Hi Hope,

I have nit asked my Onc about DIM as I only take it when I am not taking an AI. I count myself among the lucky, as I have yet to experience vaginal dryness, though I know there are several natural and effective lubes out there.

I take a pretty hefty regime of supplements daily, so I save the DIM for when I really need it.

hope that you are doing well and sorry for the delay in response!

premmious

Oh! My God I thought I was the only one experiencing this. I have had to get Cortisone injections 3 times once I. My left wrist and 2x in my right they became so pain and I had never experience this prior to cancer treatment. I have been on Anastrozole since January 2016. I have had joint pain, severe sweating, back pain, insomnia and weight gain. am confused on my your doctors don’t believe you because but my oncologist stated that Anastrozole affects joints and bones. She chanaged me to Letrozole 11/29/17 but I am sure I will experience the same. I just want to stop all but I know I cant

premmious

I thank you so much for your post, if only I had joined this forum sooner to share and read others experiences, then I would not have felt so alone

premmious

Sarheae,

I had to comment to your post because our causes seem so similar. I have been on both Armidex and Goserelin since January 2016. I had a radical mastectomy sept 2016 with chemo and radiation. My life has been turned up side down and I have been in so much pain. It did not help my case that previous to all this I had Osteoarthritis and RA. These medication have made the pain 10 times worst. I have hadn’t both wrists injected with cortisol due to trigger thumb and tendinitis. I hadn’t had every symptom listed. On Wednesday I told my oncologist that I was sick and tired of all the side effects from weight gain, to insomnia, swelling and Lord the sweating!! Pain etc. she changed me to Letrozole but wanted to put me on Tamoxifen but I said no way I have had 3 pulmonary embolisms and a blood clot that is still in my heart. I too am going to stop the Arinidex to see if I feel better. I am just glad that I am not alone on the way I feel about this.
Thanks for sharing

Kawigirl1260

Very interesting to read all of your input. Since starting anastrozole, I've had surgery on each hand for trigger finger that didn't respond to cortisone shots. Now my right pinky finger is starting to catch and I have pain down the outside of that wrist. My MO asks me at each appt (every 3 months) if I'm having wrist pain. This has just recently started.

It seems to coincide with starting Lipitor. Not sure if there's a connection there. I had SE for about 10 months after starting AI back in 2/16. But they subsided. Mostly joint/muscle aches and major forgetfulness. That all came back after starting the statins. Maybe the SE will subside again after my body adjusts.

Kitkat3036

My Onco told me right off the bat that it causes joint pain. I did research and some women had such pain that they were given pain pumps. I've been on this medication for almost 6 months. Both feet are painful and both shoulders are starting to hurt. Although doctors are smart, I've learned they don't always listen to the patient. You have to really advocate for yourself. I hope you found some relief as this post is from awhile ago.

Lula73

KitKat- have you tried curcumin supplements for the pain in your feet and shoulders? It can really help! I take the Solgar brand Curcumin. Now I only have stiffness/pain in the left pointer finger to thumb now that goes away after flexing my hand a few times in the morning. A real game changer.