Anyone with Hip pain and on tamoxifen or zoladex or bursitis???

Options

I have Rt hip pain and I am on tamoxifen,zolodex....my oncologist said first we have to rule out whether the pain is caused by tamoxifen or zolodex, or may be bursitis?  So he asked me to stop tamoxifen for a wk and see the pain is better..if not try same with zolodex, if still hurts, the bone scan has to be done...so I am told to take aleve for questionable bursitis...Anyone with hip pains, bursitis??

Comments

  • marlenet
    marlenet Member Posts: 345
    edited November 2009

    I too developed rt hip pain.  I see my doc a 2 weeks.( 1 yr follow-up) -   It scared me to death.  I did some research and found other people on tamoxifen had hip pain. I found people on this site ( old threads ) and other sites.   I used ben-gay and it has gotten better.  My pain only hurt when I moved. ( walked )  Now i do not feel it too much.  I settled my thoughts down and feel better about it now.  I do know Tamoxifen can cause aches and pains.  I read it may not be the tamoxifen but the lass of estrogen, caused by the tamoxifen.

  • pitanga
    pitanga Member Posts: 596
    edited November 2009

    Shejoh,

    You might want to get a sonogram or MRI to diagnose your hip problem. If you are worried about mets, it seems to me it would be better to stay on your treatment while you are trying to figure out the source. If it ends up being arthritis or bursitis, tamoxifen/zoladex may or may not be the culprit. If it ends up being mets, imagine how you will feel about having stopped treatment.

    I have mets to my cervical spine. They cause me no pain. I also have bursitis in my shoulder which recently progressed to frozen shoulder. The bursitis was dx'd by ultrasound; the frozen shoulder by MRI. The shoulder thing developed a month after I started estrogen blockers. But I also have bursitis in my hip, which started before they put me on Zoladex + Arimidex. In both cases my onc immediately wanted to rule out mets and sent me for tests. 

    By the way, just out of curiosity, I thought that for women who are postmenopausal (either naturally or induced) they usually recommend AI's. I am not a doctor but I am wondering why you are on tamoxifen.

    Lisa 

  • Donalee
    Donalee Member Posts: 160
    edited November 2009

    Pitanga,

    If you had no pain in your cervical spine how did they know to scan for mets? I have had pain in my left hip since June. It is most painful when I am in bed or when I am sitting for awhile. I told the Med. Assistant at my last oncology check-up about this and that I am very concerned about it. She told me that she is 99.9% sure that it is not mets, and talked me out of doing any scans. Do you think I should insist or should I just live with it? I know some have pain with mets and some have none.

    Donalee

  • Donalee
    Donalee Member Posts: 160
    edited November 2009

    Also, I have been on Tamoxifen for a year now.

  • LoriL
    LoriL Member Posts: 185
    edited November 2009

    I'm a marathon runner and never had hip pain until 2 weeks after I started Tamoxifen in August. I couldn't run for several weeks, and now am slowly getting back into it. I thought it was probably bursitis or tendonitis, but a MRI of my hip was normal. It's annoying, and constantly hurts when I walk/run/sit. But, it's not intense as it used to be, and I can live with it. I don't know if it is caused by the Tamoxifen, but the timing of it seems to point to that. I'm hoping that it will just continue to get better. In the meantime, I'm trying to ignore it now that I know it's not mets or an inflammatory process!

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited November 2009

    I took tamoxifen for 5 years and blamed all sorts of my aches and pains on it (including hip). My oncologist kept saying tamox didn't cause it, it was more from the lack of estrogen since I lost my ovaries (due to rupture), but I didn't agree with him.  Looking back now, I think he was on the right track. I didn't have any pain on tamox  BEFORE losing the ovaries, and I continued having pain even after going off tamox for 4 months.

    anne

  • shejoh
    shejoh Member Posts: 54
    edited November 2009

    Thank you for ur reply lisa, I am premenopausal, i am 35 now..thats why he put me on tamox.

  • shelleyr25
    shelleyr25 Member Posts: 107
    edited December 2009

    Zoladex and Tamox here as well with a lot of pain in my right hip...yoga does help a bit so that is what I have been doing. I have read about so many women with this issue that I can not even think that it is from anything else but these meds.

  • JacquelineG
    JacquelineG Member Posts: 282
    edited December 2009

    I also have pain in my right hip and have been wondering if it could be bursitis (it's sore off and on where the bursa sits). I had an oophorectomy and am taking Tamoxifen.... and hoping I can attribute the pain to one of these things!

    Jackie

  • mmm5
    mmm5 Member Posts: 1,470
    edited December 2009

    oh boy do I know about this.

    It is definitely a lack of estrogen and have done experiments with this. The things that help, PT, Stretching, extra vit D, accupunture. But I will tell you that it has bothered me so much I am going to an integrative Doc to discuss alternatives to estrogen depletion.

    I have had 3 mri's thinking it was mets and it showed mild arthritis and bursitis but it is definitely tied to lack of estrogen.

  • Shirlrae
    Shirlrae Member Posts: 23
    edited September 2010

    I went off of Arimidex because of severe bone pain. Have been on Tamoxefin now for four months and am having hip and leg pain, not as much as with Arimidex,but it gets pretty bad, especailly in the knees and hip. None of the OTC meds seem to help

  • helena67
    helena67 Member Posts: 357
    edited September 2010

    Hi,

    I have been doing fine for about 18 months but for the last few weeks I have also experienced pain in my right hip. Quite annoying. I also had my ovaries removed and am on an aromatase inhibitor (Femara), so I can definitely buy the 'low estrogen' story line. Does anyone better understand the mechanism why low estrogen gives bone pain? 

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 16,818
    edited September 2010

    One of the jobs of estrogen is to help preserve bone density.  I am presuming that with the estrogen levels dropping because of the AI, bone will start to deteriorate hence the hip and leg pain and another reason why the docs prescribe things like Zometa.

    Peace, strength, love n hugs.

  • Lolita
    Lolita Member Posts: 231
    edited September 2010

    I have been on tamoxifen for 2 1/2 years and just noticed hip pain in both hips mostly when I am lying down.  I recently stopped doing yoga, so I wonder if that is why.  I'm worried about mets, of course, and wonder if I should ask for a scan of some kind at my next onc appointment. 

  • Yself
    Yself Member Posts: 44
    edited February 2012

    I am menopausal. Was put on Aromasin, but had a lot of pain. Switched to Tamoxifen. Lots of pain. Got a blood clot right before I was to get off it. Not too happy about that. Started hip pain before I got off a few months ago. Getting worse. I'm concerned. Foot slipped off the pedal on a stationary bike yesterday two times.

  • marle
    marle Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2012

    I read all of you who experienced all this side effects from Tamoxifen and the other hormone tabs from 2004,i am two yrs on Tamoxifen from 2010

    and also experience the same symphtoms,sometimes you can not move from hip pain,and leg cramps.my last x-ray show Rheumatoid Artritis,did not have this before Tamox.I allso think its a lack of estrogen. 

  • CherylinOhio
    CherylinOhio Member Posts: 623
    edited June 2012

     I too have been experiencing hip pain. Blood work is normal, xray is normal. Just had a bone scan in March and that was clean.  I also run and work out but have been experiencing left knee pain so I had to stop for awhile. I think the tami really hits us hard. But I will deal with it because I would rather have the aches then the C.  Well time to go hit the gym, it is about 92 degrees out! Whew love this heat!!

  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited June 2012

    I developed right hip pain within 2 months of STOPPING all my meds.  UGH...I went to the ugly place right away.

    My rule of thumb is to wait 2-3 weeks and see how the pain develops.  Initially, the pain was in my front thigh/hip area and within 2 weeks, that stopped....it then moved to the outer side.  It was so bad I was limping (and freaking out).

    I happened to have my 6-month follow up with onco yesterday and about 3 days before, the pain started subsiding.

    I mean, I swear it is like when you take your car in and all of a sudden, the problem you go in for is gone when you need it to present.  In any event, there is still a little "tight" feeling and my onco is not concerned.

    You did not mention your age....I just turned 55 and she said aches and pains are part of aging.  I suppose between getting older AND being on drugs that made me feel 90 for 5 years, it was bound to happen.

    No scans and she seemed not concerned. Of course, if your pain persists or gets worse, always worth insisting on a screening of some sort.

    My Onco in WI used to tell me (maybe to ease my mind) that if there is a recurrence/spread, finding it 6 months or 1 year after the fact does not impact survival, so I guess he was telling me time is my friend.

    Hope your pain disappears.  I am sure mine is from walking more intensly; after getting off arimidex, I could finally walk faster than my 17+older husband Laughing

  • hrf
    hrf Member Posts: 3,225
    edited July 2012

    I'm wondering how all you ladies are doing. I'm 3 years on Arimidex and about 2 weeks ago starting experiencing pain in my right butt.....not the hip exactly but in the middle of my butt on the bone there. Hurts when I sit on it and lie on it ....uncomfortable in bed at night. During the day it is intermittent. So far managing with OTC pain meds. I spoke to onc and she said while she is not overly concerned because it is intermittent, she is ordering bone scan, xray, blood work......  My mother's metastatic disease first presented this way and I was reading that it is not uncommon. I would be very happy with arthritis or bursitis but am concerned. What has happened with the rest of you? I'm hoping you are all well

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited July 2012

    I am on tamox and my hips ache more when I'm sleeping on a hard bed; have to turn from side to side more...I'm thin and always had problems like this, but I'm noting everything now post dx. 

    I do regular yoga and this seems to help. I'm only going to worry about it if the pain is persistent, not intermittent.  

Categories