February 2014 Starting Chemo Club

Yes, its so funny. I sit for a while, get up and hobble like an old lady.  Does anyone have tight joints in the hands?  In the mornings especially, my left hand feels swollen, and the joints are painful, like full-on arthritis.

Yes, after I've been laying down or sitting it is much worse.

I am going to start walking on my lunch break today. I work from home so I have no excuse really to not do this! I've got to do something, I've gained weight since ending chemo and I know that moving will help me feel better. Not to mention it will improve my mood I'm sure.

Getting past the chemo and rads is great, but I have a feeling of "what now" that I can't really explain. I want to get back to normal, but in a way I feel like I can't be normal again and I must make this BC ordeal have some sort of meaning. IDK, I'm working all this out in my head and in prayer.

((hugs))

Yes, Rosie...I know what you mean about the sitting in the quiet thing. I'm working and happy to have something else to think about, but in those moments of quiet it creeps in. I think of the hell of chemo and can't believe I actually went thru that and my family too.

I went on my wak today, it was warm outside, but I felt good to get moving. I was slow, but I did it! I'm gonna keep on keeping on.....that's the plan at least

Hi DM-

I honestly don't know if that is what you are feeling....but I am wishing you luck. Sounds like your MO is taking action quickly so that is good. When is your mammo-ultra sound?

Last chemo beginning of Juneish,  radiation complete.   Sleepy every day.  Getting ready to go back to work.  How do you manage the sleepiness?   How is everyone's appetite and labs?

The exhaustion is slowly diminishing but since starting the Arimidex, I am in constant pain: back, knees and hands. They're also a bit swollen, and I can't wear my rings at all. I'm only on it about 3 weeks now, so she said to wait until my October visit and if it's still bad, they may switch me to something else.

Had my first mammo and ultrasound and got a letter saying they saw something that was probably benign, but I should have it checked again in six months. I texted my surgeon in an absolute panic and she called me right back. She said it's very standard to get these results because of all the scar tissue from the surgeries (I had three lumpectomies) and then the radiology, but I'm still a little freaked out until I see the whole report.

my mo called a change in your breast geography!! 

Hi ladies, 

Overall I'm feeling pretty good, still get pretty wiped out by the end of the day and my joints are not the same. Neuropathy is going strong in my feet but I mostly feel it at night. And one nail lifted. My surgery recovery is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. But I'm getting PT and feel better with each session. 

Started my rads today. So because I have IBC and had + mammary nodes, under my sternum, I am getting intensity-modulated radiation with skin blouses. Any body else have this? The IMR is better at preserving healthy cells, but the skin bolus part makes me a little nervous about skin SE. 

Love and hugs Feb ladies!!

Hey everyone! Just checking in and it seems like I'm experiencing the same joint pain as others. I don't like that I am getting pain in my back and neck as well...not as bad as with neulasta, but it still isn't right. Will I ever be right again?  When I think like that I get sad. I have a hard time passing out papers in class because my fingers are not working right and if I'm tired, like I have been lately (or stressed) then a little thing like that makes me want to cry. On the up side, I am going to the gym on the weekends (still too tired to go during the week). I do feel as though my work-day stamina is increasing. I'll see my MO next week so should feel better after that. Gotta focus on the good stuff! Be well everyone!

I notice the joint pain in my hands the most.  I have it all over after sitting, even for a little while. But at night, as the body starts winding down and then through the night (while tossing and turning) and especially in the morning, I can hardly bend my fingers.  I start pumping them and moving as much as I can, but its very bad.  

Gatorgal, totally relate to the emotional ptsd you speak of. Was telling my therapist that I felt waves of emotion that sneak through the cracks of my aura, and feel like Im headed for a breakdown.  It hits me like a hot flash, but in the spirit.

tangandchris I was more afraid of hormone therapy than chemo. 5 years seemed like a long time (although now my MO is threatening 10 years). Thing is you don't know till you try. You can always quit if your SE are not manageable. You can also switch to other options like suppressing your  ovaries with meds and taking one of the AIs. 

All drugs have serious SE, some of them life threatening. This is why you need to know what they are and watch out for symptoms. Most women do fine on Tamox otherwise it would be off the market. This is the oldest  hormone therapy, even old than the AIs. They know the issues with it.

I did not start with Tamox. I started with Anastrozole (generic Arimidex). After 3 years I realized I became so depressed on it I took a month break and my onc switched me to Exemestane (generic Aromasin). I've been on it since June. I'm the old me again. all my back/shoulder/neck pain and sleeps issues are gone too.

tangandchris If you are spotting you must mention this to both your onc and gyno. This is a SE of tamoxifen but it could also be something else. Blood is not normal. Granted maybe your cycle is trying to come back or even a urinary infection. Be sure to call your doctors on Monday.

Tang. I've been on Tamoxifen for one month now. Nothing too dramatic. I do have general stiffness when I sit too long or when I climb he stairs, but this seems to be left over from chemo days too.  It's hard to say if it's the tamoxifen, my efforts at the gym, or chemo!  

I do have a wicked pain in my heel when I first get up..,leaves me hobbling. I have no idea what that is 

Pricessrn the stiffness from Anastrozole was different then the chemo stiffness. I didn't really have any SE from the Anastrozole till I had been on it for 3 months. I found it was more stiffness from not moving around like when I first woke up or was sitting for an hour. It would work out once I moved a bit. After a year most of it went away. Just had the stiffness in my feet and fingers first thing in the morning that would work out by the time I made it to the bathroom 30 seconds maybe). Granted I did walk like a duck to get there. I still do the duckwalk in the morning with Exemestane (generic Aromasin) but not as bad.

Arimidex is probably the first choice because:

1. its the oldest so they have more information on the SE
2. it's the first to go generic
3. it's one of the cheapest

I think doctors usually prefer to prescribe something that works and has a track record… and since Arimidex h as been out longer it has a longer track record.