Bone and joint pain

Hi Hope40. I've had and still have joint pain and stiffness. My lower back is the most painful to me. I was diagnosed with arthritis at 43. Not sure if the chemo or tamoxifen had/has a hand in that diagnosis or not. I too am hoping to it gets more manageable in time. For now, I take lots of ibuprofen and use my mom and dad's hot tub for relief when I can. I hope you feel better soon!

My lower back hips legs all muscles agony since chemo and using injections to stimulate the marrow to produce more white cells. Radiotherapy begins Feb 4 2015- what pain killers actually work. My toes feel numb also a side effect from chemo. Can't have herceptin as cardiologist thinks it will kill me due to a heart condition tho Pumping rate was a normal according to ECHO. As side effect from herceptin is it can affect heart muscle. Has anyone else been denied herceptin due to a heart condition. What are the chances of it returning without herseptin. Does anyone know where to find state?x

Chemo can cause neuropathy. Your doctor will know what to prescribe. Pharmacists can suggest medications that can help. Try keeping a log of level and type of pain, location, what helps, what movements hurt, what it keeps you from doing.

I had bone pain during chemo but radiation in November/December 2014 really exacerbated the joint pain. Nights and mornings are the worst - everything hurts just to move but, once I get up and move around getting my day started, it fades. However, if I sit driving for awhile or sit at home for awhile, I feel like the tin man needing oil. I'm a very active person and am a contractor (home maintenance and repair). I have neuropathy in my hands and feet -my feet feel like blocks of wood. My hands feel like I have gloves on. All of that is a chemo left-over. My Onc and I discuss this every time I go in and we evaluate what we're doing each time. I'm now on Exemestane which has a the SE of joint pain. If it gets to be too much, I'll switch to Tamoxifen. The joint pain and neuropathy was supposed to go away after chemo/radiation but there is a possibility it won't.

I feel badly for you all having bone and joint pain. It is very hard to manage at times. I have had bad lower back pain for many years from my SI joints. I'd love to try Claritin but I wonder if there is any interaction between the two? Some things that help me are Voltaren gel, Capsaicin cream and my heating pad. Aleve/Tylenol combo works best but my tummy cannot handle more than one or two a week. I find that anything that causes internal inflammation makes my back hurt worse. Even over-eating can affect it. Milk is the worst. I hope that your aches and pains are temporary and that you get relief soon.

New to the forum....  Thankful I finally have a place where others have walked the same walk.  I was diagnosed with triple neg stage 2b with nodes involved in Jan 2014.  Had lumpectomy, 8 rounds (4 ac 3taxol and 1taxotere) and 33 sessions of radiation.  I finished all treatment Aug 22,2015.  In November 2015 I had a clear breast mri and mammo.  I take Cymbalta for neuropathy in my feet.  For the last two weeks I have had severe back and hip pain.  I cannot sleep even with percocet. I am having a bone scan tomorrow.  Scarred for two reasons.  They find something.  Or they don't,  and then what do I do?????

I have had pain since my neulista shot last week. All down legs and ankles . The Claritin worked the first two days, but nothing yesterday. I am going for another clariton tonight, and dr said. To addbenedryl if that doesn't work. I will keep you posted, but they tell me pain should subside eventually. Hope that is true.

I have horrible hip,leg and lower back pain onc says chemo doesn't effect just one area, then I saw hip surgeon who told me the same thing.  I have yet to have a single test done so now I am goiung to demand it .  Im still on taxol & herceptin so I thought that was the cause but with both saying no Im worried.  Hope that helps and so sorry you all are in pain.  Bone pain is the worst.

Diane 

I'm glad your pain is gone Jerseygirl. What a relief! Right? I treasure the pain-free moments and do dread the return of it. It sounds like we're in the same boat.

LD3 welcome to BCO, and thank you very much for sharing your experiences, being young, and diagnosed, being 10+ years out (yeah!), and unfortunately about your ongoing aches and weakness. Hoping others have some insights.

I am 5 years out of treatment and have severe chronic pain. The first couple of years it was mainly in my hips. When I am having a rough day the pain migrates from my hips to my knees and then down my shins so my entire lower body hurts bad. I am still on Tamoxifen and likely will be for another 4 years as my oncologist wants me on it for 10 years. At this point I don't think going off Tamoxifen is going to give me any relief whatsoever.

I now work as a mail carrier so come rain or shine I am delivering mail and that includes lots of snowy days (although not much snow in Utah this year). I take 2 percocet each morning when I start work and 2 at night but mind you I am taking (2) 10/325 which is a hefty dose. I tend to hurt less when I am active. The 2 days a week I don't work I hurt so much more because I am not moving as much.

Using a heating pad at night when my knees and shins are killing me tends to help - at least it soothes the pain somewhat so I can sleep.

Working is the only thing that keeps me going. I still have tendencies to go into a deep depression due to the pain where all I want to do is stay in bed for days on end. My job doesn't allow me to do this and I think it is probably saved my sanity because I am forced to get out of bed in the mornings. You don't get the luxury of calling in "sick" when you deliver mail for a living.

I wish there was an answer to this chronic pain but it is a condition that I am learning to live with albeit very difficult at times.

I am new to posting so please bear with me. I was diagnosed in 2009 and have been on one medication after another ever since. I began chemo October 2014 and had to stop 2 months later due to infected port. Since the cancer is slow growing the oncologist decided to try meds again and stop chemo. I have had chronic pain in my back and legs for years prior to all this. Now however it has spread to all major joints, my hip being the worst. Pain doctors say it's arthritis but I believe it is so much worse because of the meds and the chemo. I too had to have the Lunista after the chemo infusions. That is when my hip and shoulders joined my back in pain.

I currently am taking high doses of pain meds and may have a pump put in to control the pain. During the chemo I went from being able to walk to now using a walker and even a wheelchair when I go out with the family. I'm going to begin PT again and see what happens. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. Is there anything that can be done? It sounds like many of us are going through this.

Lori, ask if you can do water treatments in a pool for arthritis pain, I hear it is a life savor, as for joint pain, I feel the clariton works for now, for me. I also use something called Australian dream. Which is guaranteed for pain, it's got blue emu oil in it, it helps, but all else ask for a pain specialist if all else fails, I do have cottage cheese , almonds, and coconut oil to help also,something in the cottage cheese, it's not perfect, but I think it helps a bit...age of course is a factor, try to keep moving a bit, if all else fail. And hydrate more.

Thank you for the suggestions. I've tried predizone. It didn't do much. I will be seeing PT in a couple weeks, I'll ask about water therapy. Where do you get emu oil? Actually it sounds like all my joints could use oil. I make a lot of crunching noises when I move. I can not walk without the walker, however I do try to keep moving. Friends keep telling me to hang in there. What else can I do but keep trying.

The oral meds are known to cause pain in the joint and the 'long' bones. It's oral chemo. All that stuff they hae for us, it gets us one way or another.