How long did it take for your pain to go away?

DizzParkMom
DizzParkMom Member Posts: 316
edited April 2016 in Pain

This is a question for those of you who completed treatment more that a year or two ago. How long did it take for any joint/muscle stiffness/soreness to go away. I've got the joint pain and stiffness thing going on and I am almost 7 months out from treatment. I am triple neg and have not or will not be on any hormonal meds. I also didn't require radiation. In the last 7 months since ending chemo, I have had diep surgery and fat grafting. My joint pain did not begin until 3.5 months pfc. Based on a hand and wrist xray that shows mild arthritis and osteopenia and because my pain is worse in the morning, a rheumatologist all but has be started on plaquinil for RA despite a seronegative blood test; ana/sed rate negative as well. I have a second opinion appt with another rheum. soon. It seems like there are so many of us complaining of the same pain and I find it hard to believe we are all suddenly RA. I take a ton (and have for years) of fish oil. So shouldn't this be limiting my inflammation? I also take low dose aspirin, curcumin, a cal-mag-plus supplement, coq10, 5000iu vit. D., Vit e, biotin and melatonin. I also take extra magnesium (calm powder).

So, for those of you who felt like this after treatment....any success stories for us. How long was it before you stopped feeling 30 years older then you are?

P.S. MO thinks it's my lack of estrogen from remaining in medical menopause. Anyone get their cycles back more than 6 months pfc at the age of almost 42?

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited April 2016

    Hey there, sorry you are having a rough time. I had a LOT of inflammation from the taxotere. It lasted quite a long time and got better in fits and starts. I would force myself to move every day. At first just walking, but 6 weeks after my last surgery (hysterectomy to put me in menopause) I started going to the gym. It was really hard and slow at first, but it really helped.

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  • DizzParkMom
    DizzParkMom Member Posts: 316
    edited April 2016

    Thanks Momine. Does that mean your joints are feeling better a few years down the road?

    My gut tells me the pain is chemo related and it's going to be a long wait until it eases up. I exercised regularly before DX and a little bit during TX. Now that I am out of treatment and past my surgeries I am trying to get back into a routine, but the pain is making it hard. It also irritates me to have a doctor diagnosing me with RA without taking into account everything I've been through. If her thought process was correct, I think she would have diagnosed nearly all of us with RA.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited April 2016

    LOL on that last comment. Yes, doctors tend to get hyper-focused on their own special area. My onc did finally tell me straight-out that it was from the chemo. However, I did also have the surgical menopause and femara in the mix, which no doubt made things worse. 4 years later, I generally feel way, way, waaaaay better and I had joint issues before cancer as well, so I have grounds for comparison. I still have joint pain and cramps in my feet, but that is a common femara SE. The thing is that whether it is hormonal or from the chemo or a combo, it should ease over time. The body eventually adjusts to the hormonal change, and the chemo effects DO wear off. My main exercise was and remains walking. Inflammation pain will typically get better after about 20 minutes of walking, so I would just force myself to shuffle off and keep shuffling till it hurt less. Then I would continue shuffling another 15-20 minutes and then do it again in the evening.

    Also talk to your doc about some anti-inflammatories if it is that bad. Sometimes a short, systematic course of anti-inflammatories can sort of break the pain cycle. I think I did a week of voltaren somewhere in the process. Talk to the onc about this, not a rheumatologist. A way to approach it is to ask the doc, "so, doc, IF this pain was residual inflammation from the taxotere, then what would be the best course of action to deal with the pain?"

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