Heel pain on Arimidex?

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited May 2019 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Has anyone experienced heel pain on Arimidex? My oncologist switched me from Tamoxifen to Arimidex in December. It seemed like I was having very few side effects from it. Recently I began walking on my lunch hour, since the weather broke. I've noticed my heels are getting really sore. I thought I was getting plantar fasciitis. I've tried heel cushions, sole inserts, I bought some plantar fasciitis socks that arrived today that I'm anxious to try, I'm using aleve daily for pain, I'm doing stretches. But after doing some research I'm wondering if this pain could be linked to Arimidex. I have the pain in both heels. I don't have much pain with shoes that have good arch support but if I go barefoot for an extended period of time or wear shoes with poor arch support my heels hurt so bad. Has anybody experienced this? I'm thinking of calling my oncologist and see what their thoughts are on this.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited April 2019

    not heel pain, entire foot pain. To the point of using a walker, and considering getting a shower chair. My MO was clueless. The podiatrist put me in a boot. Was right foot, couldn’t drive.

    Stopped aramidex, pain was gone in less than a weeu.

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  • Ingerp
    Ingerp Member Posts: 2,624
    edited April 2019

    Oceanbum—me! Both heels, but I really only notice it first thing in the morning when I get out of bed. Kinda weird but also not too annoying.

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  • MexicoHeather
    MexicoHeather Member Posts: 365
    edited April 2019

    Yes. It's the medication. I write the alphabet with my toes as a little stretch and wear sandals around the house. I wish I could get paraffin treatment all the time, because that pampering feels Devine!

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  • dtad
    dtad Member Posts: 2,323
    edited April 2019

    Spookiesmom...I'm so sorry you are suffering. One of my biggest pet peeves is MOs who are prescribing these powerful drugs denying the side effects! Maybe if they were more open about discussing it and the possibility of changing the anti hormone the compliance rate would be more than 50 percent! This is a stat my BS at a major university NYC teaching hospital quoted me. My MO actually had the nerve to tell me there were no side effects!! Obviously that was the last time I saw that doc!

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited April 2019

    yes yes! Here is how I cured myself. I put these inserts in every shoe I own. https://www.amazon.com/Plantar-Fasciitis-Insoles-Supports-Orthotics/dp/B07NXZ4ZGH/ref=sr_1_4?hvadid=323397318700&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=9026224&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14744839724183535496&hvtargid=kwd-724967635807&keywords=walkhero+plantar+fasciitis+insoles&qid=1555166218&s=gateway&sr=8-4

    I wrapped my ankle with 2" stretch gauze daily for a year.

    I walk on the treadmill 1/2 hour 6 days at an incline.

    A year ago was limping all the time, my knees ached and sometimes buckled. It took a full year but I now have a normal gate, very little pain, and much more stamina.

    Also check out the book “Younger Next Year". Amazing. My PCPgave me a copy.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2019

    Thanks everyone for the replies. I told my hubby this morning I think I'll call my oncologist Monday and make an appointment to talk about this medicine. I've been on it four months. I thought I was doing ok with very little side effect changes from the Tamoxifen switch. But I have been having headaches in the morning. I have suffered with migraines for years so headaches in the morning is not an unusual thing for me. They were tied to my monthly cycle. They were worse certain weeks of the month depending on where I was in my cycle. The week before and the week of my period were horrid. So after chemo took care of my cycle the headaches had pretty much subsided. I didn't have too many on Tamoxifen. I had recently noticed them slowly creeping back. And now they are an almost daily occurrence when I wake up. I've also had some nausea in the morning which goes along with the headache. And my right eye is becoming blurry. So I think I need to make an appointment for sure.

    I hope it's just the medication and nothing more serious. But all of this has just started happening since I made the medication switch.

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  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited April 2019

    9 months after I started tamoxifen, my achilles heels were in agony. Hard to tell if any of my foot was also affected but it was awful. Felt like I was 90 getting out of bed.

    Arimidex didn't help when I switched. Everything resolved once off the meds. Sorry to hear you are suffering.

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited April 2019

    I had it bad in my ankles, even now 3 years off the drugs my legs and feet ache sometimes at night. My friends say getting older, I notice because before taking anastrozole and exemestane I never had any pain.

    I found salonpas make it better, but I hate the smell but it helps me sleep.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited April 2019

    Not on Arimidex but in tamoxifen hell. Anyway, I had plantar fasciitis back in my twenties when I used to run. I had to switch to completely non weight bearing exercise (pool) for like 6 months to get it to heal, but it eventually did.

    My muscles and tendons are a hot mess right now from tamoxifen. Had a big workup to have them tell me it's the medication. So I am waiting until I can't manage anymore then I will go discuss with oncology.

    Cancer sucks!!


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  • DebAL
    DebAL Member Posts: 877
    edited April 2019

    oceanbum, definitely make that phone call. With a group of side effects you may want to consider other options. I'm struggling at night with bone pain but my days are great. Feet hurt slightly by evening. Back outside running 3 miles with no issues.

    I also got rid of all my cheap flip flops for summer and bought sandals by Clark's and a pair of ABEOs from walking company. Yes they cost a bit but last longer and give much more arch support.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes!


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  • JaBoo
    JaBoo Member Posts: 520
    edited April 2019

    Following! both my heels are painfull, it's been about a month. I started Aromasin in January. No heel pain before cancer. So it either is just the Aromasin or it in combination with Herceptin which is giving me flu-like symptoms after the injection. ugh. I wonder what comes next.

    Thanks to this thread I think I will have a good look at my shoes and sort them out. Inlays will be necessary I think.

    Apparently, this won't resolve on it's own, as I hoped...

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  • DebAL
    DebAL Member Posts: 877
    edited April 2019

    jaboo..maybe it will resolve...there still is hope. You can choose to wait it out and see what happens. When I went on AI I knew full well joint/bone/feet pain was a real possibility. We all have our breaking point in which we feel we need to explore further options. We are all different. I'm choosing to wait this out since its "just" the bone, feet pain. And as a nurse I ask myself the question ( just like our patients) how bad is the heel pain on a 1-10 scale? If it's tolerable and not interfering with quality of life I am too chicken to risk trading for another set of problems. So I'm choosing to hang in for now. Severity and multiple other symptoms are a different story and very scary. This thread is a safe place to think out loud and support each other as we each work through this. And that's why I mentioned the shoe thing. I always wore great running and work shoes but never thought about supportive..and not ugly..summer sandals.

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  • simplypoised
    simplypoised Member Posts: 21
    edited April 2019

    I saw a podiatrist. He stated I had a bone spur, but not too serious for surgery. After reading your post, I bet most of my foot pain came from Arimidex. I'll know more soon, because yesterday was my last day on Arimidex. I took it for five years. I will keep you posted.

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  • Denise-G
    Denise-G Member Posts: 1,777
    edited April 2019

    I had severe heel pain the first three years on Arimidex, but then it got better. The biggest thing that helped me was wearing

    Vionic shoes. I have now been on Arimidex for almost 7 years. When the weather is bad or a front is coming in, I have bad foot pain.

    Some days it is okay and others it is not.

    My sister has been on Arimidex for 3 years and has severe foot pain. Some days are better than others.


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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2019

    Well, I made the call yesterday. My oncologist wants to see me. I have an appointment for Friday morning. I will let you all know what I find out. Wish me luck!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2019

    Well, they don't believe it's the medication. They think I'm dehydrated. So they suggest I begin drinking more water. As far as the blurriness in my right eye, she wants me to make an appointment with my eye doctor and have my eyes checked. The heel pain she is referring me to a podiatrist. She doesn't believe any of this is related to Arimidex. But if I make these appointments and changes and nothing improves I should come back and we'll revisit it.

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  • CBK
    CBK Member Posts: 611
    edited April 2019

    Oceanbum

    Heel pain yes! I sort of blamed it on my CIPN, but I had it very bad in the winter. Then it got better. I think when I started a glucosamine supplement and one other is when it really subsided . I wasn’t expecting that to do the trick but I think it may have helped for some reason.

    I switched MOS and my new MO gave me a vacation from Arimidex; interesting how many aches and pains disappeared on that vacation. I find it curious when I went to my old MO; she would just mumble under her breath at every compliant I had “huh that’s odd”.

    I got the dehydrated line too. No doubt the med dries you out and you need to drink more. But it’s not the complete solution.

    Interesting to see what happens on your appts. Keep us posted. And hang in there.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2019

    So, I saw the podiatrist. He diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis. He gave me a steroid script, some home stretches and orthotics for my shoes. I will see him back in 3 weeks. If no improvement he said we will consider cortisone shots in my heels. I really hope I show improvement because that does not sound pleasant. I have had cortisone shots in my shoulder and my knee. They weren't bad but in my heels...yikes?!

    I'll keep you posted!!

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited May 2019

    Oceanbum - my friend is a PT and she posted this on FB today. https://ptandme.com/physical-therapy-for-plantar-fasciitis-pain/?fbclid=IwAR01eoVTrrRZ07t7ILR0f-VjvckkRlbOIfT9XZ-VS1ODKnuiqCfict4Wcdw


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  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited May 2019

    PF has haunted me several times. I've had the "graston technique" shown in FarmerLucys video. When I had it done, it was done with more force. It really hurt, but ultimately helped. I needed to go home & stick my foot in a bucket of ice water.

    My last bout was a year ago. Unable to walk, I checked out The Walking Company. I found the brand of shoes that worked for me was Taos. I got a pair of their sandals. I could be laying on the couch & my foot would start hurting. I'd get up & walk in the sandals & my foot would feel better. I also bought a pair of Taos canvas shoes that I workout in.

    I've had 2 pair of custom orthotics made. For me a total waste of money. Purchased many different brands of ready made orthotics. Some have worked but then they get discontinued eventually.

    Cortisone shots in the heel are painful & for me they did not help.

    Seems I find something that works but the PF eventually finds it's way back

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2019

    Thanks, farmerlucy! That site is very informative and the video very interesting. I'll try some of the techniques demonstrated. Thanks for the info! Anything to get some relief!!

    coraleliz, I'll check into those shoes. I've not heard of them before. I got some New Balance 1080 walking shoes because I read that they were great for heel pain. They are better than the ones I had been wearing. My podiatrist recommended Power Step ProTech orthotics for my shoes. They are very firm support. My feet feel really good after a day of wearing them.

    I have been doing my home stretches that he gave me twice a day. I see him again in 3 weeks, so hopefully I will have made enough progress to avoid those cortisone shots. I'll keep you updated!!

    Thanks again, ladies for your advice!!

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