XGEVA let's talk about the good and the side effects

HopeandGratitude - It is so hard trying to figure out which pain/side effect is causing what. I started XGEVA before starting Faslodex and Ibrance. I was doing Taxol when I started XGEVA. I noticed that I had pain in my normally good shoulder that was the same arm I got my injection in. The pain wasn't at the injection site and I was puzzled that it would be located where it was. I really thought something was wrong with my shoulder and after a certain amount of time, it eventually went away. I have had some sciatica in January and that went away but has now been back for the last two weeks. I do think that it is very possible you are experiencing side effects from XGEVA or one of your other drugs you are on. I know that it is scary, my husband is worried about my sciatica pain since I haven't got past it yet and he is worried that my cancer has spread but I really think mine is the same thing as I had in January and will hopefully go away soon like it did then. It didn't help any that one of my Faslodex shots this past Monday is sore and swollen up and it is on the the same side as my sciatica. Several of the ladies on here have said that their body seems to adjust after a while and the side effects subside and hopefully, some of the people that have had more experience will chime in.

Ladies, did anyone have increased bone pain in the areas of the bone mets that seemed like worsening symptoms?

Like candy-678, I have had pain in my thoracic spine since starting faslodex and xgeva in addition to verzenio. Had an angio CT with contrast to see if something odd was up because the pain got so bad, but that showed nothing. Next PET in early June so will see if there was something missed. My Met is on L2 and smaller one on L1. I really don't have any pain there, although sometimes it feels tender. I had a "hands-on" exam with my MO and she thinks the pains I am having are caused by one-sided muscle spasms. Not sure where they are coming from, but she says to stretch more, more yoga and if it weren't for this darn virus, I would be getting massages. Fingers crossed that's all it is, but will see when scans are back. But, if you are feeling pain, let you MO know.

Kkmay,

Xgeva blocks certain protein called RANKL, and limits the activity level of certain bone cells that cause the bone damage when breast cancer spreads to the bone. Also you may want to consider its side effects as well.

Can someone please share experience about:

I have been on zometa for 7 months, right after first cycle I experienced spinal fracture, but in total the side effects were tolerable. But recent mri showed more spinal bones affected by cancer, almost all thoracic bones, so my oncologist changed to xgeva, I received first shot few days ago but since then I couldn’t sleep despite I feel tired and weak. On top of that my skull is killing me... annoheadache and sleepless are not tolerable at all. Should I let my oncologist knows about these? Please share your experience.

Thank you

Julie