femara and carpal tunnel

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swinn
swinn Member Posts: 125
edited May 2019 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

My oncologist just gave me the ok to stop femara to see how I feel.  I just had carpal tunnel and 2 trigger finger surgeries done yesterday.  The pain was just too bad for me to use my hands at all.  I'm typing this with 1 finger of my left hand and I'm right handed but that was the worst hand.  I'll have the left hand done shortly.  Sure hope this helps. Too soon to tell yet.

Sally

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited June 2008

    I had CTS surgery on my right hand after 6 months on Arimidex. Was waiting to do other hand (ortho didn't want to do both hands at the same time).  About 2 - 3 months later went off AI's and tried tamox for two months then stopped everything all together for 3 weeks. The CTS went away when I stopped the AI's.  I have been back on Aromasin for one year and no CTS, but joint pain is back - and my wrists hurt - think it is tendonitis.  Me too, I am right handed and that was the worst hand.  I hope that you hands get better off the Femara - for me that was the trick a holiday from AI's.  Karen

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  • homeagain
    homeagain Member Posts: 78
    edited June 2008

    I have to ask? I don't want to seem rude or anything, BUT....carpal syndrome IS a symptom of femara [and other AI's] and why didn't the surgeon ASK your ocon about this before doing the surgery?  IF stopping the femara and switching to something else could avoid surgery, wouldn't that be far better? 

    This all has me seriously thinking that the medical profession isn't reading all the side effects of all the medications we take [WE SHOULD and MUST!] and that maybe they are too focussed on too small an aspect of us as people or whole human beings. 

    I say this as a person who had achieved carpal tunnel in one hand in ONE DAY [yep, one day] a decade ago and also has other neuro issues that occurred years after that appear to 'feel' similarly, but are not. I'm now trying out my second AI and beginning to suspect carpal 'type' aspects and, well, I guess I'll just have to try another that mite work with less complications  to my other issues.

    I hope truly that all goes well for you and that the Carpal Pain goes away and soon!

    Sally, I really understand where you are at!  It's so hard to decide what to do, and how to do it.  I truly hope that this pain is eased in some way from all this and that you can, well, GET ON WITH LIFE!  We all need that for sure!  Hugs and hope

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  • BMD
    BMD Member Posts: 1,492
    edited June 2008

    I started with the CTS during chemo and Femara made it 10 times worse. I have been on it for over a year now and although I still have numbness and a trigger thumb it is nothing like it was in the beginning. I did not even consider surgery. I have had enough of that to last a lifetime.

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  • swinn
    swinn Member Posts: 125
    edited July 2008

    homeagain, I know what you are saying but when I asked my ortho about the Femara causing it he said my nerve tests showed I had CT in 1997 so he felt it had just gotten worse. I absolutely think the Femara made it worse. I'm still undecided what to do about taking it again. I have an appointment with my onc in Aug. He doesn't even seem to think the meds caused it. What is wrong with these doctors? I know a test showed I had it in 1997 but I didn't have the pain with it or did I have trigger fingers then. Now I have 5 trigger fingers. My hand is much better but as you said I'm off the Femara so who knows. Now my left hand still hurts and the trigger fingers on that hand still bother me a lot. So I don't know what to think. It also scares me that my rate of recurrance goes up to about 15-20% from 5-7%.

    Sally

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  • CPB1167
    CPB1167 Member Posts: 24
    edited May 2019

    This is an older post but I am curious how common CPS is caused by letrozole. I started having CPS type symptoms - numbness, tingling, swelling type feelings in my hands and up my arms 6 weeks after starting letrozole/zoladex. Ive told my MO about this and this was the first time I felt kinda "brushed off" by her, she gave me this really confused look like no one gets this as a side effect of letrozole. It just seems very very strange I would have these symptoms so soon after starting the AI. I had CP surgery in my left hand years ago and the symptoms are a bit less in that hand vs my right hand but I am also right handed so that might be why I have the symptoms more in my right hand.

    I need to lose some weight, get exercising too, not sure if that contributes to the symptoms too but I have been the same heavier weight since 2016 and NEVER had the CPS symptoms at that time before letrozole.

    I dread the idea of starting to switch meds, starting down the path of getting CPS surgery but if this is what I have to do I will do it. I just want to feel normal again....maybe that will never happen. sigh.

    thanks for any advice.

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  • dmjmom
    dmjmom Member Posts: 79
    edited September 2019

    CPB,

    I developed the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome a year after starting Letrozole. I started sleeping in a CTS brace I bought on Amazon a couple months ago and it makes all the difference. I don't wake up with the tingling, stiffness and pain during the night at all and just have mild symptoms during the day.

    *update (9-2-19): pain, stiffness, and tingling (and now weakness) in both hands, brace at night still helps, but not enough that I can sleep through the discomfort. Am going to need to address the issue medically (surgically?)

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