Breast cancer
posted by spudburf
07 November 2014

Joint/bone pain

Last reply: 09 March 2015 19:48

Hi all, has anyone had bone/joint pain after chemo? I finished my chemo at the end of March and I have my last Herceptin treatment on 25th of this month but I have this awful joint pain. My knuckles, ankles, toes, knees, etc all feel as if there are full of fluid and ache all the time. Also my back but I just had a bone density and this confirmed that I have osteoporosis of the spine now!

I just want to know if this will last or will it eventually fade? Has anyone had anything similar?
Thanks

4 comments

Comments

commented by Josephine
15 November 2014

15 November 2014 17:35

Hi spudburf
I had all those pains while on taxol and for a good while afterwards. Then I was put on letrozole/femara and all the joint pains came back with a bang. I couldn't stand it and after 6 months I went back to tamoxifen. The pains lessened but I'm afraid they never went away. I suffer most in the morning with my feet and knuckles. Then it eases off and comes back as the day goes on, especially if I do any walking. I'm trying to learn to swim to replace walking because I like to walk a lot but the after effects are depressing, my feet and ankles ache most evenings or at any time if I am sitting for a while and then go to get up.
Other ladies I know have similar problems. It's hard to know if it's being caused by chemo after effects or lack of oestrogen due to the follow up treatments. I had none of this before diagnosis. I asked the oncologist if fish oils would help and all he said was, they won't do you any harm.
Please if anyone found anything helpful for all this, tell us! Thanks
Jo

commented by anoif
17 November 2014

17 November 2014 21:41

Hi Spudburf,

I was the same I developed joint and bone pain after my chemo. It was really bad at times especially in the evening. During chemo I began juicing both fruit and vegs.I stopped the fruits because of the sugar content Image removed. . In the last month I have started having ginger and apple juice and low and behold aches and pains have reduced considerable. Im not sure if its a coincidence but its worth a try Image removed.

I have had 15 of 17 herception so im quite similar to yourself. I think the aches seem to common with herception, hopefully they will go when it gets out of our system.

best of luck,
Fiona

commented by spudburf
21 January 2015

21 January 2015 15:23

Thanks for your replies and apologies for the delay in replying.

I hope these pains go away in time. Tamoxifen has caused me huge problems as well as all the alternatives so I'm now going to stop it! Against my oncologists advice but the side effects for me are very severe and its given me a depression that I never had before!! Its the most awful feeling!!!

commented by aniq
09 March 2015

09 March 2015 19:48

Hi there, haven't posted in a while but I've been keeping an eye on posts. This post rang bells with me too. I had a horrendous time on Tomoxifen. The side effects were crippling to the stage that my whole life was effected and I was starting to get depressed. My eye sight was even going blurry which is very rare & usually only seen after long term Tomoxifen use. After consulting with my oncologist it was agreed that I'd stop (I was going to stop regardless of what they said, quality of life is more important to me) but my oncologist could see what it was doing to me & was very understanding.

Although I didn't need chemo or radiation I too have had crippling joint pains since taking the Tomoxifen. It may be a coincidence but there were days when my knees and hips hurt so much.
I've since been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I take amitriptyline. It really helps with the pain. It might be something to ask your doctor about. My quality of life has really improved and my pain levels dropped since starting it.

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