Advice for aching wrists, joints

Kabee

Hi @Nina75. I know you’ve only been on the meds for a month but it might be worth trying a different brand of Tamoxifen down the track to see if this helps. 

I’ve just started my 4th mth of Exemestane. The first 3 mths I had three different brands due to supply issues (not ideal when you want to try and keep an eye on side affects)

The first brand seemed to alleviate some of the joint pain I had from the Zoladex injections, possibly a coincidence but I was happy it subsided. Second brand was about the same. 

The third brand was horrific! I had really bad pain in my fingers and wrist. Each morning I could barely close my fist. I had to open and close my hand until I could keep my fist closed. During the day my wrist felt fractured and fingers felt broken. I couldn’t pick up the kettle at home or work. I could barely lift my coffee cup without support from my other hand and I couldn’t grip a pen properly unless I held it on a weird angle and half off my desk. 

When I had to fill my script for this mth I told them I couldn’t take the previous brand due to the horrific pain, luckily they had a different brand. I’ve been on this one for a week now and my hand and wrist feels almost brand new again. I still have some slight stiffness in my hand when I wake up but this is my new normal (I had this even before I started the meds) which I put down to chemo, nodes removal and being thrown into early menopause. I can now hold the kettle, confidently hold my coffee cup and can hold a pen properly. 

Maybe a different brand will work for you too. As the lovely ladies on here have said previously, sometimes it’s just a matter of tweaking things and trying different brands and medications. Hope your pain subsides soon :-)

Kabee

Hi @Nina75. I know you’ve only been on the meds a mth but it might be worth looking into a different brand of the tamoxifen down the track to see if that helps. 

I’m on my 4th mth of a different med but the first 3 mths I had 3 different brands due to supply issues in my area (not helpful when I wanted to monitor side affects)
The first brand seemed to alleviate most of the joint pain I had from the Zoladex injections, possibly a coincidence but I was happy to feel better than I had before. The second wasn’t too bad either. 

But the third brand was horrific! I was in absolute agony with my hand and wrist on my BC side. I’d wake up in the mornings and couldn’t close my fist. I’d have to open and close my hand till I could make a fist. I could barely hold my bedroom door handle to open the door. My wrist during the day felt fractured and my fingers felt broken. I couldn’t lift my kettle at home or work. I could only just hold my coffee cup with the support of my other hand and could barely hold a pen unless it was on an awkward angle and half hanging off my desk. And I was waking multiple times during the night with severe hand and wrist pain. 

When I had to fill my script this mth I told them I couldn’t have that brand again and luckily they had one of the other ones in stock. I’ve only been off the horrible brand a week but I already feel like my hand is brand new again. My hand is slightly stiff in the morning but I think this is my new normal since chemo, Zoladex and being put into early menopause. I can now hold my kettle, confidently hold my coffe cup with one hand and I can hold my pen now too. 

Maybe a different brand of tamoxifen might help with your aches and pains. All the best with it 😊

Nina75

Thank u so much @kabee !!