Bone pain 12mths on
Hi everyone I am on tamoxifen and it has been 12mths since my last chemo. My body is super sore. Hips, elbows etc. I work 2-3 days casually in childcare. This is quite enough for me. I wondered how ...
Forum Discussion
Letrozole here too @Trikki2. Like @Sister I'm living with it rather than fighting it. Nothing has substantially worked for me. Some have success with acupuncture but it didn't work for me. I have 24/7 ankle pain, and at night when I'm in bed I feel bone and joint pain through my entire legs into my hips. I'm also have great pain now in my forearms and elbows, tennis elbow and golfer's elbow both my GP said. This has affected my ability to carry heavy things on my left. My hands, affected by chemo haven't recovered and are still weak and frequently painful.
So I'm managing all this with a fortnightly osteo appointment which brings some relief for 24 - 48 hours. I take panadol osteo as a matter of course before bed (I've never been a pill popper so I hate this but it can take the edge off enough to stop me tossing and turning for an hour. Half an hour instead...), with the occasional stronger painkiller when the pain is particularly bad, or when I just need a goddamn break.
Nothing I take ever knocks out the ankle pain though. Heat helps. Hot water bottles, wheatbags, and I'm looking at getting a heat lamp. Magnesium flakes baths are a nice relief from time to time. Treating myself to an occasional massage is a good relief, mentally as well as physically.
Exercise, like many above have found, is a mixed bag. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes the pain much, much worse. I'm doing pilates and yoga, good for my muscles, bones, waistline, stress, and in theory, taking strain off the joints by building up the musculature around them.
I don't know what the protocol around Tamoxifen breaks is, but you can take a one to two month break on AIs, so with my oncologist's blessing I'm taking two month break in December & January. I'm planning to do this after the completion of every 12 months of taking the drug. It has no effect on outcome.
As @Sister says, managing post-active treatment care is very rough on the bank account. Massage vouchers are always on my birthday and Christmas wishlists! The reality for us though is that we can't afford all this and I'm only able to do it with financial assistance from my mother. All our reserves are gone. There is literally $13 in our 'cushion' account... I've told the kids we're on an austerity drive for at least the next twelve months to build it up. We're trying to find a balance of keeping me cancer free, functional, and not broke. Best of luck. K xox
So I'm managing all this with a fortnightly osteo appointment which brings some relief for 24 - 48 hours. I take panadol osteo as a matter of course before bed (I've never been a pill popper so I hate this but it can take the edge off enough to stop me tossing and turning for an hour. Half an hour instead...), with the occasional stronger painkiller when the pain is particularly bad, or when I just need a goddamn break.
Nothing I take ever knocks out the ankle pain though. Heat helps. Hot water bottles, wheatbags, and I'm looking at getting a heat lamp. Magnesium flakes baths are a nice relief from time to time. Treating myself to an occasional massage is a good relief, mentally as well as physically.
Exercise, like many above have found, is a mixed bag. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes the pain much, much worse. I'm doing pilates and yoga, good for my muscles, bones, waistline, stress, and in theory, taking strain off the joints by building up the musculature around them.
I don't know what the protocol around Tamoxifen breaks is, but you can take a one to two month break on AIs, so with my oncologist's blessing I'm taking two month break in December & January. I'm planning to do this after the completion of every 12 months of taking the drug. It has no effect on outcome.
As @Sister says, managing post-active treatment care is very rough on the bank account. Massage vouchers are always on my birthday and Christmas wishlists! The reality for us though is that we can't afford all this and I'm only able to do it with financial assistance from my mother. All our reserves are gone. There is literally $13 in our 'cushion' account... I've told the kids we're on an austerity drive for at least the next twelve months to build it up. We're trying to find a balance of keeping me cancer free, functional, and not broke. Best of luck. K xox