Joint Pain

I wish I could say 'Yes, take ***' but shared experience tells us that there is very little which helps. And the drugs which do help are not the sort of things you want to take long term.
Exercise gives temporary relief. Time also makes a difference--whether to the pain or our capacity to cope with/ignore it, I'm not sure. Mxx

Hi Zoffiel, I’m going to be making turmeric lattes to see if that helps with pain. Turmeric is an anti inflammatory 

@JessC it's certainly worth trying. Some folk have reported improvement when they drop the nightshade family out of their diets--those plants have often been linked with arthritis and inflammation. The great maxim 'everyone is different' certainty applies to AI meds. Yoga helped me more than anything else (apart from time) did. MXX

My Oncologist has suggested Panadol Osteo.  I find when the aches are too much that it helps.
I only had one hiccup with Zoladex. I had the injection for 2 years.
Hopefully your body will adjust.
Take care and stay safe 

Hi Jess. Sorry to hear you're suffering with the joint pain. It's a real bugger eh?

I'm on Letrozole and have had it from the start. It does tend to wax and wane with the weather, but for me it never goes away completely. Right now in Melbourne's cold and damp weather it is particularly bad. The pain is waking me up at night and so I'm keeping up the panadol osteo (which takes the edge off the pain but no more), with something stronger every now and then.

I've tried a variety of supplements, and acupuncture. I didn't find relief from these but they're worth trying because many do. Exercise neither makes it worse nor better.

Apart from medications I manage my pain with heat (hot water bottles/wheat bags, toasting my ankles in front of the heater (I'd love a heat lamp), hot baths), and osteopathy. When not in Stage 4 lockdown I have it once a fortnight when I can afford it. The GP gave me a Care Plan which helps.

As @Zoffiel said, we're all different. It takes some grit and determination to stay on AIs if you have trouble with them. Hang in there. K xox

Hi All,
My oncologist has prescribed Aromasin to replace Letrozole, as I am experiencing arthralgia and myalgia. I haven't filled the script yet. I'm hesitant. I'm to see the oncologist in six weeks to see how I'm doing. I just don't want a whole new set of side effects. I'm on Zoladex as well, which intensifies everything. How I wish I could just stop being constantly reminded I've had BC.

@Dory65 from my own experience, you won't have new symptoms--it sounds like you have the majority of the shitty ones already. Those two drugs are really quite similar anyway and I found no significant difference when I did the same change. Others have reported an improvement.

You can only hope that the slight adjustment might work in your favour. The next option which you might be offered is Exemesane, which is quite different. It was the last card in my pack, and I've found it more tolerable, but whether or not it is as effective as the others, who knows. I just assume it's better than nothing.
You'll never know if you don't give it a go. Mxx

Thanks @Zoffiel,
Yes, the efficacy stats differ slightly in favour of Letrozole over Aromasin, and I guess Exemestane differs as well. I've started valuing every little percentage point now, far more than I did a year ago. You want to make everything you tolerate worth it. I guess I'll give Aromasin a chance. Might get lucky and feel better. Lx

I filled the script and will start tomorrow. I just realised that Exemestane is the chemical name for Aromasin. So confusing.