Pain in hands

[JulSoul]

I have been on Ibrance, Letrozole and Xgeva for 14 cycles. So far Cancer is stable. Thank God! However, one morning I woke up and my hands were hurting so bad. I am having trouble doing every day tasks. Brushing my teeth, combing my thin hair, personal hygiene, turning doorknobs, etc. My oncologist changed me to Exemestane and so far no relief. She is sending me to a rheumatologist next week. I have tried heat, brace, volteran gel , along with the pain meds I take for bone mets and no relief. Has anyone experienced severe pain in their hands?

[Hidden]

I have been taking the same medications you are taking for seven months. About a month ago I starting having problems with my right thumb and have tried a brace for the thumb joint, heat, ice, physical therapy and stretching exercises with no relief. My oncologist will be talking to me this week about going off letrozole and taking something else. While I am very happy with the PET scan results with the current medications, each scan shows the cancer decreasing, I need to weigh the potential continuing good results with the pain. I also have issues with opening doors, holding a brush and a toothbrush in my right hand. My oncologist did say that fulvestrant has less side effects related to joint pain so I may end up switching to fulvestrant to see if the pain will go away.

[JulSoul in reply to Hidden]

Sounds like we both have the same problem with our hands. So far switching to Exemestane has not helped at all. Going to the rheumatologist tomorrow. I will let you know the outcome of that appointment.

[Gorden]

I’m about the same timeline as you. I had a lot of joint pain before. Now not so much. I hope your doctors figure it out so you can get relief. I don’t take pain pills for bone Mets.

[BeckyHobson]

After 18 mos I had to change from Letrozole to Exemestane because of the leg joint pain and the neuropathy in my feet and hands. I have no more issues with my legs and feet but for about a month now I seem to have a trigger finger issue with my middle finger on my primary right hand. I’ve tried all the usual braces, creams, squish ball, etc with no relief. I’ll ask do this week if I should go to a hand doc?

[JulSoul in reply to BeckyHobson]

I too was switched to Exemestane for that reason. Still no relief. Went to a rheumatologist he says it’s neurophy. My oncologist is sending me for a thoracic spine MRI just to make sure nothing is going on. I have tried all the creams, braces, heat. Oncologist prescribed Celebrex and is helping some. Yesterday I went for a massage to mainly work on my arm and hand. She has me icing it 20 minutes on, 20minutes off. With all of this I am finding a little improvement. I am also thinking of acupuncture. I am mainly working on this because I am so frightened about taking care of my personal hygiene. My hand prominent hand is so painful, I need it back! Another thing the massage therapist suggested, sleeping on your side. I have become a back sleeper and she says it puts more pressure on our necks which the nerves radiate down into our arms. So last night I tried bolstering myself to sleep on my side. This is what I have tried and learned so far. Hope it can help others!

[BeckyHobson in reply to JulSoul]

I suppose a chiropractor is out of the question for you? I still use mine and he knows he can’t touch my back because of the Mets to vertebrae and ribs by there is nothing like a good neck adjustment.

[BeckyHobson in reply to JulSoul]

I am praying for you that there is nothing going on with your thoracic area and that the side sleeping helps. Stay strong friend!

[JulSoul in reply to BeckyHobson]

Thank you Becky. You are so kind.

[JulSoul]

Don’t want to go back to my chiropractor. I was there the day before I landed in the hospital with a fractured vertebrae from the bone mets. That’s how I found out I had breast cancer. I had been going to him for a few months with pain. Even the day before, did not have any thoughts to what was going on.

[Barb5]

Hi JulSoul, I have rheumatoid arthritis and bone mets in spine my hands are painful with bent twisted fingers I have my medical marijuana license and the only thing I really use as of now is the thc lotion on my hands it eases the pain instantly doesn’t last a long time have to reapply but so far the best thing I tried I don’t like to take opiates for pain. Hope you find some relief. Epsom salt has a lotion for pain that works pretty good too besides the epsomsalt bath. Good Luck.

[JulSoul in reply to Barb5]

For some reason, my oncologist does not prescribed medical marijuana. I will look into the Epsom salts. We are so lucky to be able to throw out what is bothering us, and getting great suggestions from others. I love how we all look out for each other on this site.

[Bekadawn]

Try asking for celebrex it helped me with joint pain.

[JulSoul in reply to Bekadawn]

Thank you. Just started one week ago. Working somewhat, hand is still painful, but not as bad. It’s always a magical mystery tour with this disease. Have a great day!

[lynzer]

I’ve just started getting really bad joint pain in my hands, knees and ankles.

I’m on Ibrance/falsadex/exgeva with bone Mets and spine. I’ve been wondering about this and looking for suggestions.

Thanks for the tips. I agree the CBD cream works but it’s short lived. I may ask for Celebrex.

Lynn

[Ommmmmmm]

Hello ladies!

I wanted to shed a little light on this subject as i think im a good controlled study. I started getting the hand (and feet) pain about 8 months after starting Letrozole, trigger fingers and all. Could barely move my hands or walk on my feet in the morning til i got up and moving. The onc sed prob the AI and just acted like its par for the course. I made him try name brand letrozole, no improvement. Then Tried name brand Faslodex with worsening so back to letrozole. My tumors continued to shrink on both so i endured. Rheumatologist says no damage that she can see in xrays. I tried stretching, taping, cbd/thc, pain meds… nothing worked. (I am also on verzenio). Some people will say its the cancer causing this pain too, but I know its the letrozole (AI) because I have been off the letrozole for 2 months and sure enough, and thankfully!, my hand and foot pain are gone (still have remnants of trigger fingers) because recovering from a surgery. When I restart, im going to try name brand exemestane but suspect, as an ai, it will cause the same thing. Fingers crossed! Maybe ill ask the onc for alternatives. Like the new oral serd. New meds r coming out fast ladies so hang in there! Anyway, i thought id share bc for the longest time no one acted like they knew why this was happening to me! Now i know for surea and am going to try to avoid at least the letrozole unless my tumors start growing again i guess. I wont be handicapped with no use of my hands and feet on top of everything else. I hope all of the money going to research of this disease is paying off as we speak and our govt will allow the cure. Seems waay overdue! Anyway, sorry so lengthy! I feel for u all. I will keep reaching for the next best thought! Oh! And please look to Esther Hicks on youtube for inspiration and encouragement. It has helped me emotionally with my life and mbc trek tremendously 👍🏻 All the best! ♥️