Hi - Am on Aromasin to try and control progress of secondaries until it doesnt appear to work any more and am currently on paracetamol and codeine to combat the side-effects of pain/stiffness in hands, lower legs and feet. Plus Movicol to combat the side-effects of the codeine!
Since CA153 tumour marker tests have gone down since I started about 8 weeks ago, I expect to be staying on it for a while yet so wanted to ask if anyone else is having similar side-effects yet taking dfferent painkillers with less of their own side-effects?
Haxted,
I am on the aromatase inhibitor arimidex and three weeks after I started it could barely walk or get off a chair because of pain and stiffness.
I found a thread on this forum which suggested glucosamine & chondroitin tablets.
I have been taking two tabs a day for nearly a year now and they really do stop the stiffness. My GP said ‘of course they’ll work’ but I still couldn’t get them on prescription!
Margaret
Thank you - are they a combined tablet and/or what strength are they per tablet? I think I’ve seen gluc advertised at different strengths? And do they affect your tummy at all’cos I’ve heard that is a side effect!
Haxted - I get a combined tablet online from Healthspan, take 3 a day and do not find that they affect my tummy. The liquid gluc. gave me terrible heartburn. On tamoxifen not arimadex but still have terrible pains. Marli
Update!! I spoke too soon - last couple of days have had atrocious wind which I think may be caused by the gluco. , so have stopped taking it to see if that is the problem. Becoming very anti-social (lol) Marli xx
hello, I have been on Aromasin 14 months, and was just the same when i started, everything hurt, i dont know if it has got better or if i am used to it. because it does not bother me so much now, when i get out of bed in the mornings my feet really hurt and i hobble until i get going and also if i have been sitting for a long time i am very stiff again but once i get going it is ok. hope this helps
Somewhere on the Forum I posted the comment that I was going to refuse to take any more hormone treatment due to the terrible pains I was suffering from from Aromasin.
Sense has kicked in and I have agreed to take Arimidex. I am still in a lot of pain so going to speak to the Oncologist at my follow up in a couple of weeks, because what I want to know is how long will it take for the aches and pains to get better.
I used to be very keen on sport and was playing badminton soon after my reconstruction but four years later I can barely walk up the stairs.
The tabs I’m taking at the moment have Glucosamine Sulphate 500mg and Chondroitin Sulphate 400mg. One tab in morning and another after dinner with the arimidex. The various brands seem to have about the same proportion of ingredients.
I’ve not had any tummy probs from them that I’ve noticed and my tummy is so sensitive that I can’t eat an orange when it is empty as it hurts.
Even my aged spouse has found the tabs help with the bone ache he gets in his legs.
Margaret
Hi, I was on Aromasin for the same reason as you and had the same problems with joint pain/stiffness etc. It was so bad that my Onc changed me to Femara (Letrozole), a similar drug to Aromasin. Pain and stiffness was only slightly better, but I have stuck with it as my body scans show its being its job. Have been on in now for about 8 months and although the pain and stiffness hasnt gone completely, its loads better than it was at the start.
I dont like taking tablets, but did take the odd Diclofenac when times got bad.