well off to hospital today for check up hoping they might change my tablets as they make me fill sick (tamoxifen).
well finished rads end of october have had a bone scan done and full body scan done.
got a frozen shoulder which is very pain full. anyone else had any experince of this please let me know.
been having a nightmare for the last few months had the boiler leak through the celing which caused major damage to the lounge and kitchen the work men only got finished the weekend before christmas thank god. smashed the front of the car in to the garage to avoid the cat as well so i am hoping this year will be a better one.
There is one good thing have got 4 lovely puppies at home only 1 week old.
Yes I developed a frozen shoulder and blooming painful it is too!
I was relatively lucky that it was diagnosed in the early stages, so the only treatment I needed was exercise - I felt the exercises I was already doing weren’t progressing well enough and the shoulder was painful. As soon as the GP saw it he knew what it was.
He gave me some slightly different exercises to do, alongside the other ones. The one he made a point of telling me to do was quite simple. Imagine you have a duster in your hand and you are polishing in circles. You can do this a number of times a day. The main thing is to keep it moving.
It was a slow process, but over time it did get better. Hopefully it will be enough for you with exercise, but they can inject the shoulder with (I think) cortisone if it becomes necessary.
I had that and it was really painful, I had really restrcited movement but they couldn’t do anything while it was so painful but it just went after a few months and then I was sent to physio classes which were great and arm movement improve a lot even though it will always be restricted.
Hi Kash,
Oh how i sympathise , ive had a frozen shoulder since finishing rads in march 08, and its extreamly painfull .I had very limited movement at first, and first had 12 weeks of physio which unfortuneately didnt do much for me, so i was refered to an orthopeadic surgeon who im still seeing every 3 mths for cortisone shots. Ive had 3 injections now and they realy do help with the inflamation and pain… Its been almost a year now and is much inproved than before but i still cant get my arm up my back or past shoulder height ,but i only get the pain at night when im laying on it now, where as before if i jolted my arm it was a drop to your knees in agony type of pain (awfull) one time i heard and felt a snapping sensation in my bicep area arghhh If i hold my arms out to the side my shoulder still looks deformed , my onc says it wasnt caused by rads but my orthopeadic surgeon says definately was Grrr. It can take 2 years to fully resolve ive been told as it gos through 3 stages, first the freezing ,then the frozen ,then finaly the thawing. Im so sorry to hear your your suffering with a frozen shoulder too ,have you been refered for physio? if so and it doesnt help do ask your gp for cortisone shots they realy do give some relief.
Good luck and all the best
Lindiloo x
Hi, just found this thread, Im going to see my GP tonight as my BC nurse said to. But Ive got shooting pains down arms and sound exactly like you describe, also bad at night. Limited movement too, even putting a coat on - worse now than when I had operation in July. I finished rads in Sept, so will ask GP what he thinks. One nurse said it was nerves and one said muscle knitting after op, so dont know, but hopefully will get better. I probably wont find this thread again!! but good luck Lindiloo - hope it doesnt take 2 years to resolve!!
hi,
i’ve been on tamoxifen since august 2007 and am still getting side effects but now at least its only the aches of my upper legs and arms.
But when first on them i used to itch like crazy (neck and face),other ladies suffer with itching to as i have read in some posts.
I suffered with a frozen shoulder for ages,still pains me even now,cannot stretch anywhere near as much as my other arm,have difficulty putting on and taking off my shirts,jumpers and coats,needing help sometimes…lol
Hope this helps in some way,
Hi Lance, so do you think the arm pain and neck ect. could be ANOTHER side effect of Arimidex? I didnt think of that, I know the knee and finger ach and toes ect ect. is, but didnt think of that as its a different pain?
take care
Shirley
Hi Shirley,i do not know the side effects of Arimidex but i do think you should read all the side effects on the leaflet in the box as i did,it did comfort me.
Have not suffered shooting pains but have met ladies who have,as for my arm it is still not %100,i cannot reach things with it or scratch my back like i used to.Putting my socks on was difficult before i had cancer,now i lay on my back rolling all over the bed to get them on…lol.
take care,
Lance…x
well, just been to see my GP, and he says that my muscles are all knotted, and its a side effect of the rads and surgery, hes given me paracetamol and iborfen, to take together (max strength) and said he would refer me for physio, but that might take weeks, so dont know what to do now. Just feeling really, really fed up now.
Hi again Shirley,
you are at a stage where you need all the support you can get,your thoughts are probably all over the place,you have been through one hell of an experience,the ups and downs,highs and lows we have all had them and you can always post on here because someone on here will have gone through what you are.
We all have to cope in the only way we as individuals can,but because we all have this in common we can relate to you and your concerns.
Sorry that you are feeling fed up and low Shirley,
Hi BessieBoo,
Ive only just found this thread again lol
Sorry to hear your haveing problems with your sholder/arm . I started with pain that went from my shoulder to elbow and went across my neck as well, it was impossible to do stuff like putting a coat/socks on ect without haveing awfull pain ,washing hair was almost impossible as i just couldnt get my arm up without being in agony. Sleeping was a nightmare too i couldnt lie on it and if i tried laying the opposite way it was just as painfull with my arm hanging down it was impossible to get comfortable so i realy sympathise , like you i was so fed up cos id just finished treatment and was looking forward to getting a bit of normality back, sometimes it just seems like one thing after another doesnt it? I think the trouble is when your in pain its natural to avoid useing your arm (cant help it ) I do hope the painkillers are working and giveing you some relief but do insist on physio if your symptoms dont improve , i think i had to wait about 3 weeks for physio, then physio refered me to orthopedics.Please dont suffer in silence we have enough to cope with already. A good tip if you havent already tried is a heat pad/or hot water bottle , some people use ice packs. i found heat helped.
Sorry for the long post lol
All the best and hope things improve soon.
Love Lindiloo x
Thanks both of you! Painkillers kicking in now, the GP also gave me another tablet for nerve damage called Amitriptyline but not taking that yet (thinking I take enough tablets!!), also BC nurse rang last night and has referred me to physio on 19th Feb. Lindiloo - why didnt physio work and what do orthopedics do? You describe it just as it is! And thats so true - just when you think you are getting back to “normal”, what did they say causes this? I did stop doing my excercises when everthing felt OK. - maybe thats why?
Hope you manage to find this again! Know what you mean!!
Shirley
xx
Hi Shirley,
Think ive managed to navigate my way round this new site now lol,much better with the catagories back down the left side.
Glad to hear the painkillers are kicking in a bit now .
When i first started getting pain in my arm ,i spoke to my onc and he also perscribed Amitriptyline but for me i wasnt keen on takeing an antidepressant , although i know it is ofen perscribed for nerve pain, so i went to see my GP and he did some range of motion tests then he gave me a cortizone shot in my shoulder and also perscribed Dicloflex which is an anti inflamatary. I then had 12 weeks of physio where i was given different thearband exercises to do at home i would go to the physio every week, it didnt realy help for me cos my shoulder was at the freezing stage and so painfull it used to bring tears to my eyes, the physio then refered me to an orthopedic surgeon because my range of motion was not improveing and was pretty limited.
I must say the orthopedic has been great he also did some tests and sent me for an xray, i see him every 3 mths and he gives me a cortizone shot into the shoulder which realy helps with the inflamation and pain, he checks my range everytime and it is definately much much better now, im in the thawing stage now thank goodness, and as time gos by i can reach much higher though think it may never be back to full range (still have to put bra on from the front lol) I am seeing him again in April and i hope by then it will be ok enough to get discharged.
Physio does work for a lot of people , think mine wasnt caught early enough, As for the causes ,who knows, all i did was pick a piece of paper up off the floor and a pain shot up my arm and that was it! i asked the orthopedic what caused it and he says what sometimes happens is the fluid that surrounds the shoulder joint gets inflamed with radiation treatment(even more so if your underarm has radiation too) the fluid turns like glue and the shoulder cant sit in the socket properly so is out of line with movement, which causes the pain and loss of motion.
Hopefully physio will work well for you though shirley, they do try to get things back moveing but if it doesnt help they will refer you to an orthopedic whos the expert in all this.
Its bloomin awafull i know but it does get better eventually i promise .
Hope you are doing ok other than the shoulder, we will both get there in the end lol and get our new normal back its certainly been an emotional rollercoaster for us all.
You take care and i hope things start to improve with the physio soon, please let me know how it gos and if i can help anymore just shout.
Love Linda x
Hi Linda, thank you for your help, my appointment came through today for the 19th Feb for physio so I will let you know how it goes,not getting any better at the moment. Im supposed to be off on holiday tomorrow, but got to get to Gatwick!! At the moment Im snowed in! Booked it before all this started cos thought Id be better!! But hopefully swimming and sun will help (thats if we get there!!). Hope you are doing OK,
Shirley
xx
Hi Shirley,
Hope all ok,never read about weather you had a mastectomy and nodes taken,because i was told that it would be best for me to wear a stocking on my arm if i was flying.But please don’t quote me on this but some of the others on here might be able to tell you more than me,i hate flying anyway.
Take care and have a wonderful holiday…
Lance…x
thanks Lance, I did wonder about that, but only got the socks! Maybe I could cut the feet out of them? Weather looking worse down south than it is up here in the north. Still, will set off tomorrow and see what happens, our flight leaves at 9am on Weds from Gatwick - not looking good at the moment! I hate flying too!
Shirley
x
Hi Shirley,
Im fine thanks, though somehow managed to get cystitis over the weekend “ouch” not nice Grrr Gp gave me some antibiotics so much better now lol Hope you have a fantastic holiday and lots of sun sounds lovely, The snow is pretty bad here in cornwall , we have so many steep hills nothings moveing, no buses,taxis ,trains its crazy, its still snowing now so think i may be stopping home tomorrow lol.
Glad to hear youve got your appointment through for physio ,
Have a great time and hope you manage to get away ok with the weather.
You take care.
Linda x
Hi Liz just noticed you said tamoxifen made you feel sick .I have had the same problem,ever since starting tamoxifen lost my appetite and vomit sometimes,my GP realised it was gastritis ,although I didn’t have any pain with it .Now I started taking ranitidine my appetite has come back.Hope you’re feeling better now(I know this post was a while ago But I just came accross it )