Already a member? Sign in
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
Does anyone have fibromyalgia as well as stage IV? The Femara is causing severe joint pain and I'm having a difficult time walking (need to use a cane) and a chair at times. The joints in my fingers ache. I don't want to go off of the Femara because it seems to be shrinking the tumor. I was almost housebound before my cancer DX.
Cancer Burns Aromasin Paxil Mixed connective tissue disease Fibromyalgia Effexor Flexeril Pericarditis Ibuprofen Psoriasis Celebrex Breast cancer Pain Neurontin Methotrexate
DaleMarie,
I am on Femara and have terrible joint pain , my fingers and hands in the am and even the top part of my arms and legs.
I only had one scan since the start of femara and it had one spot on my sternum that had a flare another spot that shrunk. So , I am willing to suffer through the femara pain rather than move onto something stronger yet.But hate taking more pain meds to cope with it.
Anything to live long and prosper ..: )
Julie
I have had sx of fibromyalgia for years, while I was on all different other drugs--femara, aromasin, xeloda, zometa, and faslodex. One doc put me on neurontin for the pain. It is also advertised now with another name that I can't remember. It never really helped ease the pain, and I gained ten pounds in the first month. Since I am already in pain from the mets, I figure I can handle the joint and muscle pain as well. I have found that light
massages and hot tubs help a bit, but there is always a discomfort. After 8 years, I have learned to just live with it and I consider my QOL very good for what I have. I used to mourn over "the old days" but now I embrace my new normal. My mantra is "It could be so much worse".
I am on ibuprofen 600mg three times a day and that seems to help along with the pain meds. I was thinking about asking my doc to change me to celebrex to see if that made a difference.
Anyway, that may not be what you wanted to hear, but that's my take on it. Hope you find something to make you feel better real soon. Karyn
hi, i was dx. with fibramyalga a year or two before cancer. i have met several women who had this before cancer of the breast. ? i took a new drug thats out for figramyalga but it is the same as neurontin. the antidepressant cymbalta is also is being used for fibramyalga and i am on that now instead of effexor. mary
I, too, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a couple of years before the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. We don't believe I ever had fibro--we believe they just were not seeing the cancer mets when they ran the tests, and that that is how the cancer could have become so involved systemically. When I would call the doctor in excruciating femur pain, he'd order an xray and say everythings fine. It wasn't at all--it was a huge cancer leision that eventually broke my hip. I think the cancer's progression, in its early stages, is mistake for fibromyalgia. But I'm not a doctor. It could be that I actually have both or that fibro is a precursor to mets. Whatever the case may be, it sure hurts like hell and is debilitating. The pain was so bad that my husband couldn't even hug me. I got put on several very strong pain meds--non of which I can take now because of chemo. When pain flares now I take Oxycodone/Percocet.
After my first diagnosis of breast cancer I developed both fibromyalgia and mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD). I had severe aches and pain, pericarditis, and plueresy. I tried a lot of different meds but what has worked for me is clinirol (precsription NSAID), Flexeril ( muscle relaxer) at night, which is used a lot for improving sleep when you have fibromyalgia. I also take predisone but that is for the MCTD. I see a homeopathic doctor for a vitamin regiment that helps reduce inflamation. I can say when I do the meds and vitamin regiment as prescribed I do pretty well. Surprisingly most of the chemo treatments help MCTD, as chemo is sometimes used to treat it in low doses. Another thing that really helps A LOT is yoga. It was very difficult to do at first, but it was not long before I couldn't wait to go because I love the way I feel afterward.
I was dx with myofascial pain syndrome, which is sort of a local fibromyalgia since 2005. I have several autoimmune disease such uveitis, psoriasis (2 kinds). I have been using methotrexate (pill form). When I have a flare up, pain med don't do much. I do take muscle relaxers. In 2008 I was dx with widespread pulmonary and pleural metastasis. I am currently using femara. I was on Faslodex until February.
The pain when I have a flare up is the worse I've experience. I was badly burned with deep 2nd degree burns years ago. I think the pain is right up there with the burns.
I also had terrible muscle/joint pain while on Femara...I was also on Paxil and was in the process of coming off this med; I saw my GP explaining how difficult it was for me to reduce my Paxil and he recommended that I just cut over to a different med. that did the same thing, which I did...he pointed out that the new med also had pain benefits for fibromyalgia and neuropathy..I was skeptical, but it worked!! My muscle/joint pain is considerably less...keep in mind Paxil is an antidepressant and I switched to Cymbalta, which is also an antidepressent, but Paxil is an SSRI and Cymbalta is an SNRI...it might be worth talking to your Onc or GP about, not for the anti depressent benefits, but for the pain benefits....
Add to the discussion