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Bone pain with chemo: What helps?

Posted by crickard70 @crickard70, Mar 5, 2024

I have a high ca-19 so I am back on chemo. It is so painful, starts in knees and goes from head to toe. Have a morphine patch and it doesn’t help with the pain. Any suggestions?

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Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | Jun 4 8:19am
In reply to @jenniferk007 "My bone pain didn't hit until day 5, unfortunately I'd completely forgotten about my DR recommending..." + (show)
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My bone pain didn't hit until day 5, unfortunately I'd completely forgotten about my DR recommending Claritin and I'd forgot they'd mentioned the bone pain at all .. I was in HELL as the pain kept radiating worse and worse through my pelvis, hips, and back. I seriously thought I had a slipped disk in my back or something and would need to go to the hospital... when it got worse I thought "wow. This almost feels worse than contractions during labor..." then googled "chemotherapy and lower back pain" and felt retarded when it'd mentioned neulasta and the bone pain side effects as I INSTANTLY remembered my doctor telling me that...🤦‍♀️it was a bit too late for Claritin at that point, but I tried to remember it everyday afterward... I'm hoping it'll be better next time, if not I will DEFINITELY be trying the DM version of claritin. @loribmt

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Hi @jenniferk007 Oh gurl…you had me cringing this morning. I can absolutely empathize with you…the bone pain from Neulasta was the worst pain I’d ever experience. Way worse than childbirth for me.

I bet you won’t forget to take the Claritin again! My instructions were to begin taking 1 Claritin capsule the day of the injection and continue one daily for 7 to 10 days. It works really well! ( Only 1 pill every 24 hours
There is no need to take Claritin-D. The D is a decongestant which you won’t require.)

Neulasta is used to help people with low neutrophils to encourage the rapid regrowth of those white blood cells. Especially after chemo. Low neutrophils leave people vulnerable to illness and infections. So it’s important to build those white blood cells up quickly. This takes place in the bone marrow. As the cells proliferate, the large amounts of cells put pressure on the inside of the bone (hence the pain!) until the cells finally spill out into the blood stream. The antihistamine in the Claritin helps with the bone pain.
Here’s a link to a good article with the explanation: https://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/features/bone-pain-due-to-white-blood-cell-growth-factors/

By the way, welcome to Connect! It sounds like you just started chemo treatments, having completed the first round. If you don’t mind sharing, what type of cancer do you have?

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zacheth2 | @zacheth2 | Jun 4 12:10pm
In reply to @jenniferk007 "My bone pain didn't hit until day 5, unfortunately I'd completely forgotten about my DR recommending..." + (show)
Profile picture for jenniferk007 @jenniferk007

My bone pain didn't hit until day 5, unfortunately I'd completely forgotten about my DR recommending Claritin and I'd forgot they'd mentioned the bone pain at all .. I was in HELL as the pain kept radiating worse and worse through my pelvis, hips, and back. I seriously thought I had a slipped disk in my back or something and would need to go to the hospital... when it got worse I thought "wow. This almost feels worse than contractions during labor..." then googled "chemotherapy and lower back pain" and felt retarded when it'd mentioned neulasta and the bone pain side effects as I INSTANTLY remembered my doctor telling me that...🤦‍♀️it was a bit too late for Claritin at that point, but I tried to remember it everyday afterward... I'm hoping it'll be better next time, if not I will DEFINITELY be trying the DM version of claritin. @loribmt

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Claritin (generic loratadine) from the day my husband received his Neulasta shot and the 4 days following prevented bone pain.

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cbeard1 | @cbeard1 | Jun 5 7:41am

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the Claritin has worked for my husband being on the Gemcitabine/Abraxane regimen. Since we are in allergy season I told him to just continue to take it daily so as not to have to remember to take it during the Neulasta injection. It has been working great for the past 3 months. Not sure how it was determined this medication would help so well but grateful it does.

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cathyj1623 | @cathyj1623 | Jun 13 6:40pm
In reply to @ncteacher "Yes, Claritin to help manage the bone pain caused by the white blood cell booster. Mine..." + (show)
Profile picture for ncteacher @ncteacher

Yes, Claritin to help manage the bone pain caused by the white blood cell booster. Mine was Udenyca; another one is Neulasta.

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@ncteacher
Claritin two days before neulasta and 3 days after relieved all bone pain.

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tpoipu51 | @tpoipu51 | 11 hours ago

Have you tried Red-light therapy pads. It has helped me a lot with the pain in my ribs after radiation.

You can buy one on Amazon under $30 when there are specials most are about $40.

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