Lymphedema and does anastrozole cause swollen feet?

You're not whining. You have been through so much and you have so much going on that you can't tell what is causing what. I have stage 2 lymphedema as the result of having 26 lymphnodes removed during a mastectomy. (Only three were cancerous.) I wear compression & a gauntlet and use a pneumatic pump to keep my arm and hand looking normal. My arm has rarely seen the light of day since 2020 and it looks like it belongs to the Pillsbury Doughboy. I was on Anastrozole, had a bad time on it and am now on Tamoxifen. That's another story. I'm afraid I'm not going to be all that helpful but I'll tell you what I know about lymphedema.
Some time after I developed it I developed rotator cuff syndrome, tennis elbow and DeQuervain's Tendonitis.
I knew this wasn't coincidence. I was sent to an OT who had experience with lymphedema. She told me that when you have lymphedema, every move you make with that arm takes more energy than normal because you have that additional fluid in your arm. I don't know this of course, but that might be why you have the hand pain. When I had the DeQuervain's I was sent to a OT who was trained in hand therapy. I learned some very gentle exercises.
Did the Depuytren's start since you have had lymphedema? I was told that many people who have lymphedema develop DeQuervain's and rotator cuff syndrome. Do you have a lymphedema therapist? It would be a good idea to check in with a PT who is LANA (Lymphology Association of North America) certified. She/he would know if the Depuytren's is related or being made worse by the lymphedema and if the hand pain is related to the lymphedema.
I always blame everything on being on the computer and sometimes it has nothing to do with it!

I did a quick Google search of side effects of Anastrozole and it did list swelling of the feet. You should let your oncologist know about this.

I am afraid this won't be too helpful. I just wanted you to know you're not whining. This cancer business is overwhelming sometimes. This is the place to ask questions and express your concerns.

I had a necessary bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction early stage— Anastozole for 5 years + Prolia as my only treatment. I had found a study out of Australia from an oncologist who listed many of these side effects and long term. I had 7 and 3 lymph nodes removed but they never got the sentinel node on one side. I developed lymphatic cording 2 years post surgery which most doctors were not familiar with but I finally found PT who specialized in lymphedema and cording and it helped a lot. I religiously did the exercises at home and then I discovered that yoga has the same exercises so I have since been sticking with yoga which helps so much.
Last year I had surgery for tenosynovitis after 2 rounds of cortisone which only worked temporarily, so post finishing anastozole.
I don’t know for sure but both side effects are on the list.
I don’t think they really know and Tamoxifen apparently has its own issues. Lots of people do 5 and even 10 years with no issues. My surgeon believes it’s the removal of lymph nodes that can cause it.
It’s a lot and this is the place where no one will say that you are whining.

@kamra I don’t know about dupuytrens but the swelling is definitely a thing. It isn’t always about being on the computer but that could definitely compound the problem. I do find that long flights make it worse. I wear my compression sleeve when I am flying to the east coast with work. Luckily it isn’t too often but typically a 9 hour flight. Then a couple of stressful days in meetings then fly home again. Even in person meetings require almost constant computer work during the meetings. Theses are not exactly your situation, but similar enough for me to how understand how grueling it can be. If my work weren’t so perfect for me, and so rewarding, I wouldn’t do it.
Now that you have had some time to recover, have things gotten better? Have you seen a doctor?

You are not whining ❤️! I had a lumpectomy and sentinal lymph node removed. Started on Letrozole. After only 3 weeks on Letrozole I developed carpel and cubital tubal in both arms. It was so severe that I had bilateral surgery. I’m trying my 3rd AI. All I can say are the side effects are terrible. I hope you feel better.

Recently my feet have started swelling every afternoon. I've been on anastrozole for about 1 year, post surgery. I was on it six months before surgery to shrink the tumor as well. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this and what they did about it. Thank you.

I was on Tamoxifen. It swelled up my feet and ankles, so I would assume your medication would do the same. I went off it, and the swelling went away.

Thank you so much for your reply. I did have Dupuytren's before lymphedema. It makes it very difficult to wear compression on my hand. But I find wearing a very light compression fingerless glove in the evening helps a lot. I am concerned that medication might be causing the feet to swell. Thanks. I will talk to the oncologist about that. Thank you for your response.

Oh, and I do have a lymphedema therapist who has been helpful.

Thank you for your story. I do yoga, but not frequently enough. I'm going to up my game on that. My lymphedema therapist said they don't know enough but it could be that people who don't have a "sentinel" lymph node but just nodes that all work together may be more likely to get lymphedema when one is removed. It's an interesting theory.

Does the flying make your lymphedema worse? Does it stabilize when you come home? I'm a little afraid to fly, but I want to. Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.