Sore feet and Letrozole

I take Letrozole and have both foot and hand pain. The pain is on the top of my feet and the hand pain is primarily in my thumbs. I've been treating it fairly successfully with Tylenol.

I stopped Letrozole after 5 months due to debilitating pain in feet, hands, all joints. It started slowly and grew. Please research this drug - it has also caused trigger finger in both my hands - one middle finger and one pointer finger.

After stopping - now 7ish weeks, the joint and feet pain has dropped to about a 3/10 from 9/10 on good days.
My hands have neuropathy, especially my right hand - which my oncologist says may never recover. It may take well into a year or more if at all.

I opted out of all the standard cancer drugs and am in a watchful waiting period. I take some herbs and mushrooms - hoping for the best.

Quality of life is critical to me - I'm 62 and felt like my life was over.

Good luck. (p.s. my oncologist had me try cymbalta for the pain - it didn't touch the paid and he discontinued it by ramping down over weeks. xo

I also have the stiffness in my fingers in the morning and noticed sometimes it is swollen. My Oncologist prescribed Arcoxia. Hope and pray it helps. This medication causing all kinds of aches.

I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer on 2004. It was also
discovered that I had the BRCA 1gene.

I had a bilateral mastectomy and also had my ovaries removed as my cancer was estrogen fueled
I was put on Famara after my two rounds of chemo and a month of radiation.

After a few weeks of being Femara ,I started getting pretty bad joint pain and fatigue. The joint pain was mostly in my feet and ankles and hands and fingers and elbows. I did the best to stay on it for over a year mainly because my mother, maternal aunt, maternal grandmother and maternal grandmother died from breast cancer.

Once I stopped taking it, the pain and fatigue stopped and I was so relieved and I knew I would only need to be on it for four more years so I decided to give it the old college try.
Yeah it was a pretty awful four years, and then they were recommending being on for 10 years,which is when I decided to stop taking it again.
My Quality of life had so deteriorated I knew I would never be able to do it.
I have been living with a horrible and chronic joint pain as well as fatigue ever since and just wondering if anyone else out there had taken it that long ago when it was actually relatively new and if they did if they are still suffering like I am and if there is anything to do about it?

I am 67 now so I was 46 when first diagnosed. As I have older it has gotten so much worse.

In 2004 I had four sons ranging from 10 to 20 years old,now I have four sons, four daughters -in-law and TWELVE grandchild and it just breaks my heart that I am not able to do anything with them. It is extremely depressing.
I also have several different back issues and see a pain specialist, but I feel if I didn’t have all this joint pain I and fatigue I might be able to push through the back issues and in turn be able to get down on the floor and play with my grandchildren and/or I would be happy just to be able to take some them for a walk, which I have never been able to do

Sorry for such a long text, but I’m just wondering if there is anyone else out there that has experienced this or if anyone knows if there’s any type of treatment for it. I have been to four different rheumatologist over the years thinking maybe it was rheumatoid arthritis or something like that but I just negative every time.

Thank you for listening and I would love to hear your stories.
Blessings to all!!♥️

@mimistu12

Hi! Mimi:

Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

I am so sorry for all your sufferings; however, I truly admire your perseverance and courage to stay on this AI medication Famara for as long as you can while enduring through so much pain and fatigue! I am grateful and encouraged to learn that this medication has stopped the growth of cancerous cells that rely on estrogen to thrive, and keeps you from the recurrence of BC disease for 21 years - and counting - with family history and BRCA gene. Such an inspiring story!

I am not any expert; however, I found that physical therapists and occupational therapists have been helping me mitigate and reduce the aches and pains in my joints, back, hands, fingers, etc. It's not an ideal solution; however, it helps me function my daily life as normally as I could. One of our friends, @oregonmbcsurvives, at this site suggested that Chi gong practice has been particularly effective at joint pain relief. Perhaps you may consider giving it a try?

Thanks again for sharing your inspiring story with us! My prayers are with you for a better journey ahead with hope, peace, love and joy to enjoy your lovely grandchildren and loved ones!