Arthritis vs. Bone Mets
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thanks ya'll. I had the pet scan done today. I'll post the results next monday, after my doctor's appt.
Deb
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Deb, here's wishing for good results .....
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Jo, I haven't gotten to the health food store yet to get the cherry juice. Jo, if the CT Scan comes back with no mets I will feel alot better and believe it. I have to take a xanax cause I am freaking about this. They scanned the entire femur bone to be sure there is no mets. The fear is just overwhelming. The motrin really isn't working and I was gonna switch to some ibuprofen today, so it's funny that you mentioned it. I know I sound like a baby, but sisters, I am scared. I am trying to be positive!! I will be back later.
Deb, we are here waiting with you.
Thank you for being here for me.
hugs and prayers
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I went and bought more cherry juice. The kind I drink is the Lakewood Organic tart cherry. Hopefully, it will help with this new issue in my shoulders. They ache and crack so badly these days. The ache travels all the way across my collarbone.
Prayers and hugs for those of you who are having scans. I went through that back in May--an MRI on my hip and an abdominal CT scan. Luckily, neither showed mets. I'm seeing my onc on Friday. I'm sure she'll send me for more scans after I tell her of my new aches and pains. Sigh.....it just never ends, does it? My 81 year old mother has less pain than I do (I'm 45). It's depressing.
Hugs,
Karen
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Karen, I know what u mean about your mom. My mom is 82, and she isin great shape. She hasn't had 1/2 the problems I have. Good luck seeing your onc on Friday.
Jo, they said my Dr would have results in 24 hours. I asked them to fax them to me too, they said no that Dr has to see them first. I told them that was bull... and I would come to pick them up on Wed. after work..so I am gonna start calling and bothering them now...lol
hugs and prayers
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I tried all my local stores today JO-5, and I could not find one variety of black cherry juice/fruit. Does it have to be black cherry or is it ok to use the normal red cherries? I hope the red ones will do as I can get them in cans.
Thanks in advance,
Sheila.
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I also get mine from a health food store. They had several brands and different types - i.e. tart or black ... etc. Although I had only a little bit of stiffness in my hand before I started the cherry juice last week, it is better now. Maybe just a coincidence? maybe not? I will buy a few more jars of it and use it for a few weeks before I make any kind of decision.
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I just found this post in the active topics and it caught my eye. Candie, I feel your pain because I have the same problem and I think you are going to find out it is the Arimidex. I do have bone mets but this pain is NOT mets if it is what I think is happening. I had pain just like you described, started on the left side mainly in the area of the back side of my butt. As time went on the pain really set in and I could feel it to my knee. I had tests, upon tests upon tests and no one could figure anything out. Then the right side started at that point I was about to the end of my limits. While I was in all this pain my feet atated hurting terrible. They just ached and it was hard to walk. I had an orthopedic dr tell me I had arthritis in my feet, he explained we have about 30 or so joints in our feet and the arthitis loves those joints.
Finally an ortho doc had me do the back injections. I had two sets of facet injections and 1 epidural injection. I am sure that is what you were talking about before. This is really an easy procedure but you do need to have someone drive you home since they are doing things to your spine it is just a safety thing. They give you the option of having Verset for this outpatient tx. That is just a liquid med they give you, it relaxes you, some people actually can't remember anything that happened while under the influence of this drug. I did have that happen to me once so I know it can do that
When I did the injections it gave me slight relief but not very long. After consulting with many ortho docs I was dx with spinal stenosis. I am giving you a link that describes this and I think you will see it may be similar to what you are experiencing. http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-STEN.htm
I ended up having a pain pump put in as opposed to the surgery to repair the problem because I have mets. I chose to take the quick fix rather than the big surgery that could be difficult with my disease. Also, I hate saying this but my life is limited and I don't want to waste the months it would take me to recover when I could have the pump put in and be up and about quickly and preserves my quality of life. If I did not have mets I would have had the surgery to correct the problem.
You also need to have your ANA, RA Factor and inflamation factor tested. These are blood tests. I suspect that they may show you possibly have rheumatoid arthritis. That affects joints and combining that disease with any form of sciatica is just toture! If your blood does show there is and indication of RA or possibly Lupus then you need to get seen by a rheumatologist. They are the ones that handle arthritis pain, RA and Lupus. It seems like alot but unfortunately this can happen with these drugs.
I was on Arimidex when all this happened to me. I never had any arthritis pains that I was aware of before I was put on arimidex. I now associate these problems with Arimidex alothough my onc says its a fluke. Yeah right! Anyway, I would talk to my onc if I were you and look into taking a different hormonal agent. I actually went into my oncs office crying one day saying if they couldn't get this pain figured out and relieved thn I want quit arimidex and would rather die than feel that bad! He thne know I was very serious about my pain levels.
I hope this helps ease your mind and the best test to prove it is not mets in this case would almost be a PET/CT scan. That will show the arthritic changes and if it looks suspicious for cancer they should be able to accurately determine if it is mets or not with this scan. The PET/CT lights up where the is active cancer, that is why they can better tell what is arthritis and what is mets.
I'm sorry you are going thru all this because it is just downright miserable. I did find heat helped ease up the pain. I have a heated fleece throw blanket I lay that in my recliner and turn it own. It puts heat on my spine and eases that sciatic pain. At bed time I take the blacket with me to bed and lay on it at night. It really helps alot.
Bottom line you need to sort out exactly what is wrong and get to the right doctors. Although the drug the onc gave you may be the culprit of your pain, the onc is just not the doc to fix this one. Good luck and please get these tests done so you can get some relief!
FYI - I have had mets over 3 years now and my mets are still as small or smaller and as confined as they were when I was dx 3 years ago. So hearing something might be mets ist still not the end of the world. We always seem to find a way to carry on.
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Candie, I take an AWFUL lot of pain meds every day.
Tridural 300
Celebrex
Torredol
Demerol
And, I take 3 extra strength Tylenols so I can shower in the morning and before I go to bed so I can get to sleep.
THAT'S a lot of pain meds!
Praying that it is all B9, PLEASE let us know! And PLEASE get pain meds! I, too, like LuAnn, had epidurals (5), nerve blocks and other treatments to try to break the pain cycle. This is serious shit and you have to get serious help!
I just picked up my handicapped license plate yesterday....
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Hi
Well, I am mentally exhausted. Thank you for your posts. The CT Scan shows mild arthritis and no mets.
The orthopedic surgeon suggests that I get in touch with my onc and see if he thinks I should have a PET scan cause he doesn't know what do next!!! And this I found out about 20 minutes ago. My onc is off on Fridays but I will talk to his nurse tomorrow.
The pain is still here. Last night I cried myself to sleep.
Luann, thanks for your very informative post. I will follow up on some of the things you suggested.
Barbe, I don't want to go the way of pain meds as I have to work everyday, but I may have to.what I want is someone to help me!!!
Jo, thanks for watching out for me.
I will be in touch again as soon as I talk to the onc.
hugs and prayers
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Candie
The same thing happened to me 5 months ago on Arimex as you know ( I even sent you the remainder of my supply)
I went off Arimidex in April and things have been better but not entirely. I went and got PT 3x a week and just have to do a lot to take care of lower back and hips.
PT, YOGA, lots of advil, stretching, etc etc I will never be the same and I am only 44.
I know Arimedex can do this.
I would not worry about a PET, you have had an MRI and a CT thats enough as my DOCS said.
Ask about Tamox or Femara.
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Candie, I am glad the tests didn't reveal anything sinster. I would talk to your concologist about giong off of the Arimedex; it really sounds to me like that could be the culprit. There are alternatives as mmm5 suggest. It is a quality of life issue.
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Jo
Your theory on the bottom is correct, it doesn't just go away after stopping. I have a friend my age that also did arimidex for 6 months then quit and didn't feel better for a year.
I quit AI's in July at suggestion of Doc and I still feel like HE##**!
What is anyone's theory on this? Why after meds are out of system do we have these problems? I am only 44 with no history of Arth.
I am like Candi and had many MRI"s etc and only came up with minor Arthritis.
Why would it not improve after meds are done. Jo do your feet still hurt, my feet hurt more than they ever have the bones in my feet hurt and throb it is a nightmare.
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Oh lord give me STRENGTH.
Jo what is your pain like? Is it sore or do your feet, knee bones throb sometimes with pain.My fingers will just ache like severe bone pain.
So you have spoken with women that go off and it does take that long? But then they say it really does get better after 2 years, I guess I am just wondering if there is really hope for this to get better?
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I shared my story just as informational reasons as to what is happening to you. I don't want anyone to misunderstand and think it is to give you a reason to not follow the estrogen reduction therapy. I would have endured the side effects of arimidex probably if I had not had mets. But I think I would have looked into alternative answers also. Armidex can be very difficult to handle by some. For those I would recommend asking your onc to take a different hormonal agent. There are more to choose from that may have less side effects. Having mets I have used some of the other drugs without one fourth of the trouble arimidex caused me. So please speak to your onc if the side effects are that difficult.
When it comes to managing this pain I have to say after 2 years of working on managing my pain, my rheumatologist is my best friend. She has the resources and knows enough about arthritic pain to help you with your problems. Physical Therapy is a good route to try to ease the pain. I would highly recommend aqua therapy. Just trying to say there are ways to help this pain without going the narcotic route if you want to. Candiee I am glad all your tests came back negative, time to get yourself in with a good rheumatologist and possible ortho doc that work together, hopefully that will help get your pain under control.
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Candie, I'm popping in to check on you. I'm so glad that your tests didn't show mets. I know what a relief it is, but I also know that the constant aches and pains are frustrating. This week my right shoulder blade is killing me. Also, my collar bone and right thumb joint ache. We'll see what hurts next week.......
JO-5. I've noticed that my knee hurts less since starting the cherry juice again.
Hugs,
Karen
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Candie, don't get me wrong! I have worked every single day that I haven't been in the hospital. I have to...I'm the one with the DH with 3 brain tumours. Someone has to pay the morgage....sigh.
I was on Oxycontin once for 9 months and the first week I was too woozy to drive so I had to get help, but then my body got used to it and I drove myself. That was the narcotic equivalent of 25 Percocets a day! I HAVE to work. I have a lot of trouble getting out of the car after my hour commute each way and sometimes have to get my DH to come out and help me out of the car. Then I have about 8 bloody steps to get into the house. Some days it's just so hard.....
Can't remember if I've mentioned that I have Fibromyalgia as well.....that causes an exageration of pain as well!
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Hi, I called my onc today to see what he thinks again per the ortho surgeon. I also was able to get an appointment today with my PCP. She is great and I am sure she will help me. I should have done this sooner. She sent me to the orth guy 3 months ago and wait til she sees I am in worse condition.
You have all helped me a great deal. All your posts are informative and interesting and I am taking them all into consideration.
mmm5, yes, I do remember you.
It can most probably be the arimidex it makes sense. This past April, I had wrist surgery. It is now starting to pain me the same way. The hoot is I can't go back to the Dr that did the surgery 'cause they don't take my insurance anymore.
Well,I am very glad to go to my PCP today. She has always treated me very well and I am confident she will help me. I am so grateful for all of your replies.
Barbe, I think I am going to try a pain killer as it is exhausting me and am tired of feeling like a cripple. I wonder about fibromialgia also. The pain is constant and now has spead to both legs, thighs,shins,knees and ankles.
LuAnn, I have thought about a rhuematologist. I am going to speak to my PCP today.
I will be in touch later tonight.Thanks
Barb
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Barbe, I'm so sorry that you suffer so much. This getting older business is difficult but it's better than the alternative so do your best to keep your spirits up - you have a wonderful sense of humour and I'm sure that helps.
JO, sorry to hear you are still having tummy troubles. I've been on the cherry juice for about a week now and my hands are not getting worse - in fact I'd say they are better - just a little twinge now and then. I've been on the Arimidex for 2 months now and I know that some say it hits more strongly after 3 months ... so time will tell.
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Hi ya'll. I had my oncologist appt today, and I found out my pet scan showed no cancer anywhere. I'm so relieved.
Take care everyone,
Deb
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You must be on cloud B9 Deb!
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Hoot I am.
I've used it for a long time but I don't think anyone has noticed my pun....thanks!
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congrats Deb for B9!!
ok, so my PCP is stumped. She says the scans say only minimal arthritis..not enough to say that I need a hip replacement. She thinks pain in legs must be from lower back as MRI showed 2 bulging discs. She gave me script for yet another antiinflammatory. I am to call her after I see the other orthopedic next Tues. She agreed with onc on all accounts even going to another orthopedic. So I will wait and see for my appt next week and take it from there. I may break down and ask for a pin killer but not yet...they so don't agree with me.
Love to you all. I am at work and busy so I can only post quickly right now. I will be backon.
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Jo, thanks for the ino. I tok one of the inflammatory pills and it tis making me sick to my stomach and so sleepy I almost fell asleep driving at lucntime. I cant wait to go home to go to bed. It has releived some of the pain. I am not good with meds like this. Always makes me sick and I ate beofre I took it. It says to take 2 a day but I am only gonna take one a day.
Candie
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Jo
I continue to feel better all the time, so I think it was the Arimidex. My hip x-ray is not scheduled until Dec. so my onc not too worried about it. I get less worried all the time because I feel so much better. I went right from Arimidex to Aromasin without a break and that seemed to work.
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Well, I have decided not to take that stuff again. I had diarhea (sp) for about 5 hours last night also. It did take the pain away but I cannot work and function with that stuff. Jo, I took Indocin SR. That's why I suffer with the pain, cause I just don't do well with pain killers and anti-inflammatories. Even antibiotics, I am allergic to penicillin and mycin family.
So now that I know I am falling apart at the seams, my breast is paining me where my surgery was. My PCP says to go see my breast surgeon. Yeah, I get to make another Dr's appointment. WTF!!!
Well, have a good day ladies, I will be back later. I have to get some work done today as I got behind from being "lulu" here yesterday, lol.
hugs!!
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Geez Candie, so sorry the inflamatory didn't work. Have you tried Toredol? How about just a pain med then?
I have 3 bulging disks in my spine that they can do nothing about. They thought they were a tumour until I had an MRI and they realized it was the disks bulging into my spine!
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Jo, I took Indocin...but will not be taking it again. I feel asleep at my desk. One of my coworkers drove me home, I couldn't walk let alone drive. And I had massive diarhea (sp) (sorry to be so graphic..lol)until 10 pm last night. It did take the pain away...but I couldn't function otherwise.
I found out from the pharmacy that is comes in 25mg and 50 mg. I took 75. I am gonna call the Dr and see if she will give me 25 to try. I am still woozie today...it is extended release that's why.
hugs
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I just called the pharmacy and found that Indocin comes in 25 mg and 50mg. I took 75. I am going to call the Dr and see if she will let me try the 25mg. It might be better.
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Jo, it is a capsule.
I got 25 mg this morning and I just took it. I sure hope it works. I called my PCP at 7 this morning, I can't take the pain. I can't put pressure on my leg to walk. I lean on the cane more. I sure hope the new orthopedic surgeon does something for me on Tues. I went back and read a few posts. I can't believe how many words I mispelled when I took that other pill the other day..lol..oh my, I sounded drunk!! lol
hugs and prayers
Candie
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