[DiDi70]

Hello Cher,

I am so sorry to hear of your pain and sleeplessness.

There are quite a few women on this board who have reported joint pain, and I am one of them. I am not on Tamoxifen or AIs and I am 40 years old. I too suffer from achey joints all the way from my shoulder to my ankles. It is hard for me to tell if the pains are related to Herceptin or menopause or still lingering effects from Taxotere which caused me to have severe bone pain. My Doctors think it's from the Taxotere, but ladies at my clinic swear that the Herceptin is causing their pain.

Regardless, I have found that the more I move, the better I feel. Swimming provides some nice and relaxing relief for me and has the added advantage of moving lymph around the body while keeping a bit of pressure on the limb affected by node removal. Aqua-aerobics are making a big change in how I feel too, so perhaps it might be worth looking into?

Have you tried any relaxation CDs accompanied by deep breathing exercises to help you sleep?

Lastly, I suppose you have tried this, but I will suggest it just in case: Try to have a bedtime routine and a waking routine and stick to it as much as you can. Hopefully this will get your body and mind to form a habit and enable you to get some much needed rest and sleep each night. I set an alarm clock to wake me up at the same time each morning, even though there are days that I would love to sleep in. I find that if I sleep in even for an hour that it disrupts my sleep later that night.

Wishing you plentiful zzzzzzzzzzzzs in New "Z"land.

Deirdre