Pain in Hips and lower back

[Cal-Gal]

Hi Ladies and Gents,

I completed Herceptin about 8 weeks ago. Chemo 14 months ago--

During chemo I started having pain in my hips especially when I was sleeping on my hip--like a burning pain--I never had this prior to chemo--it started on the L side--now as of a few months ago--both hips are effected.

The pain got a bit better around the first of the year---but got worse about 3 months ago--My Onc did a Bone Scan and DEXA both were normal---

The pain is getting worse the last week-it is now waking me up at night---I went to my PCP and she has ordered an x-ray and told me to take pain reliever at night like tylenol-aleve--I hesitate as I have an ulcer (thanks to chemo) and am 2 prescrips for the ulcer---

Have not had the xray--headed out of town for a week--will have upon my return--dont know what an xray will show that the bone scan didnt?

Anyone else out there with this type of pain happening???????

Otherwise--I feel great!!!

Hugs,

[ElaineM]

Could this be osteoporosis or osteoarthritis? If there is bone thinning it might show up on an xray. That is how my osteoarthritis was diagnosed. You can ask for a dexa scan to see if you have osteoporosis. That is usually the standard test to diagnose that.
I hope you feel better soon.

[BonnieR]

Elaine, I wondered about that too, but CalGal did say that the DEXA was normal. I assume the tests would have shown if it was arthritis?
Sort of sounds like sciatica, the "burning pain" part. But I don't think of that happening on both sides at once. But I guess it could.
Keep the faith.

[Lani]

are you "well-upholstered" or relatively skinny?

Hip pain is usually felt in the groin. If what you are describing is pain "north" of your thigh and "south" of your waist located on your side in the area that hurts when a skinny bony person lies on a hard surface, it might be trochanteric bursitis.

You do not say if you are taking AIs (notorious for causing musculoskeletal pain) but even if you are not, taking chemo forces most into prematrue menopause and the lack of estrogen seems to bring on a varying degree of musculoskeletal complaints in women. These often include tendinitis and bursitis evidence of the problem can even be picked up on MRIs.

There are a variety of options for treating it IF(and I said IF) it is bursitis ( I am not saying it is--just throwing something out for you to consider) without NSAIDs if you already have had an ulcer. These include ultrasound treatments and injections into the bursa.

I may be barking up the entirely wrong tree, but people who complain of pain in the "hip" when they sleep on their side may be referring to their trochanteric bursa area by a misnomer.

Feel free to pooh-pooh me, as I am certainly speculating.

Glad you feel great otherwise! Keep it up!

[Chelee]

Cal Gal, Since you have had a bone & DEXA scan that were clear...my guess would be bursitis. I was seeing a Neurologist long before I was dx with bc for pain in my hips. Found out it was bursitis. It causes inflammation & burning pain in the hip. It can be very painful. Some times it's not as bad as other days. Alot depends on what I've done.

Google "Bursitis" and see what you think? It would explain the pain your having. What you describe sounds just like what I was experiencing. I've always been a "side" sleeper and it became impossible...that's what sent me running to a Neurologist which then dx me. Hope this helps.

Chelee

[Cal-Gal]

Thanks all for the info and feedback---

Yes, did have a DEXA and that is fine--

I will go ahead and google bursitis--and osteoarthritis-I am not a thin person--at least right now--chemo added about 20lbs to my body--and I am having a heck of a time losing it--done WW---walk etc---

Thanks again to all of you wonderful ladies---guess I will see what the xray shows--don't see ONC for another 5 wks---

Hugs,

[Cal-Gal]

Just googled bursitis and osteoarthritis---guess it could be either one---

all I know is that I DID NOT HAVE THIS BEFORE CHEMO!!!!

The only drugs I am on are Nexium and Syntroid--

PS Lani---No I am not on AI's-----I am ER/PR-

Thanks again, you guys are the bestest!!!

Hugs

[tricia keegan]

Cal Gal, at the risk of repeating myself I can tell you I've had similar pain on and off since chemo finished and I'm five years out now.
I had many scans earlier this year for suspected bone mets but thankfully all was well eventually although it took two months of stress to discover that!
I hope yours too is due to some other issue's, and I find I have many aches from chemo I did'nt have before!

[Cal-Gal]

Hi Tricia,

Wow--amazing all these side effects--I guess that is the tradeoff:)

Glad yours did not turn out to be mets--of course that is what goes through my mind with all this pain--but I have been cleared also--

Be well---Hugs,

[Yorkiegirl]

I have had pain in my hip's and back ever since I finished treatment. 5 yrs ago I finished Chemo and 4 years ago I finished herceptin. I have had all scans and they show nothing at all. walking on the treadmill does seem to ease the pain some, but it's very frustrating.

[Cal-Gal]

Thanks Vicki--my Onc said it should go away--I guess it doesn't always---

hugs,

[vlcarr]

Hi Cal Gal,

I have the same problem. Like you, I would wake up at night with horrible "hip" pain and I've always been a side sleeper. I had my last herceptin about 8 weeks ago too. My hips & lower back still bother me. I had all the tests too and it showed nothing. I'm not on AI's either as I'm hormone negative like you. I would describe my pain exactly as you did!

[Cal-Gal]

Hi Vicky--

Thanks for letting me know---hopefully in time this pain will lessen!!!

Feel better--

hugs,

[mmoons]

Oh my gosh, Cal-Gal!! You and I have so many similarities in our journey. And right now I too am having an awful time with a sore lower back. My last Herceptin was May 20. I will let you know what I find out as I try to get to the bottom of this.

I hope you feel better soon!

Hugs,
Maureen

[Jackie07]

Cal-Gal and Maureen,

Just wanted to share with you all about the 'degeneration' on my cervical vertebrae. My neck started to hurt two years after ending my chemo/Herceptin at 22 weeks. It sent me to ER a couple of times because I had vertigo. Turned out it was 'degeneration' which, according to my 2nd Sister-in-law's oncologist in Taiwan, is most likely linked to the chemo and Tamoxifen. MRI also showed that there was some enlargement of the three tumors (Central Neurocytoma - unrelated to BC) in my brain (r. lateral ventricle.)

Cal-Gal, why (and how) did you take the HNPCC test? I thought it was just based on family history. I am pretty sure I am part of the cluster because I have had both brain tumor and breast cancer, Mother has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and 2nd Brother just got his colon cancer (he said it was a 'huge' one) treated. I went ahead had hysterectomy/oophorectomy and have been feeling so much better (lips no longer peeling - signs of low-grade fever.)

[fauxgypsy]

I have what appears to be the same pain. A few times I have almost fallen from it. I thought it might be side effect of the AIs but I am not sure. It is usually worse at night but sometimes if I move wrong it can be really bad.

[Midwest Alice]

I have hip and back pain too. I have been working to get to the bottom of it too. I have had xrays of my hips and I have bone spurs. I have little rotation in my hips. It is worse as the day goes on and I have a hard time standing straight when I get up.

[Cal-Gal]

Hi Ladies,

I have been out of town for a week, so I am just getting to these replies.

SO sorry that we all seem to be having these debilitating issues!!!

I am having a hip x-ray this week--to see if it shows anything different than the bone scan?

I was in 24/7 pain this week, until I went back to yoga class=this also helped last Dec-March-but I had to discontinue yoga when I got vertigo-etc and fainted and ended up in ER---

So for now--the hip x-ray and I will go back to yoga once a week--

Maureen,let me know how it goes--I have read your blog several times--wow--you are so inspirational!!!!

Jackie---hmmmmm---interesting......I had the HNPCC as my Dad-and both his parents passed of Colon Cancer--My Dad's sister and a cousin both passed young of Ovarian Cancer--According to the 'old' method (Stockholm criteria or something like that) of assessing genetic traits I was a positive--so Insurance covered it--I was a negative, however nothing is fool-proof and I am still being cautious since I have a history of pre-cancerous polyps.

Alice--I am not on AI's--I am ER/PR-, and it may also be a side effect of AI's---

Love and Hugs,

[Jackie07]

Cal-Gal,

I've read in one article that even if the HNPCC gene is not present, one can still be considered high risk just based on family history. I guess more genetic connections are expected to be discovered later.

http://www.genetichealth.com/CRC_HNPCC_A_Hereditary_Syndrome.shtml

http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/colon-cancer


Marcia had told me about the story of the Jews in Kaifeng, China, after I had received my BRCA test result. Then I found this article from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews

I looked up the genealogy of my family and found some interesting facts. Both of my parents are from the province of Yunnan which is just next to the province where 'Kaifeng' was located and my Grandfathers on both sides were merchants. Mother's family lived in Kunming, the Capitol that is about 5, 6 hundreds miles from the deep mountainous region where Father was brought up. Father came (literally by 'climbing out of the mountains')to the Capitol to finish high school while residing in a place arranged by my Mother's parents.

Father is from a region where the 'Chiang' people are located and this fair-skinned miority in southwest China has been linked to one of the 10 Lost Tribes.

As children we always marveled at how 'light-skinned' my father is. One can not see it by the skin on his face because his face is usually 'red' as if he'd been drinking. Father's family can be traced (more than 2000 years) back to the East coast Province of Xiantung where the existence of Jewish communities has also been recorded. We suspected that his ancestors had possibly been either 'exiled' to the far Southwest region or took refuge there during one of the many wars in Chinese history.

Mother is also very fair-skinned and her Father had travelled all over southeast Asia. After WWII, when my Mother was fleeing the Communists, she stayed in Shanghai for quite a while, drawing 'allowance' from the bank of her Father's business associates to subsidize my Father's meager salary as a Nationalist Army officer.

When I had requested for the BRCA testing, my oncologist (of Norwegian descent) thought I was merely being hypochondriac. Turned out I did have a BRCA1-VUS. I did not decide to have the prophylactic procedure until I heard about my 2nd Brother's (10 years my senior) colon cancer treatment last fall. My family 'concealed' the information from me because I've been chronically ill and living far away from home - not supposed to be 'burdened by bad news' of any sort (The Chinese have known quite a bit about psychology' in the aspect of 'common sense' since ancient time.)

My Father-in-law is a blue-eyed 2nd generation Swedish American and his Mother was said to be of Jewish descent from Poland. Father-in-law grew up in Central Texas and every once in a while he would repeat some of his Mother's non-English phrases which my Sister-in-law (a RD and a Ph. D in nutrition) had figured out to be possibly 'Yiddish'. Our dermatologist had said that both my husband and I have 'olive-skin'. We at first just thought that's because all humans came 'out of Africa'. Now we know there might be something more.

It's really interesting how couples meet. All of my three Sister-in-laws are fair-skinned and their fathers were businessmen in Taiwan. My 2nd Sister-in-law also has been treated for breast cancer in her early 40's.

Please do keep us informed of your test results and remember to go easy on doing Yoga. I quit it after just 10 days because of belly muscle pulls (diastasis recti.)

[Cal-Gal]

Hi Jackie-

Thanks for this--basically this is what the genetic counselor told me--

Great to see this info--

WOW on your family history--all of this is amazing and fascinating!!!! we just don't know what we have inherited!!!

thanks again---

Hugs,