Chemo and Fibromyalgia connection

Hi, Karrgal and welcome! From what I’ve been reading, using aromatase drugs can have the side affect of muscle and joint pain. There were quite a few articles about this and it’s considered a common side affect of these drugs. Here is a link about it.

https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/cymbalta-eases-joint-pain-from-ais

They think fibromyalgia is possibly a neurological problem. Also, to get a correct diagnosis of fibro, you need to rule out other illnesses that have many of the same symptoms as fibro...things like Lyme disease, lupus and MS. There is no good test for fibro so these have to be ruled out and then a diagnosis of fibro is usually given if nothing else shows. If your doctor just gave a diagnosis without doing testing to rule out other illnesses, you need to get another opinion. A good board certified rheumatologist would be a good doctor to see.

Fibro is also not considered a progressive illness. When my back started getting worse and worse, I saw a rheumatologist and was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis along with fibro. A muscle relaxer called Robaxin (methocarbamol) made a significant difference in my pain. Maybe that could help you too.

Lastly, fibro doesn’t really affect the joints. It affects the muscles, tendons, and ligaments but those do help with the movement of the joints so it feels like joint pain. There is no damage to joints like you would get with rheumatoid arthritis.

The first thread on the forum, Fibro 101, has good info about fibro. You can check that out to see if any of it sounds like what you are going through.

I hope this has helped you some. I don’t blame you for questioning the diagnosis. There is a lot of info out there about using aromatase drugs and joint pain and your doctor should know this. Please let us know what you do and find out because we care about you. If you truly have fibro, come back and we can help you with good advice on dealing with this illness. I hope to hear more from you soon.

Sherrine

Thank you for replying. I have seasonal allergies, dog allergies and sensitive skin. So much so the chemo was causing angry boils so I had to stop. Dr had not seen that ever before. First chemo felt as if someone had taken a baseball bat to my legs. Fried my nerves and I have neuropathy in my hands and feet. I have been struggling with my weight and despite seeing a naturopath and doing everything right I cannot lose anything. I believe it’s all tied together. What is this disorder you mentioned???