If other medications don’t work, anti-inflammatories, exercise or acupuncture might help
Dear Dr. Roach: I am an 80-year-old woman. Three years ago, I had breast cancer surgery. After surgery, my oncologist said I should take medication for five years to prevent cancer recurrence. After three-and-a-half years on this medicine, I began having terrible shoulder, lower back and hip pain. I tried two other medications, but nothing changed. I was told that no other options were available for me.
There are other ways to try to reduce these side effects. Anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen or naproxen , and exercise are the first-line treatments. Many people worry about exercising due to the pain, but 20% of women who were recommended exercise and NSAIDs felt a significant improvement in their pain, compared to 1% of women who got the usual care.
When nothing works, many oncologists will switch their patients from an aromatase inhibitor to tamoxifen, which also reduces risk of recurrence, but not quite as well.
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