How to Help the Pain from Aromatase Inhibitors
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are known to cause muscle and joint pain. Learn more about how to decrease this pain with Leslie J. Waltke, cancer physical therapy specialist!
Post-menopausal women with estrogen-positive breast cancer, do your aromatase inhibitor make you feel like you’re 90 years old?
I’m oncology physical therapy specialist Dr.Leslie Waltke. Welcome to The Recovery Room.
Aromatase inhibitors or AIs, like Aromasin ,Arimidex and Femara are used for post-menopausal women to decrease the amount of circulating estrogen in their body. Now, unfortunately, one of the biggest side effects of AIs is arthralgia (joint pain) and myalgia (muscle pain). This pain can be anywhere from mild to severe. They are one of the main reasons people stop taking the drug, which is really a big deal since it has life-saving properties.
So let’s talk about how exercise can dramatically improve your life.
I would like to point out, even though you feel muscle and joint pain, there is NO joint damage happening. Our joint receptors need estrogen to function correctly. So what is happening when your body is void of estrogen, those receptors don’t work well and tell your brain that you have muscle/joint pain. But there is NO actual damage happening.
When you come off of the drug, those joint and muscle pains will go away typically in about 1 to 3 weeks. So the pain is not permanent.
The important information is that exercise can dramatically reduce the amount of muscle and joint pain you have. The more you exercise, the less pain you typically have. Walking, biking, dancing, swimming are really good and have been shown to decrease the amount of joint and muscle pain from aromatase inhibitors. They are lifesaving.
Talk to your medical oncologist about getting on an exercise program or see a physical therapist who will get you on an exercise program to make your survivorship happier and healthier.
I’m Dr. Leslie Waltke in The Recovery Room. We’ll talk again soon!