Tamoxifen, period pain, neuropathy, joint pain, breast pain, thin hair & heart damage

I had chest pain after every EC chemo,  an bd my blood pressure is higher now 145/85 instead of 125/78 approx). I had a heart scan because I was sure of  issue,  but was told it was ok  only to discover my heart is borderline enlarged now. 

I'm not sure about the joint pain from chemo,  though I did shrink slightly in height. I'm on hormone blockers which also cause pain (and thinning hair,  brittle nails,  raised blood pressure and cholesterol!)

Have you looked away YouTube videos on massaging your arm? You might have done cording and underlying scar tissue.

It's rubbish isn't it,  but I suppose it's better than the alternative.... I had covid in 12/20,  about 11 months after finishing chemo, which really knocked me back again too. 

Did you have Paclitaxel or docetaxel? Thre was a recent discussion about Docetaxel affecting hair re growth,  and what people did to help it. X

Love the Stephen Hawkins quote! A good reminder too.

Interesting that you mentioned height loss - I've struggled to reach things that were easy to reach in the past so I do think I've also lost a bit of height too, never really connected the two things though.

Might be the hormone blockers that are the source of the pain - I've just been blaming the chemo as I had extremely painful joints and bones with that - so bad that I couldn't move or walk and any position was just incredibly painful. I only put up with it because I thought it must be very effective against the cancer if it causes so much pain. 

I started with EC then I went on to 6 cycles of Docetaxel with a couple of other drugs at the same time. It was that one though that caused me to lose my nails and caused me so much pain. And left me with peripheral neuropathy. So frustrating as I had been fit and healthy prior to the cancer but you're right when you say it's better than the alternative... Better scenery above ground! I'll have a look to see if I can find the Docetaxel thread...

I've not looked on YouTube for specific massages although I try my best to do my own stretches etc (minimal effect). I'll definitely have a Google to see if I can do something to help the pain and movement restriction. Good suggestion!

Sorry to hear you were unlucky to catch covid but hope you're feeling better from it now even if it did set you back a bit. Are you on any medication for your heart? I'm on perindopril as its got protective heart qualities. I always had low blood pressure but now I'd say it's in the normal range now... My heart rate though is still much higher than I'd like it to be at rest (usually about 110 although when I was having treatment regularly as high as 150 at rest). When my heart is beating fast it makes me feel rather nauseous, snappy and a bit dizzy. A far cry from old days when I used to be able to run half marathons! Doubt I'll be able to run again for a long time... I'll say the treatment for cancer really is brutal...