Collagen supplements

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Hi, 

I was diagnosed with TNBC in May 2025, had 6mths of chemo, had 2 surgeries, a lumpectomy with lymph node removal and then a full axial node clearance. I'm due to start radiotherapy next month. Since the new year I have starting to have joint problems. Stiffness, pain, especially in my hands and knees. it has gotten so bad I am having trouble gripping things. I mentioned this to my oncologist, asking if I could back onto the vitamins and minerals I was taking before my diagnosis (magnesium, calcium, vit D, glucosomine and chondroitin) he said yes but he is also putting me on zoledronic acid.

My question is, has anyone taken collagen with TNBC? Either during or after treatment. I have read that they don't recommend it for ER+ patients but cant find anything for TNBC. I feel that some if not most of this is to do with the menopause, I was peri-menopausal about to go onto HRT just before diagnosis and obviously chemo puts you into a temporary menopause and collagen is a supplement that is recommended for joint pain and stiffness. 

I will ask my oncologist, but I wondered what anyone ese experiences were.  

TIA

  • Hi  

    I have had a somewhat complicated journey with TNBC, leaving me requiring 9 months of treatment with high dose steroids for the collateral effects of the immunotherapy I received. My immunotherapy adverse event generated huge amounts of inflammation which aggravated my existing arthritis. My physiotherapist recommended supplements of the sort you describe. My oncologist had no issue with me taking them. My issues settled down as the inflammation subsided so I haven’t continued with supplements other than vit D, which my oncologist recommended anyway. Definitely check with your oncologist. 

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  • Thank you for responding. I'm pretty much the same. Immunotherapy did a number on me too. I had to have steroids with all of my initial chemo because of it and because the immunotherapy didn't work, I have to have 6months of capcitabine after radiotherapy instead. I wonder if its also side effect of the immunotherapy. I didn't think of that before.