Joint pain and radiation

I did not have chemo, only radiation for a benign brain tumor.  I was on dexamethason for about two months.  After going off the steriod and finishing 30 radiation treatments, I had leg pain and swelling in my knees and ankles.  The swelling has gone away but I have joint pain in my fingers, shoulders and knees.  Ibuprofren does no good whatsoever and my radiation oncologist only suggested I see my general practioner.  Since I did not have these problems before and they started immediately after, I have to believe it was from either the steriod or radiation.  

I am wondering if anyone has had these pain issues with radiation only.  Most tend to have had chemo as well.

Thanks for any help.


This discussion is related to Residual joint pain after chemotherapy.

[katarina777]

OK, I had chemo as well but that does not mean I have nothing to say. I also had severe pain in one of my legs, the knee, and it came on suddenly but without injury. before that it was in my left arm, and now it is in my right hand, more specifically two fingers that are very swollen. But nothing was as bad as the ppain in my right leg/knee and it showed up as a hot lesion on a bone scan , and then more specifically on an MRI. The diagnosis in my case was Osteonecrosis, even if that usually shows up as a cold lesion, and the condition is not always very painful. It means that the bone is dying and my bone marrow was also very swollen.
Now, I am not suggesting that this is what you have, but it took quite some time before I was correctly diagnosed, and since I couldn't walk and/or only limo, and it was so very painful, the waiting felt like torture. And during this time I was doing a lot of research, and after I was diagnosed too.

What you are describing could be caused by hormone treatment, and radiation, also low Vit D levels...for me it resolvedc itself eventually without any intervention and I think the Vit D supplements helped the most.

But here is my point for you. From all the reading I did, I think that the biggest culprid in your case, as also stated in every single text relating to bone injury and pain, it would most likely be due more than anything  to the steroid treatment you received.

I am no doctor, but believe me, they didn't come close to making a correct diagnosis until the pictures were taken.

There could be many other reasons as well, but your steroid treatment is a much greater possibility than it would be chemotherapy, and which you did not have,

Hope this helps a little. best, kat