Come join others currently navigating treatment in our weekly Zoom Meetup! Register here: Tuesdays, 1pm ET.
Take our poll: Caregivers, what do you find most difficult about caregiving?
Weigh in: What are the best and worst gifts for people with breast cancer?

Drinking cold things feels weird after mastectomy

momgovero
momgovero Member Posts: 3
edited September 2020 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

Every time I take a drink of ice cold water (or anything ice cold), it feels as though someone is pouring ice cold water down my chest on the outside!  It takes my breath away!  Is this normal? 

«134

Comments

  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 1,421
    edited July 2009

    I think this will go away---not sure how long out you are.

    I did have the intial cold feeling but either I've gotten used to it, or it has stopped.  I'll have to pay attention next time!

  • lovinmomma
    lovinmomma Member Posts: 105
    edited July 2009

    I get that too!  i am 6 weeks out!! Isn't it a wierd feeling????

  • ktym
    ktym Member Posts: 673
    edited July 2009

    Took about 6 months for that to get better for me.  For anyone dealing with TE's--the opposite was true for me too.  Drinking something warm/hot helped with the pec muscle spasms

  • reen
    reen Member Posts: 45
    edited July 2009

    I didn't have a mastectomy, but had many lymph nodes removed and when I drink anything cold it feels like it's all going to that area.  Weird.

  • jacee
    jacee Member Posts: 219
    edited July 2009

    Ha...can't believe I just found this thread. I've was thinking about asking that question last night. I'm 4 weeks out from rt mast and it's very noticeable when I drink anything cold. I thought, "Is this what men feel all the time?" My dh says no. I hope it passes. I don't notice when I eat or drink something hot. So, I'm thinking drinking ice water during hot flashes might feel pretty good...

    Joni

  • Barbara4122
    Barbara4122 Member Posts: 1
    edited July 2009

    Yep...I had bi lat mastectomy w\expanders 6/16 and I feel anything cold that I ear or drink as it goes down...it feels so weird!

  • LynnVA
    LynnVA Member Posts: 44
    edited July 2009

    Crazy isnt it!  I feel it too.  2 months out and I feel it everytime!

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited July 2009
    This is very common.  I had my mx 3/07 and I still feel it.  You get used to it.Laughing
  • jacee
    jacee Member Posts: 219
    edited July 2009

    bump

  • makingway
    makingway Member Posts: 465
    edited July 2009

    It's been 8 weeks since my MX. Why was I never told this would be another side effect. I feel it on the right side of my throat as it's going down all the way to my chest. It's a constant reminder I have cancer...or had. I think it's nerve damage, but what do I know-it's my body I've lived with for 50 years, I'm no doctor.

  • cjpa
    cjpa Member Posts: 3
    edited July 2009

    I just had a double mast 6 days ago and have the same feeling.  I've stopped adding ice to my drinks and now have less of a problem.  The first time it was so painful it took my breath away.  Doing better now .

  • LovingLifeToday
    LovingLifeToday Member Posts: 2
    edited July 2009

    Thanks for the bump Joni... I thought it was just me being weird!  LOL

  • spinnaker
    spinnaker Member Posts: 5
    edited July 2009

    How funny that I found this thread.  I noticed that right after surgery, too, and I thought it was just me.  I have TE on left side and that's where I really notice it.  It's almost like the liquid is running down the outside of my chest when I drink something cold.  Very strange sensation and I keep forgetting to ask the PS.  Glad to know I'm not the only one.  Has anyone had this go away after the exchange surgery?  Just curious.

  • leslie43
    leslie43 Member Posts: 2
    edited August 2009

    hey - i have same. throat feels raw on one side. i am trying to find out how long it will take to go away - will post anything useful

  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 7,080
    edited August 2009

    I had those same feelings with hot and cold drinks.  They did go away eventually but I can't remember when.

  • hollyann
    hollyann Member Posts: 279
    edited August 2009

    I still can't drink really cold water..It has to be room temperature..My PT told me all bc patients go through this after surgery.....Strange but true......I was so glad I wasn't crazy!.......I think mine went away after 6 months...I honestly thought when I drank cold things that I was spilling it!.....Of course it is because I was numb from the neck down!......I could not feel anything from my breast bone to my pubes!.......Really strange feeling!>........

    leslie the sore throat is probably from the tube they put down your throat....it probably is bruised a little....... I think mine went away after 2 weeks......good luck!.....

  • Lauren3
    Lauren3 Member Posts: 37
    edited August 2009

    Me too!  8 weeks out.  I thought I was just crazy!

  • CatLeuci
    CatLeuci Member Posts: 1
    edited November 2009

    Same here....6 months and still feeling it....no reconstruction surgery...

  • terrij152
    terrij152 Member Posts: 63
    edited November 2009

    I felt the same thing too after my BMX.  It finally went away after 3 months or so.  Interesting!

  • PeggyDixon
    PeggyDixon Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2009

    I have the same thing but it's been 4 years and it's still there sometimes. I had not heard of another person with this until reading this thread tonight. Weird!!

  • Luah
    Luah Member Posts: 626
    edited November 2009

    Thank you ladies!  I was going to ask my surgeon about that sensation.  I definitely feel cold water going down, like it is filtering through my chest.  Had a lumpectomy and SNB almost 6 weeks ago - didn't notice it then, but now after lymph node dissection 2 weeks ago, the feeling is  definitely there.

  • Shrek4
    Shrek4 Member Posts: 519
    edited November 2009

    Ihave this off and on. Only with cold drinks, and only if I drink from a glass - not from a straw or bottle.

  • CheeseGirl
    CheeseGirl Member Posts: 1
    edited November 2009

    Yes! Me too! I've told people about it and they just don't get it. Man, I'm glad it's not just me! It is so weird. Does anyone know why this happens? I had my bilat mast 6 months ago, and I have gotten used to it, but I still feel it. Glad I found this thread -- I got a good laugh!

  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 7,080
    edited November 2009

    Me too.  Not as often though.  I am two years out.

  • GryffinSong
    GryffinSong Member Posts: 42
    edited November 2009

    I'm almost a year out and I feel it too. Very strange. I keep thinking it's because I don't have any insulation left. LOL

  • makingway
    makingway Member Posts: 465
    edited November 2009

    I have this also. It's nerve damage. I don't have it as often as I did after my surgery which was 5 months ago. I had an axillary lymphnode dissection-I think that's what caused the nerve damage.

  • robinlbe
    robinlbe Member Posts: 73
    edited January 2010

    I am so glad to have found this thread.  I am 2.5 weeks out of my bilateral with no reconstruction.  I had five nodes taken, 3 SN and 1 AN from my left, and 1 SN from my right.  I never thought that the nodes would have caused this odd sensation.  I just thought it was from a loss of "insulation", although there wasn't much of me to begin with :)

    I find that the cold liquids are really cold going down, but the warm liquids, including soups, are equally as warm.  It seems that all the weird things I'm experiencing are all chalked up to "nerve damage", so I guess this is just one other....

    and like the rest of you, I guess this is something I'll get used to, but it sure is odd.  Interesting that so many of you are still feeling it one and two years out....

  • WOODSEER
    WOODSEER Member Posts: 1
    edited February 2010

    Oh my God !!! I'm so pleased that this hasn't only happened to me. What's it all about ??

  • 2hands4me
    2hands4me Member Posts: 39
    edited February 2010

    I'm not sure if it's "nerve damage" or just "nerve irritation"!!! They cut nerves in surgery (my surgeon says it would take HOURS to find and dissect around the nerves without cutting them - making it more risky and lengthening recovery time). Maybe the nerves try to re-grow, and it takes awhile for them to grow and re-learn what message they should dend in respnse to the temperature extremes!

    I had right mastect. with SNB last Feb. and didn't notice this at all. In Nov, I had left mastec. (no SNB or node dissection) and definitely have this sensation. It's more with cold, sometimes with hot liquids. Feels like there is no place for the fluid to go, so it spreads out inside your chest! Completely impossible, and something we've never felt before, so it's no wonder we describe it as a "strange sensation".

  • robinlbe
    robinlbe Member Posts: 73
    edited February 2010

    Hey there...just thought I'd check in once again....I just noticed over the weekend, that I'm not quite as sensitive to the liquids as I was....so maybe some healing is going on!  I am 5.5 weeks post BMX....so for any newbie out of surgery, I thought this might be of some encouragement...

Categories

Join Us on Zoom: Upcoming virtual meetups. Read more...
Give your account some personality! Add a profile photo.