Breast Cancer Symptoms - a comprehensive list from those w/bc
Signs of breast cancer. A list by diagnosed positive women and men who have been there. (original post updated September 2012)
EDITED TO ADD:::: Please only post here on what your symptoms were/are ONLY IF/WHEN you have actually been diagnosed with breast cancer. That will keep the point and help others the most. Thank you.
This is the longest list, an intelligent, thorough and wonderful list. Thank you to all who shared so far and who will. Readers, you will need a cup of coffee. *_*
I started the posts, listing breast cancer symptoms and warning signs which made me go, "Oh, yes, of course....." once I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, my bc type and age, two relevant factors. If your bc info is not in your signature, you may want to add this information for others.
I hope many others WHO HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED POSITIVE will add to the list with all their warning signs and symptoms that later on made them go, "Hhmmmmm, so that is what it was."
Please, let's focus on topic..... am hoping this will end up being a comprehensive list, easy to scan for those who are wondering what is wrong with their body, their memory, sleep patterns, energy, senses... and will be a wake up call to consider it could be bc, if they see what applies to them too. There are other threads to discuss and worry, and thanks for taking it there.
Also, after reading that almost half the women experienced pain in their breast and were later dx w breast cancer, I started a thread, "Does Breast Cancer Hurt? The truth from those who have been there..." Please share there, or if you just read, then bump it, let's get this information really truly out there. Because the answer was yes, pain can be a sign of breast cancer, even though we are told by our medical team it does not usually hurt. A sign of breast cancer, too often, is pain.
Comments
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I will begin the list.....
Essa Diane - age 55 - IDC bc.
- A few years before discovering the mass, developed increasingly difficult memory issues but did not want to be dx w early Alzheimers so tried to fix it myself, I'm kinda like that..... trouble focusing, could not even remember if I took the pill and would take another and another or go w/o for days, just could not do it. Forgot names and numbers of those known for years. Unsafe to drive. I even think I found the mass during self-exam a few months before I told anyone but forgot I found it, that is bad, very bad.
- Everything I did to help memory did not rreally help, but after the bc mass found, what I did to heal from cancer almost completely fixed my memory and focus.
- The mass was discovered by me when I remember it in shower after pool, a palpable squishy yet firm lump. I thought it would need aspirated, a duct with fluid or something since I had been and am still being told that bc does not hurt.
- Pain. It is said that cancer does not hurt until later, stage IV even. I had pain in my breast from the beginning, even before the mass was found by me.Prior to surgery, I recall stating that a woman who felt like she was being stung in the nipple and breast by a bumble bee several times a day was not a happy camper. But after the surgery, same feelings and bs said it was because of surgery.
- Emotions caused pain in the mass area too. If I felt sad, angry, frightened, I felt stinging pain where the mass was, this was after I knew it was there, and I still have these pains even now..... almost in accident and my boob hurts, sad my mom passed 15 yrs ago when I think of her and my boob hurts, weird. Think I will try accupuncture and meditation for this one.
- It is said that there is emotional and/or physical trauma before cancer becomes known in the body.
- My trauma was the passing of my step-father and we were not on good terms but I was responsible for him.
- My physical trauma was the fall in the barn, hit my head and slammed my body on cement then run over by a huge cart, eeeeeeee had to be there, happened four months before mass.
- The other physical issues were exposures to high chlorine in pool and
- to the toxic smoke and particulates of an outside wood boiler,
- plus six gas leaaks in our new home to point I could not stay awake.
- Also financial stress from losing everything in market, retirement, oour homes and having to start over, partly because of the neighbor's toxic smoke, so very angry, depressed, frightened prior and after mass, even now struggling.
- Signs I was at risk, in my opinion, low vitamin d3, hypothyroidism untreated for years until it seems it was too late.
- Exhaustion, could not stay awake even after a good night of sleep. New thyroid support helped but not for long, just too tired to enjoy life.
- Checking out, did not enjoy doing what I used to. Even as simple as watching Dancing With the Stars, did not want to watch. Stopped writing, stopped getting up early to garden.
- Stopped singing, stopped wanting music on - hated to hear any music, weird I know, but that was me. Furthermore, my pretty decent singing voice was 'frozen' on one octave.... had been for seven years. After surgery, my voice was back. So to me, a sign.
- Five years before the mass, my left armpit was swollen. Mentioned it to dr and was told they would biopsy it. I said no, glad I did now, how could they biopsy and get a good result in the axilla? I wonder, don't know. But the cancer tests needed to be run then. Mammo did not show anything but the ultrasound may have in that area of axilla.
- After the bc surgery --- lumpectomy, no biopsy, w/ a sentinel node test --- there was one node cancer, complete involvement, all in right side. But AFTER the surgery, the interesting part to me was the left armpit was no longer swollen.
- The smell. My armpits started to smell very bad from about nine months before I found the mass to right after surgery. I hated the smell. Was like awful bo and I would shower, scrub, swim in pool, use different soaps and finally resorted to using the standard commercial deodorant that I had not used for years because the smell was so embarrassing. After the surgery, the smell was gone. I went back to using my completely safe herbal deodorant I had used for years and don't even need it right away after my shower.
- The emotional roller coaster, I was a witch. Now I am not.
- The cravings. Most interesting was the night after surgery came home and drank three glasses of cold milk. I never do that. I have researched and understand more now, but the cravings were high for sugars, yogurt, and now not so much at all.
- Did I mention the exhaustion?
Will add more to the list as I recall. Please jump in and also bump it and pass it forward, as I think this could really help women to take notice sooner that something could be serious. I see no better place for a list by all of us than right here on BC.org.
(edited 3-26 w better detail)
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I think this is a wonderful idea. I have not had a diagnosis, and hang around here, while I am in the waiting room.
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Symptoms? - absolutely none
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I had a lump I could feel, but that my PCP could not and assured me was nothing. The lump seemed to be less prominent when I drank less coffee, so for a year and a half I chalked it off to something that was caffeine sensitive, thus harmless. During my October 2006 mammo, I'd even mentioned it to the tech (it was high on my breast @ 12:00 -- so I felt possibly not fully within the mammo image), but she also brushed me off and refused to have anyone look at it because my PCP hadn't requested a physical exam along with my mammo. Lesson #1 ~ No one knows your body like you do. If you can feel a lump -- even if a doctor tells you it's nothing -- insist on getting it thoroughly checked out, preferably by a breast surgeon.
I had also recently read something about mammos contributing to bc, so I procrastinated about my annual October mammo in 2007 and didn't get around to it until January. Lesson #2 ~ Do not put off regular mammos (or therms if you are more comfortable with those).
I had also been on HRT for quite a few years and was regularly told by my PCP that I should stay on it because I had started it very young (in my mid-40's) and never stopped. Lesson #3 ~ Do not underestimate the danger of HRT, and don't believe the drug company lies about its benefits. None of the negatives of going off it (e.g. losing muscle mass, which you can fight with exercise anyway) are as bad as being dx'd with bc.
Other symptoms -- absolutely none that I can think of. In fact, just prior to being dx'd, I remember consciously thinking how fortunate I am and how good my life was. Maybe that was some sort of sign that something was about to go very wrong, but it never crossed my mind at the time.
In retrospect, based on what I've learned here and from a couple of integrative docs, my thyroid function was borderline low, although never low enough to be a concern per conventional medicine's standards. This is one reason I am now very keen on naturopathic medicine, which can treat these minor imbalances before they become major ones. However, unless and until you have a health crisis, it may be difficult to pinpoint these deficiencies, because you're not looking for them. Sometimes only in retrospect do they make sense. Deanna
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Cynthia Jeanne : I am 48 : IDC left side diagnosed 2-2012
Well my symptoms went like this:
Summer 2010-I was wrestling with my then 7 year old son who elbowed me in my left breast about the 10 oclock position. It hurt like heck-then less than a week later it happened again. I quick wrestling with the kids after that.
Afew months later I had my yearly mammo and all was well. I still hurt but I dealt with it. 4 months later it still hurt so hubby says go see the doctor-I went he said cancer doesn't usually hurt he felt around the area and triggered the pain - but sent me for a mammo on that breast and a chest e-ray to rule out a cracked rib. They did the mammo-no ultrasound though. Nothing found-but the pain came off and on, if I bumped it etc...I then felt a lump about 9 months later but just figured it was the injury. I am telling you this is the exact spot-(surgeon says it's just a coincidence.)Feb. 4th this year had my mammo and everything happened in fast forward from there.
Diagnosed on 2-21-12 with IDC had my lumpectony and waiting just a few more days to see the oncologist & RO.
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I had no symptoms at all other than the lump I found. The lump was not painful nor was I experiencing any unusual tiredness or other physical problems. I felt darn good in fact. I had been through menopause several years earlier and did not take any HRT for that either.
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I was 63 when diagnosed. Found via yearly mammo.....which I had stupidly delayed by about 3 months because I didn't want to be weighed by my Dr. It had been 15 months since my last mammo.
Two years earlier I'd had a needle biopsy on that breast, same area, and a minuscule lump was found which was obliterated during the procedure and was benign. I had 3 mammos since that time, all normal.
I have very dense breasts.
I was exceptionally tired for about 4 months before this was found. I've been taking thyroid meds for 30 years and was thinking it might be low...in retrospect, it wasn't normal tiredness, more like complete exhaustion. Kinda of like what you get from rads.
The identified cancer lump did hurt, however I've had so many lumps/spots/density issues that it didn't concern me. The one that was originally biopsies also hurt so I wasn't concerned about this one.
The whole thing blindsided me.0 -
Hi
I am the same as some others-i did have pain. I could feel my lump even though it did not show on mammo or US (9.2 cm). My lump was sore and hurt if i bumped it or rolled over in the night on it. I also felt heat in the effected breast it was hot to touch. My body temperature overall was high for quite some time before DX i don't mean hotflash i mean literally body temp. higher constantly. It was the warmest i have ever been through our Canadian winters in my life.
And i was tired as well -not just tired more like exhausted for no apparent reason. Nothing much had changed in my life.
But i also had 17 lymph nodes full of cancer and did not feel anything there. I was not surprised when they told me my breast tumor was huge because i could feel it and it hurt the bigger it grew. But i was surprised about all the nodes there was no pain or swelling or discomfort i had absolutely no idea there was all that cancer there because i figured i would feel it like the tumor if it was ther.
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THis is a little hard to put into words but I felt like a total loss of energy. Not so much during the day but I would lie in bed at night and think to myself that I am probably not going to make it through the night and I would say an act of contrition. It really would feel like what I thought it might feel like to die. This feeling was fatigue but it went further-like I could feel every cell in my body kind of hurt. I also had severe hopelessness and despair while lying there at night. I went to the doctors twice about it and even asked if they thought it was cancer and they said no. I have definitely reminded both doctors who said no about this after my diagnosis in the hope that they might listen a little better next time.
I have to say I have had major memeory issues-very similar to what Essa describes but I never attributed them to BC. I was more worried about Alzheimers.
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I was shocked when I discovered the lump. I had been feeling wonderful; had run my first marathon a few months before and was doing 50 miles a week. So no symptoms whatsoever---
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I had a lump on my right breast basically under my arm , not a nice round lump, but a longer mass. Kind of like a pencil only not smooth. I went to the dr. (not my regular dr., but one of her partners) He agreed that it was suspicious and sent me for mamogram. They also did a mamogram, but didn't want to do a biopsy. "scar tissue"
When I went in 18 months later (yeah yeah I know... get the damn mamogram) I believe the radiologist had already decided it was cancer, he did another mamogram, an ultrasound and biopsy on the spot. dcis and idc.
The symptoms other than the lump? My nipples have always been very flat and once in a while there was a tiny bit of discharge. These last couple of years I've been very tired, exhausted even. But I put that up to working long hours and taking care of Mom.
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My first lump was hard, embedded, and felt rough. All signs of cancer so I knew it was not just another cyst (which I had a few of which had been drained)
The second lump was also hard and embedded, but felt smooth. It was cancer too. Both the same size oddly enough even though almost 30 years apart.
The second one was in the other breast, so was considered a new primary
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I have never had any outward symptoms to speak of, but I was on birth control pills for twenty years, then after a complete hysterectomy at 50, on HRT for another 20 years (premarin only). During this time I developed hypothyroid disease that went undiagnosed for about 10 years.
About a year before my dx, I went through a series of health issues. I was stung by bees, then I developed shingles on my forehead, and later a UTI, all requiring steroids and antibiotics to help healing. Right after that I got my yearly flu shot and promptly came down with something close to the flu, requiring more antibiotics to clear. I decided to switch from HRT to BHRT and progestrone and DHEA was added to my regimine. My vitamin D levels were tested and were very low (27). I began taking vitamin D-3 to raise the levels. The end of the summer in 2011 I had my regular mammogram and was called back for a diagnostic...it turned out to be bc, very early stage IDC.
I think there is a connection between the series of health issues and the bc going from DCIS to invasive, because when the BS did the lumpectomy, he found DCIS as well as the IDC in the same tumor. My immune system was working so hard to fight off my other issues that the cancer was allowed to break through and become invasive. This, of course, is just my opinion, and was not confirmed by any of my doctors.
At the time I was dx, I was feeling better than I had in years, and my vitamin D levels were up to 57. This was a result of the BHRT and having my hormones balanced for the first time ever. When tested it was discovered that I had zero progestrone in my body so I was clearly estrogen dominant. The addition of a small amount of progestrone made all the difference. Of course, now I'm on nothing and taking tamoxifen, so am back to feeling worse than I did before going on BHRT.
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I am 45. My lymph nodes would swell up every once in awhile...Went on for a few years. My reg. doc. figured it was from flu/cold that I would always seems o have at the same time. Kinda made sense to me.
About a year prior to dx,I was always tired. It got to be ridiculous. A few weeks before dx, I came home from work...went to bed and woke up 20 hours later! And I was still tired. Major exhaustion.
Then, two weeks prior to dx, the top of my breast started to feel tender. I had my annual gyn appt coming up so I mentioned it to her. She immediately had me get a diagnostic mammo. I had a mammo 14 months prior...all ok. This time, the mammo was still clear but my lymph node was palpable. So they did an ultrasound which found two quarter-sized lymph nodes and something "odd" in my breast. They did a needle biopsy of both nodes and the odd thing. All came back as cancer.
Then got a breast MRI which showed ILC.
Then got PET/CT. Results showed liver lesions. Yeah...got that news while waiting to get my port. Fun day....not!
So...looking back, I would say the exhaustion, breast tenderness and palpable nodes were my symptoms.0 -
I thought I was fairly healthy until I found the lump while fiddling with a poorly fitting bra. What I know now is that my Vitamin D levels were very low (15-20) for an unknown length of time. I also had very dense, lumpy breasts that I blamed on my caffeine intake. Fatigued? Kinda, but I've also had chronic insomnia my entire adult life, so... My lump didn't hurt. I've never had children, which increases your risk for BC, but then again, I didn't have early menarche (I was 16 or 17), which would have been another source for increased risk. Zero family history, so I wasn't offered BRCA analysis. Who knows?0
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I was 69 at the time of my diagnosis. There was no family history, menarche was at fourteen, breast feed only one of three children, always active in sports, was not overweight, and was not fatigued at all.....in fact, I felt great. I did use the estraderm patch (plus Provera) for 11 years and then switched to BHRT for another 10 years.
But an incident happened five months before I found the lump. I had a ruptured appendix (went to the hospital on a Friday night with a horrible stomach ache but they never operated until Monday late afternoon), I ended up being hospitalized another 9 days. I started with a case of the shingles even before I left the hospital but they thought it was a rash to the hospital tape.........so another three weeks of feeling terrible. Five months later I found the lump, same side as the shingles. I had one positive node but they tell me it was only in that one spot that the pathologist happened to cut into during the surgery and not anywhere else in that node. They did remover 13 more nodes, all were negetive.
I asked my BS if she thought I had DCIS that went invasive after my appendix burst.........her answer was, "Could be, but you'll never really know."
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Great start on an important list, thank you all for sharing, I feel this will help so many women. Believe it, I have been told even lately by my GP, BS and Integrative MD that bc does not hurt until state IV. Half the women above said there was pain for them.
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NO symptoms.....mammo, then US found the breast cancer....it was in the nodes as well as in 3 places in breast....several years of "normal" mammos prior to this....healthy, good weight, feeliing good.....no health concerns....I don't look back at issues that went on in my life, either health or emotional.....not convinced that they contribute......SO another gal her blindsided by her Dx.
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Had been having a sort of throbbing pain in my breast, but didn't feel a lump. My gyno couldn't feel it either. But I had a feeling something was wrong. Ultimately it was found on a mammo.
That breast had always been a "problem".....many cysts over my lifetime....more mammo pics were always needed...other breast was never a problem.
Risk factors: Age 55, never had children, slightly overweight. Lost my dad a few years ago and then had a 6-month period of extreme work stress prior to diagnosis. Also, I now know that my D3 was at rock bottom.
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I was DXed last summer, when I was about to turn 48. I had ILC, stage III.
For years I had a feeling that something wasn't right. I had my thyroid checked, blood sugar etc. I was tired, blah and kept putting on weight. I have a slender build, so doctors were not impressed by my weight gain.0 -
GREAT THREAD! Thank you for giving the invite in OMG ...
I had this "thing" ... didn't really know what a "lump" was. Local doc checked it out - "
Oh it's nothing. Don't worry about it."Few months later ... that "nothing" was waking me up at night. My skin around the "nothing" changed (dimpling? Scrunching? Something weird anyway...) and made an appt with another doc in January.
The lump did not move even if I tried to move it. It may have gotten bigger but not a whole lot. I figured the skin changes where associated with age ...
Yes. I'm a moron and so was the first doc. Now that I know better, I do better.
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Tomorrow night will be the one year anniversary of finding my lump.
I was 34 and had a history of breast cysts which I'd always gotten checked out. I found my lump by accident and I'd had a clear mammogram 10 months earlier. I'd also done a BSE approximately 10 days before finding the lump. In the 6-8 weeks leading up to finding it, I'd had UNBELIEVABLE sugar cravings. I rarely eat sweets, but I would wake craving them and started collecting recipes for all kinds of desserts. I also baked like crazy during this time and started to wonder if maybe I was developing some kind of pre-diabetic condition. I also started experiencing significant nausea and fatigue. The morning after finding my lump, I went to my PCP and she thought it was a cyst, but sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound the next morning. The radiologist said it was a BIRADS-3 and "probably benign" and told me to return in 6 months for a follow-up. Both my PCP and I didn't want to take any chances and she referred me to a surgeon who thought it was a fibradenoma and didn't want to do anything with it. The lump had started to really hurt and both he and my PCP said that was great because breast cancer "doesn't hurt until later." I demanded an excisional biopsy and the surgeon agreed to do it. While awaiting the surgery, the lump grew even bigger and was now visible when I looked at my breasts in the bathroom morror. As you can probably deduce, it was cancer--Triple Negative at that--and the surgeon was stunned.
Be your own advocate and listen to the inner whisper that harps at you when something isn't right--there's a reason it's trying to get your attention.
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Lintroller, now that you mention it, even the year before DX, I had started eating something sweet in the afternoon, like fruit sorbet or cookies. I had never done that before in my life.
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No symptoms prior to dx. I was on a mammo every 2 yrs plan and was about a year late, so 3 yrs since last mammo. Fortunately, my primary care doc kept nagging me. The first tumor showed up on mammo and ultrasound; biopsy showed IDC. Lumpectomy had DCIS 1cm from margin. Re- excision for better margins found a second tumor, invisible to both mammo and ultrasound. Neither tumor could be felt by me or doctors. I opted for mx due to invisibility. I had just turned 71 with no family history at all.
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Nausea for about 3 months. Ok with gravol, but just ok. Then I found lump had had one three years previously, watched as radiologist drained it. Same kind of lump, round immovable, tender if I poked at it. Biopsy, Mastectomy, mets to liver. Was nausea from liver mets? mmm Kay
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I was 30 and had just had a baby. Breastfeeding was painful and GP thought it may be a clogged or infected duct and prescriped antibiotics...no change. After a couple of months, no milk was coming out at all in that breast and I was losing weight like crazy. Also had gained only six pounds during pregnancy. Finally sent for an ultrasound which found the lump and a shocking amount of swollen lymph nodes.
Ten years later, had chest pain and what I thought might be heart-attack like symptoms. Rushed to the ER and was put on low-dose aspirin because my heart rate was very high and I was sweaty and nauseous all the time. Followed up with cardiologist who could find nothing wrong. The pain got increasingly worse, went back to GP who diagnosed it as "costochondritis" and gave me cortisone shots. Told GP I could barely lift my arms so was sent for an x-ray, which reported "suspicious" finding on sternum. Followed up with a bone scan which confirmed mets to sternum.
Moral of the story...don't let doctors convince you you're too young to have bc and secondly, don't let them tell you that if it were mets, it would not present that way. In the back of my mind, I knew, just couldn't get a doctor to listen.
ETA: Interesting Kay, that we both had nausea as a symptom. (I had no liver mets at the time, though).
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Was diagnosed at age 55 Stage IIIa, IDC, 9 nodes involved. Prior to diagnosis, had these symptoms:
1) Year and a half before had severe breast pain. Couldn't fall asleep. Kept looking up breast pain on internet - always said cancer is not painful.
2) Felt fluid "running around" in the same breast. Now I realize the lymphatic fluid was blocked and trying to find its way.
3) I felt angry and mean. Just alot more emotional.
Other than that, had alot of energy.
I had alot of traumas before that as well - break up of a serious relationationship, economic downturn on my career, etc. Ahhh, I can see so clearly now.
Run, don't walk to your doctor and go to doctor after doctor if you feel something is wrong. I've talked with so many women at chemo infusion area who were misdiagnosed. One young woman was misdiagnosed for 3 years until she was diagnosed Stage IV at age 24. Another Stage IV woman was misdiagnosed for 5 years. Crazy stories you hear!
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I attribute my diagnosis to several factors:
1) My uncle
2) My wife
3) I ride bikes
4 I carry a lot of books to and from the office
5) I drink wine.
One evening I rode home on my bike from the office with a courier bag full of law books and documents. I decided to stop by the local liqour store for a nice bottle of Pinot Noir to have with dinner. I dropped the bottle into my bag and shifted it back to its usual position. As the strap was crossing my chest, I apparently hit my tumor and it hurt.
"WTF is that?" I asked myself. I went home and felt around and found a lump on my chest. I hollered for my wife and she felt me up, too. I reminded her that my uncle had died of breast cancer. She freaked and insisted that I go to the doctor ASAP. I was in surgery within a week.
The rest, as they say, is history.0 -
I had pain in my breast when I lay on my stomach or side as the primary symptom They said BC doesn't cause pain. Hmm, told my GYN, then went to the mamo, us, biopsy all the same day. about 5 days later dx: Cancer.
They need to change those guidelines of common symptoms . Too many of us here had pain and if you read pain isn't a symptom, too many people could be diagnosed late.
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