Breast Cancer Symptoms - a comprehensive list from those w/bc
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as a 14 yr old I had some type of breast infection, than after I had my son I had a blogged milk duct on that same breast, years later I had a miscarriage at 13 weeks and orange fluid coming out of the nipple of that same left breast. Than I developed IDC on the same breasst coincidence?
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A years worth of chronic mouth ulcers; small wounds that wouldn't heal; inability to tolerate alcohol - (indicative of a liver damaged by anti-malarials, which then couldn't deal with oestrogen...my theory - which no oncologist has bought into); generally tired and pale (although I put this down to jet lag, it clearly wasn't).... so many signs of a damaged immune system.
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BouncingBetties - please go to this link on Does Breast Cancer Hurt http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/83/topic/784732?page=6#idx_151 and copy - paste what you have shared here, it is so important. Thank you.
To the others who have shared, thank you for doing so, we learn from all our experiences being tied in a knot.
Readers of these threads, please bump them so others will see them easier. Just type bump in the reply box and submit for it to go to top of active list fora minute. Thanks.
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I believe my symptoms started 4 to 5 years before I was diagnosed-my BS told me it had been growing for 5 to 8 years. I began to have a problem falling sleep and staying asleep, eventually began taking Lunesta. My father died Nov. 2006 after a short battle with Amyloidosis and the year that followed almost killed me by STRESS. There was my sister stealing money from our mother who was living with her. Besides cash she bought a new car and gave herself an aneuyrism and a stroke. My mother moved in with us. DD was married in July and had a huge wedding of 265.
She then moved to out of state. We sold our house and also moved in September. All the while averaging 6 hrs sleep. I lost alot of weight and suffered depression. The night we moved I had my first night sweat-menopause began. Two years of menopause symptoms followed. Now let me add my other sister, who I am very close to was dx'd with BC in August 2006. Her stage 2 became stage 4 in 2008. She was the first in our family. June 2010 my DM died unexpectedly in her sleep and I was the one that found her. Four months later I was diagnosed. STRESS....0 -
Major stress five years prior to dx. I was taking a class and could not concentrate, i couldn't remember much. FATIGUE!!! I went to different doctors, most said go on an antidepressant. My reply nope....went for my yearly mammogram and there it was. Some background..I have very dense breasts, had my first mammogram at 19, for the past 15 years i have had ultrasounds in addition to the mammograms. My mother had bc at 70, she is alive and well at 83. She was her2 postitive and did not have herceptin. Hope this info helps someone.
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Your info does help, Starella. And the bit about your mother gives hope.
STRESS -- Warrior and Starella, the stress was a huge factor for me too. The year prior, my stepdad died and the five years before that were so stressful because he was taken in by conartists who got him for every penny he had and then came back again and again to lure him out of insurance claims, etc. We could not protecthim, could not keep them away, and he defended THEM, turning on us. They did a number on him. Moving, being exposed to the OWB pollution, financial impossibilities followed since I was too sick to do business and we payed so much to keep the OWB fumes out of our home. I would stay in my bed for hours at night, unable to sleep, mind spinning, fears of losing our home if I could not get it together. A lot of woman have said the stress was huge prior.
Stress weakens the immune system. As does the flight or fight rush, our survival energy goes into that instead.
All the more reason to relax, begin life anew. I know I have to do this. I started a new thread ::::
The Spiritual Journey Into Breast Cancer - Inspirational Sharing.
http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/38/topic/785748?page=1#idx_2
Let's not revisit these symptoms again. Everything we can to make changes to support our health will be for the better.
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bump
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*bump*
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had no symptoms, felt great. One day I poked my finger into my breast for some reason, and felt a hard spot. hm. never felt one before. pretended to myself it wasnt there, but would gt up the nerve to poke and yep, there it was. coincided with annual mammo. In Ontario we also have a nurse do an in-depth examination and she must have gone over that spot 5 times but I said nothing. Yea! i jumped off the table. shock next morning when they called me back "to complete the exam" ha! Well, I had a whopper. about 10 cm. I could never feel it or see it. By the time I got to biopsy I'd begun to have a wee spot of blood inside my bra. Spontaneous. rusty red. always in exactly same spot. I didn't need the biopsy at that point - i knew i had it. the only one who could see it was my breast surgeon - he outlined it to his resident during our first meeting.
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had no symptoms, felt great. One day I poked my finger into my breast for some reason, and felt a hard spot. hm. never felt one before. pretended to myself it wasnt there, but would gt up the nerve to poke and yep, there it was. coincided with annual mammo. In Ontario we also have a nurse do an in-depth examination and she must have gone over that spot 5 times but I said nothing. Yea! i jumped off the table. shock next morning when they called me back "to complete the exam" ha! Well, I had a whopper. about 10 cm. I could never feel it or see it. By the time I got to biopsy I'd begun to have a wee spot of blood inside my bra. Spontaneous. rusty red. always in exactly same spot. I didn't need the biopsy at that point - i knew i had it. the only one who could see it was my breast surgeon - he outlined it to his resident during our first meeting.
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*BUMP*
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Flannelette - good point, that it can be so large and still hidden.
My 110# SIL had a 14# benign tumor in abdomen and did not know it was there either.
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So glad this post was bumped! I do not have a cancer diagnosis but discovered, by my own insistance, last fall that I have a Vitamin D deficiency. Interesting how many women had one prior to diagnosis. Thank you ladies for sharing.
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No symptoms here either.....not even a lump felt by me or my physician.
First ever mammogram found it
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My symptoms when looking back prior to diagnosis were the night sweats and the arm pit odor. I still remember that smell and I can remember thinking well maybe it is time to change deordorants. No pain for me and only reason lump was found was because I went to OB/GYN for fibroid issue and decided to get my mammo done since I was overdue by 2.5 years. OB/GYN didn't feel the lump it was found on mammo. Thank god I went to doctors for the fibroid otherwise my situation would be alot worse.
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I was a little overweight, BMI about 27 but considerably slimmer than my parents and 5 siblings, hadn't drunk alcohol since my early 30's and in moderation; never smoked, unlike all my siblings; was a health food nut also unlike my siblings. Late menses and on the pill for 9 years when it was a lot stronger. No HRT. Had my first child at 37 which is a risk factor. No history of cancer apart from my father at age 76. My siblings had more risk factors but no cancer so far.
A few years earlier I had a mammo for a cyst where the tumour would later show up. I had several accidents over the years when using long handled pruners where I clamped my right breast hard, ouch. They say a 1cm tumour takes 10 years to grow, and ILC is very slow, so I'm guessing it was brewing for 15-20 years. (Aggressive cancers in young women grow much faster.) In my 30's I had a reflexology massage of the feet and jumped when she got to the right breast area. I always had a blocked hair shaft there that would occasionally turn to a pimple, in the same quadrant as the prominent part of the tumour that was diagnosed 20 years later. I breast fed 2 of my 3 babies but the middle one died unexpectedly at birth and the Ob/Gyn gave me pills to dry up my milk when I found it distressing. I now see that drug is pretty nasty. My biggest stress was my baby dying 19 years before the diagnosis, and my same age cousin-in-law dying from cancer with young boys same ages as ours, about 10 years pre-diagnosis.
At age 59 I had put on that extra weight and 6 Mths pre-diagnosis started to have unusual pimples that wouldn't heal on my trunk, and fungus infections, mostly under my right breast, which I had never had before. In retrospect that would be due to the 9 lymph nodes being blocked. I also had a niggling twitch near the breast bone on that side, probably from lymphatic fluid trying to escape there. And my breast on that side seemed bigger, ie my bra felt tight on that side. But these things were passing oddities, no second thoughts given to them.
Fast forward... I had been watching you tube videos of Minnie Riperton singing Loving You is Easy 'cause You're Beautiful. In her TV interview her arm was hanging loose and she died shortly after from breast cancer. It shook me to see as she was so young.
The next day that long weekend I got out of the shower and noticed, purely in passing, a barely perceptible difference in the colour of my nipples. The right one had more white at the bottom than the left but was it the light in the mirror? It was so vague. Due to Minnie Riperton, and suddenly remembering the twitching and funny infections, I did extensive manual exams in bed for two nights before I found the slight thickening, but no pain. My right nipple wouldn't become erect no matter what I did. WhatTheHeck... That was the bottom line for me and scared me rigid.
The Dr looked very stern and said this is NOT cancer, too soft, so stop worrying. But he sent me for a mammo and US and to the BS to be sure (thank you Doc)! Mammo and US both clear but I knew they were wrong, I just knew! I had to wait 3 weeks for the BS appointment as I was not considered urgent. He said it was probably nothing but did the core biopsy and said the tissue looked normal, nothing to worry about. Didn't phone me back for a week. Lobular Carcinoma, later found to be 4cm, 9 lymph nodes affected. The CT scan was also clear apart from oedema. I asked for an MRI and paid for it as it's not part of the Australian diagnostic standard of care. I was relieved to see the monster in the centre of my breast so the surgeon could see where he was operating as I wanted no margins left behind with the BMX. Also I couldn't go through with a BMX till I saw it with my own eyes, as the thickening felt so small. Only then was I ready to lose both of the girls.
For many years leading up to the diagnosis I noticed and complained about increasing memory problems. Mostly word finding. I'd be part way through a sentence and the next word was on the tip of my tongue, and this happened a lot. Plus vague feelings of a fuzzy head, I can't explain it. I still have both. My mother with Alzheimer's remembers words better than I do. I can't remember sugar cravings but had put the weight on then lost it after the diagnosis, partly from the Budwig Protocol and cutting out all sugar and grains. Also I can't remember being tired, but then I didn't feel at all tired throughout the radiation, maybe because I am retired and spend too long at the computer.
Wow, that was hugely (lost the word) purging? Like all the emotion from 3 years ago draining from me. Minnie Riperton always makes me cry now, and that long June holiday weekend every year.
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Sorry for the long post above. I think it's important to record our stories as how else can we see similarities, such as the memory problems, lymphatic symptoms and the negative Mammos? I've only just linked my memory problems, though I read about them in the chemo-brain research where they found cancer patients having no chemo still had memory problems compared to (lost expression)... a control group... without cancer. The health industry should be collecting all personal histories, just like the... nurses population studies. Stress, injuries, early symptoms etc. It could lead to a breakthrough in early diagnosis and less fatalities.
The diagnosis and waiting for tests was the scariest part of this experience. Nerve wracking. Once further scans and treatments start it's more of a head spinning conveyor belt feeling that you can't get off, sweeping you along. Then things slow down and somehow you manage because all these other BCO women did it. I felt like part of a large community of feisty women. It becomes part of our new normal. We get new hairstyles and outfits. We find out who our real friends are. I write this so those waiting in fear can see it does get better. Life goes on and with luck most of us are still alive and kicking, loving life and our dear ones with a new appreciation. Life is good.
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me too.... no symptoms whatsoever. nada.
And no family history and not plapable- but me, by BS , RO or Gyn dr. ( even AFTER we all knew)
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Beautiful......thank you for sharing this.....its so important for other women to know to follow their intuitions! I think thats the one advice my mom gave me - always listen to that little voice inside you!
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Really beta ? Source pls ?
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I have to say, that literally every single friend I know has a VIT D deficiency , now that drs. are finally testing. None of them have BC, thank goodness.
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No symptoms here! Perfectly healthy - (except for the unknown breast cancer). No lump felt and surgeon, onc, radiologist, and ps also said they would not have felt it. Also they did not expect to find any cancer in the lymph nodes based on all of the exams and tests. Surprise, surprise.
Many women are asymptomatic.
If not for a routine mammogram and miracle Holy Spirit prompting to obtain prior mammogram from different hospital (changed insurances and providers), it's likely that it would not have been found last November either. It was the comparing and contrasting that sounded the alert for a repeat mammogram and then ultrasound and then core needle biopsy.
I'm certain this thread will help some with symptoms get diagnosed ... just want to continue to get the word out, like so many others, so that it helps those WITHOUT symptoms get diagnosed too!
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I had low vitamin D too. I have read it's more common with BC patients than those without. Too lazy to find the study. Loving the passion here. This is so important to share.
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Purple32, it is odd that every single friend of yours has a Vitamin D deficiency. Where do you live? I live in Arizona and I am the only one of my friends that have one. I guess since the sun shines 350 days a year here it is odd to have a deficiency. I am sure I get the required 10 minutes of sunshine a day just by living here and doing daily things outside. However, just in case I am now making an effort to sit in the sun for 10 minutes a day with no sunblock on. I get my blood work done again in June so it will be interesting to see if that helps.
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Im in AZ also.......and really doubting if I have a deficiancy either.....I hear you get sun exposure even driving in your car... But also having my blood tested too, just to see
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Repost from other topic.. A year ago I noticed a clear whitish tinged nipple discharge from my right breast. It was only from one duct but only when stimulated, so I didn't think much about it. For the past 6+ months I've been having extreme fatigue, sleeping 12 or more hours at night and still waking up exhausted, and needing naps thoughout the day. I also had joint pain in my knees, hips and lower back. I went to my doctor in March and as an afterthought I mentioned the nipple discharge. She sent me for a diagnostic mammo and u/s. Also ordered labs which showed severe Vitamin D deficiency. After the mammo they called me back for the u/s, and the tech had the radiologist come in to take a look. He said there was an area that was "different but not exciting" and an enlarged axillary lymph node. He told me to come back in 6 months for repeat mammo and u/s. For the past year off and on I've had the feeling of 'milk let down' in both breasts. And the area that showed abnormal on the u/s an achey feeling but it's an emotional ache. If I'm worried or upset, it's upset. And Thursday in the shower I found a lump in the area that showed wierd on the ultrasound. It's in the 11:00 position, oval shaped larger than a marble but smaller than a grape.
I also had undiagnosed hyperthyroidism for years, and a year ago had radioactive iodine to kill my thyroid, so now I'm hypothyroid. I've gained 40 pounds in the last year, but I think that's because I'm still not on a high enough dose of thyroid replacement, Also atributed my fatigue to low thyroid as well. My doctor said that although still low, not that low to cause that kind of exhaustion.
I also live in Arizona, and have the vitamin D deficiency, I moved here 2 years ago from Missouri, would have thought my vitamin D would have gone up with the move to the sunshine.
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did any of you have burning in your underarms, behind your knees, or in your groin?or a rib cage that appeared swollen?
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I had a large smooth lump in my armpit which was very painfull. Two weeks later found a small lump on same side of breast which hurt too. It wasn't till I had 3 chemo they stopped being painfull.
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thank you for your feed back Ali68! my OB told me that it is normal for lymphnodes to swell when you are mid cycle or coming up to your period. I do not know how true or not true this is....but I am wondering if other women also had symptoms of burning in their armpits or groin area....back of knee...It really scares me when my doctor tells me that it is muscular, etc and no one says they have had these symptoms...makes me wonder what I am really eperiencing....
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I have followed this thread with interest. What took me to the doctor in the first place, was a discomfort under my arm. It was my friend who noticed me going under my arm, yet when I look back, I know I have had this for a couple of years.
I also had a discharge from my nipple in 2004, which was treated with anti biotics, I went to the ER to have this looked at then. I had no investigation, just took my temperature, which I did not have one at the time.
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