Does Breast Cancer Hurt - honest truth from bc patients
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Thanks Essa. I will definitely call them today- I felt a small swollen gland or node in my neck today. Of course, I feel like I'm half-imagining symptoms now, too. Thank you for your feedback.
Did anyone ever feel like they had a clogged duct (similar to when nursing)? This is almost exactly the type of feeling I have. I had several clogged ducts with my youngest daughter and it's a pretty distinct feeling. I'm just wondering if the clogged duct feeling might also be similar to how cysts feel, too? Any information you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated!
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Good topic Essa. I have had several people ask me if my breast hurt; no it didnt. I was in total shock when I was dx. I think it would be easier and women and men might react quicker if there was pain involved. We would all be less likely to ignore recurring pain. Its not like the pain will go away. I have a friend who is worried because she does have breast pain. She just scheduled an appt. It has been hurting her for months and she has tried everything from eliminating caffeine to taking herbal drugs hoping the pain would subside. It really hasnt. We all also know just because it hurts does not mean it is the C word either. The fear factor, as well all know, is indescribable. I already freaked out when I had a mammogram schedule but now it is off the chart fear. Every ache and pain causes some kind of fear or concern. Bottom line is be diligent about having your mammograms and if you dont feel right see a doctor. Diane
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My lump also gave this acing pain. My doctor told me that breast caner did not hurt..l boy was she wrong. Also the nodes started to hurt. One of the nodes was 20mm when it came out. I think this is the one that hurted. I could feel it when I had my arm hanging down in a neutral position. It was like I had a marbel under my arm...
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And with inflammatory breast cancer, it almost always hurts and itches. Mine was sore, then red swollen, itchy. Couldn't lay on that side untilchemo began and the swelling went down.
So yes medical community BC can hurt
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Well, except for having heavy, dense, fibrocystic breasts my whole life (
) no - they did not hurt except when the techs tried to mash the 38DDD girls as flat as dinner plates during annual mammograms.I had no lump, and nothing had shown up on any previous mammos.
My left nipple bled a tiny spot of blood one morning. That was it. That was enough.
Had multifocal DCIS and IDC and ended up with a BMX w/immediate recon.
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lynliz,
My Mom reminded me that I complained of itching. It was near the nipple but there was no skin change got quite some time, so I assumed it was dry skin. My tumour is (hoping for a was on April 24; April 17 CT) in the duct and so it caused pain, itching, and a dent appeared on the lower part of my breast out of what seemed to be nowhere. It was like someone had pushed on memory foam. And the one thing besides the bone pain that most sticks out, is the unbearable fatigue. I felt like I was dying...and that is because I was. Many young cancer patients have the same story about the fatigue and various pain, and doctors not finding their cancer until it's stage IV and/or metasticized. Since the doctors aren't looking for cancer, we need to help one another to spread the truth and the symptoms.
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BouncingBetties, thank you for reminding me !! yes, the dent, that is so important. I had never heard of a dent in the breast being the sign of a tumour. A pucker mark, it's not really a pucker mark though is it ? The medical community HAS to warn women about that sign, it is such an important one.
Why don't they warn women when they go for their mammos or while doing the manual exam. I "happened", 'by chance' to read about the dent and lo and behold a short while later I noticed the dent, then felt the tumour. If I had not just "happened' to read that book 'by chance', I would never have noticed the dent which led me to the tumour. SO IMPORTANT - now, I tell every woman first chance I get
And you are so right on about the extreme fatigue, just like dying - I could not move one muscle
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You had the dent, too, Maud?! See, I didn't have puckering, skin changes or anything I heard to watch for. I had a dent form in my right thigh and as I was walking 5km up to five times a week, I thought it was from an injury. Then a few months later, there was a similar dent in my breast. I also tell every woman I can. And I tell them about the back and shoulder pain, and the cough that won't go away. Oh, and don't forget the fatigue. I would work all day, barely staying awake even after a large Starbucks coffee, 2 cans of coke, 3 caffeine pills and a thermos of iced tea. I'd get home and fall onto the couch, barely able to move.
I think together we can help save other women. Let's make sure women know about the dent, ladies!
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Did the dent hurt either of you? Now I am so puckered up from surgery that would not know dent if it was there. But I did have dent in my rib area two months ago, and a long thing that felt like a tendon from breast fown into abdomen, gone now after about 6 weeks of therapies.
The fatigue, I would say I was so tired I could not breathe.
Remember to take your full symptom list to the other link.... Breast Cancer Symptoms, see live link at top in initial post. Thanks.
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I just read this from Dana Farber...I think it's great that this was addressed with a treating physician:
http://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2011/12/if-a-breast-lump-is-painful-is-it-not-cancer/
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I had pain in my right breast 3 Dr's told me there is no pain with breast Cancer boy were they wrong
found it om my first mamo because of the pain which had been there for 6 months.It was a 3.7 cm plus one node.
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Oh BouncingBettie, I've been reading about the shoulder pain on other threads and I'm having a real b*tch right now and it is scaring me. I have fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome which Tamox really isn't helping (gritting teeth) but this time, no matter what I do, it ain't going away, it's been well over 6 weeks now. Am seeing my onco next week - I know I should mention it to him...but damn, more tests. Just came back from a brain MRI and I just want to scream that I'm not up to more tests right now, sorry everyone
They call it indentation and YES pain can be a sign of cancer. Dimple, that's the word I was looking for
What Are the Symptoms of Breast Cancer?
In its early stages, breast cancer usually has no symptoms. As a tumor develops, you may note the following signs:
A lump in the breast or underarm that persists after your menstrual cycle. This is often the first apparent symptom of breast cancer. Lumps associated with breast cancer are usually painless, although some may cause a prickly sensation. Lumps are usually visible on a mammogram long before they can be seen or felt.
Swelling in the armpit
Pain or tenderness in the breast. Although lumps are usually painless, pain or tenderness can be a sign of breast cancer.
A noticeable flattening or indentation on the breast, which may indicate a tumor that cannot be seen or felt.
Any change in the size, contour, texture, or temperature of the breast. A reddish, pitted surface like the skin of an orange could be a sign of advanced breast cancer.
A change in the nipple, such as a nipple retraction, dimpling, itching, a burning sensation, or ulceration. A scaly rash of the nipple is symptomatic of Paget's disease, which may be associated with an underlying breast cancer.
Unusual discharge from the nipple that may be clear, bloody, or another color. It's usually caused by benign conditions but could be due to cancer in some cases.
A marble-like area under the skin.
An area that is distinctly different from any other area on either breast
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My tumour was located at 1:00 close to the armpit
ETA: painfulk swelling in the armpit for many years prior to dx but dismissed by doctors
Essa, I don't recall the dent itself being painful, however, since it sat on top of the tumour which I could feel, it was kinda painful when I touched the tumour which I didn't really want to touch
mdland, thanks for that article
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A prickly sensation? Mine was a sharp stabbing pain that hurt like crazy.
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That is one of the first lists that includes pain, when I was searching and asking, I was told, pain is good news, by med team and when I read books, mags and lists online. That list is a good one, what is the link, Maud?
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I had a lot of weird stuff going on so I knew something was wrong. Occasionally I had some shooting momentary pain in both breasts. My previous self exams which found nothing now were finding my breasts like a bag of rocks. I could feel all kinds of lumps in there and then the one with the cancer starting developing a little frown curve at the bottom. I went for a mammogram to chec k it all out. They said nope no problem mammograms same as 2002,no change. They did an Ultrasd and they found a suspicious thing on there right behind the nipple which is why nobody knew it was there. It looked like a tiny gingerbread man on the screen cause I made them show me the still shots they took for the dr. Dr said we should biopsy it and we did and it came back IDC,they did some MRI to see what else we could find. We found a tiny speck broke off and was headed toward the lymphnodes. Got surg just in time,nothing in lymphnodes. I say always insist on the UltSd cause the exam and mammo might miss something.
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I had no pain. My only symptom (other than the lump) was overwhelming fatigue. I thought I had a vitamin deficiency. Of course, lots of women get tired and that doesn't mean they have cancer, so I don't know....
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oh Essa, thank God I did not erase my history, there you go : http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/guide/understanding-breast-cancer-symptoms
I save all my searches in Word and I wanted to copy here a diagram of breast quadrants with the % of BC for each, but dang, did it again, no link...I hate when I do that. Been googling and googling, but no luck and can't copy from Word to here
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Maud- Thank you, your post with the symptoms and diagram was so helpful to read!
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I had no pain at all with IBC. Nor did I have itching, redness or heat as are common with IBC. I think what 'you' feel varies with what type cancer and location 'you' have makes a difference.
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Hi Friends,
First, I want to say excuse me, Maud, I said I didn't understand your point, but I confused you with someone else.
I also had a dent in the area by my tumor--next to my nipple, along with itching. Also lethargic, but thought that was either my hypothyroid or my lupus. I am not sure if I had pain, or that I expected pain and was self-fulfilling my prophecy.
For me, I finally realized something just wasn't right when the itching became almost non-stop and the tumor, tho small (1.25 cm), was growing.
We women need to remember that we have very powerful intuition.
Love to all of you~Lyn
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Thanks again to everyone for all of the helpful information about their symptoms. My mammogram and ultrasound are tomorrow and while I know there will be a wait before I am able to get any real information, I am happy to at least feel like I'm in step 1. I have to be honest and say that I was never one to give myself breast exams. Since feeling the pain with the lump last week, now I am checking multiple times a day and each time I think I'm feeling something new. It's frustrating that I don't actually know what my breast tissue feels like as a baseline! I have a Masters in Public Health (focused more on societal, not individual health) which makes me feel even worse for not being more vigiliant about checking! What worries me now, outside of the painful odd-shaped lump and the armpit pain is that I feel one surface at 3 o'clock that is very pebbly and about an inch long (very close to the nipple). I have no idea if this is what my breast tissue felt like before and I'm trying to compare against the other breast now! Your mind can really drive you crazy. Anyway, thanks for listening...clearly I'm a little worried/anxious about tomorrow!
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MLand - good to see you are still reading, this thread was intended to help women know they might really have an issue and for them to never let someone tell them it does not hurt. I know all you have read probably did not ease your concerns in the least, but it did not confuse you either. I was so confused, even w med checks, and lost some real important time. Glad all have shared.
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Essa- It has been immensely helpful and for me, the more information I have, the better I feel (regardless of the nature of the information, it makes me feel better to be informed). I will keep you guys posted on my results. Thank you again!
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Mland, you're very welcome and good luck tomorrow, keep us posted
Lynliz, no need at all hon, unfortunately there was a lot of confusion and it broke the spirit of the thread, but I'm really glad it's back on track and I thank Essa for having this brilliant idea
Now, about the itching....I would never have thought that it could be a symptom, yet it seems so common. My left breast (lumpectomy and rads) is itching like crazy and I thought it could be the soap, or the clothes, or something I ate. I will make sure to mention it to both the BS and MO; hope they don't dismiss this. Will be having an ultrasound next as follow up in the coming month
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It's interesting...I do medical research/consulting as my full-time career, though I've never worked on any oncology projects to-date. In grad school, I was particular interested in the social messaging/marketing of public health information (how it's shared, targeted, etc.), mostly for tobacco control. This topic has me fascinated (personally, because of the testing I am having tomorrow and my family members who are thankfully surviors!), but also that it really is wide-spread on the internet that "lumps that are painful are typically not related to breast cancer". I can't tell you how many times I've read that sentence over and over in the past week on multiple websites. I would be curious to know the exact percentage of women with pain associated with lumps or their breasts in general prior to a diagnosis. I wonder how many woman, like Nancy91355, would have been diagnosed earlier if their doctors disregarded pain as a factor in ordering a diagnostic evaluation. I know tomorrow I could come back with a clear mammogram and ultrasound, but I'm glad to have learned here that pain can be associated with BC. Glad because I can share that information (in a meaningful way) with family or friends who might think to blow-off a visit to their doctor because the lump is painful and they assume it's a cyst.
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Hi Nancy, join the club, many sisters' complaints on this thread were totally dismissed, then years later Bingo !
I totally agree that med journals need to be rewritten PLUS every oncologist out there should be reading these threads, they'd learn a thing or two IMO !
Mdland, are these your little girls ? how cute !!!
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I ran a little search on pubmed.com and found this abstract published in 2007 (it's based on patients from West Africa, not the US). Either way, I think it's interesting that those who ONLY presented with pain were rarely diagnosed with BC, but those who presented with pain and another symptom were at a significant risk for being diagnosed with BC compared to those with pain only. It sounds to me like many women on this thread often presented with pain and other symptoms (i.e. breast lumps, nipple discharge). The percent of patients diagnosed with pain only was 1.24% (322 patients); for patients presenting with both pain and symptoms, the rate was 16% (125 patients). Definitely interesting!
East Afr Med J. 2007 May;84(5):215-8.
Breast cancer risk in patients with breast pain in Accra, Ghana.
Clegg-Lamptey JN, Edusa C, Ohene-Oti N, Tagoe JA.
Source
Department of Surgery, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana Medical School, P.O. Box 4236, Accra, Ghana.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the risk of breast cancer in patients presenting with breast pain in Accra, Ghana.
DESIGN:
Retrospective clinical study.
SETTING:
A self-referral breast clinic in Accra, Ghana.
SUBJECTS:
Patients with breast pain as a presenting complaint, between January 2001 and December 2005.
INTERVENTIONS:
Patients were investigated by triple assessment.
RESULTS:
There were 447 patients with pain, 322 as the only symptom and 125 in addition to other symptoms like breast lump and nipple discharge. Patients with pain only were found to have no detectable abnormality 203 (63%) and fibroadenosis 78 (24.2%) as the most common diagnoses. Breast cancer was found in four (1.24%) of them, all of whom had abnormality on clinical breast examination. In patients with pain as well as other symptoms the common diagnoses were fibroadenosis 25 (20%), breast cancer 20 (16%) and normal 18 (14.4%).
CONCLUSION:
The risk of breast cancer is significantly higher in patients presenting with breast pain in addition to other symptoms, compared to patients with breast pain as the only symptom (16% and 1.24% respectively P < 0.0001). Patients with breast pain should always have breast examination and not simply reassured. Women should be encouraged to do breast self examination.
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Maud- Thank you! Those are two of my girls. I also have two step-daughters...four girls! We love it and call them our Little Women.
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My lump had a burning pain associated with it. I also had dimpling.
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I just remembered a conversatioon aat dentist's office w him and assistant, for my med history I had written that I was having breast pain (no sign of lumps or bumps then though) and cervical pain and memory loss.... she said she thought cancer did not hurt, dentist said it doesn't until stage IV. I took it to heart, every medical pro had said same thing and is still saying it to me, but this list will help considerably.
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