Was your breast lump painful?
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I told my GP that I was having sharp pains in my left breast during my regular annual physical. No lumps could be felt. She sent me for a diagnostic mammogram. Bingo. We caught it early. Thank God I didn't listen to people saying breast cancer didn't cause pain.
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Lucytnbc - Oh I am so glad to hear your story and that your doctor sent you for the diagnostic mammogram! And that you had the sense to go to your doctor with the breast pain! One and a half years before my diagnosis of a huge tumor - Stage 3 - I was having bee sting pains in my left breast that would take my breath away. As always I would consult Dr. Google and everything I read said breast pain is not cancer.
So I did not go to my doctor and left the mammogram time post card in the junk mail pile. The pain was warning me of my cancer.
Today, it is my PASSION to advise women that yes, breast pain can be breast cancer. I am so thankful you caught yours early and followed through with the pain!
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obviously a muscle in the breast area was attached by the lump I had but my lump was pulling or dimpling the skin..when i raised my arm it would pull the lump more inward..nightsweats and sudden sweating..alot of cramps in my legs at night.
Absolutely NO ENERGY..LIKE MY BODY WAS DRAINED..would just doze off for no reason. Later found out my immune system was trying to fight the cancer..
One of the questions at the onset the Dr. Asked if I had sweats...yes
I had never had a mammo. Until i found the lump..i am 63.
No cancer in nodes, by the Grace of God. Had biopsy, lumpectomy, and 15 rounds of radiation. Surviving..
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obviously a muscle in the breast area was attached by the lump I had but my lump was pulling or dimpling the skin..when i raised my arm it would pull the lump more inward..nightsweats and sudden sweating..alot of cramps in my legs at night.
Absolutely NO ENERGY..LIKE MY BODY WAS DRAINED..would just doze off for no reason. Later found out my immune system was trying to fight the cancer..
One of the questions at the onset the Dr. Asked if I had sweats...yes
I had never had a mammo. Until i found the lump..i am 63.
No cancer in nodes, by the Grace of God. Had biopsy, lumpectomy, and 15 rounds of radiation. Surviving..
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I had zero pain but I lost weight quickly. I thought it was because I gave up sugar. I was shocked when I found out I had itlike so many others. I did have annual mammograms though. My mother had BC so my sister and I were already high risk.
Diane
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I definitely had pain, and I think that is part of the reason they didn't do a biopsy when I first reported my lump 7 months before my diagnosis. I said 'pain' and the doctors became dismissive. There are way too many reports of this for drs to keep ignoring it!
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Pain is what led me to ask for a diagnostic mammogram--and though I could not feel a lump nor could any of my health care providers, I could point to the pain and indeed there was a smallish nodule in that spot. Initially the pain was sort of an ache or an occasional annoyance, but over time it encompassed the outer half of my breast and radiated into my armpit and was more or less constant. I also had a sensation like I was being stung on occasion and my armpit felt mildly swollen. The next time I had a mammogram, I just about went through the roof when they compressed my breast. My entire breast burned. I knew then that something was definitely wrong. US was inconclusive, so I had a core needle biopsy and was initially diagnosed with papillary carcinoma in situ with a suspicion of IDC. A recent lumpectomy did indeed confirm the papillary carcinoma, and nested within that lesion was a small 5mm grade 1 IDC. And I might add, one of the first things I noticed after the surgery is that my breast--despite the lumpectomy and a wide excision biopsy that was performed for an area of microcalcs discovered at the last minute that turned out to be benign--stopped hurting! In fact, except for some very minor tenderness around the excisions, my breast feels great. Anyway, it is my personal experience that breast cancer can definitely hurt and if a person of any age has a painful area that does not subside, they should investigate. And no one should feel the least bit apologetic if it proves to be nothing! This idea that people are being overly sensitive or histrionic over a painful breast is crap. The stakes are high if it is cancer. If your doctor is dismissive tell him/her that the pain is affecting your quality of life and that you want it checked out to *your* satisfaction. We worry too much about what others might think.
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Yup, pain got me into the clinic for checks and discovered LCIS and then had excision etc etc. However perhaps what doctors don't understand is what we mean by pain. I've had several Caesarean sections and that is horrific pain during the recovery phase. So I wouldn't put my breast problem on that scale but it was definately more than the odd twinge. I did know, categorically, that something was wrong. I was so sure something was wrong that I took myself to be checked as a precaution just a few weeks before having an IVF embryo transfer despite my GP saying there was no reason to go. There was and thank goodness the problem was discovered before the embryo transfer.
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I didn't feel a lump nor have pain. I had a cyst but was told that even though increasing in size it wasn't an issue! I had very dense breast tissue (and the various u/s doctors didn't suggest a biopsy .ggrrrrrr!) I did have ITCHING! Now, upon looking at the www with a dx in my life, I see that itching can be a sign. Too bad the three doctors I saw prior to dx didn't find that in some medical textbook. Someone's head should be on a plate!
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Pain was my first sign. It was like someone was twisting a knife in my left breast. It was at the bottom of the breast, right where an underwire bra would "sit". That was in August or so. It sort of came and went, and I had a busy September and October (weddings, vacations, other travel, etc.) and put off going to the doctor. I finally went to my ob/gyn in late October. She didn't feel a lump, and at the time I wasn't having any pain but she said they could do a quick US right then and there. The doctor said the US showed what appeared to be a cluster of maybe three cysts.
It so happened that I had my annual mammo scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. The doctor said I could wait until then-about 30 days away, or if I wanted, she could order a diagnostic mammo sooner. Because we thought we were dealing with cysts, I decided to wait until my annual mammo, and that's when the lump was detected. Additional mammos (3D) and US followed, then a biopsy. Preliminary results are IDC grade 3, about 2.1 cm. Hormone receptor and HER2 status pending.
My husband and I have our first meetings with the multi-disciplinary team today and tomorrow. My journey is just beginning.
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I had no pain at all with my palpable lump. So far, my IDC appears to be pretty much textbook.
However, I agree that doctors seem to overly sold on every patient being textbook. Every doctor I've seen so far has said cancer doesn't hurt (my surgeon did acknowledge this isn't the case for IBC). Clearly this statement is incorrect based on the responses to this thread!
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My lump is painful. So far all I know is that it's poorly differentiated IDC. I had been having an intermittent sharp, stinging pain for a couple of years and since I was mid to late 40s assumed it was due to peri menopause. Then last month I got hormonal pain that was worse than normal, but this time it didn't go away in my left breast. That's when I found the lump. It's still very painful and I'm looking forward to having it gone soon! I had comforted myself far too long with the myth that cancer lumps are painless.
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Glad you started this thread! Yes, my lump hurt. After diagnosis I told just about every doctor about it hurting, just to help dispel the myth that breast cancer doesn't hurt. Even before I noticed the lump, I noticed pain in that area. I also had the same kind of pain when my local recurrence started growing.
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I have just been diagnosed with cancer. I was told twice it was mastitis because breast cancer would not be painful, not to worry.
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Mine was not painful. That myth about pain vs non-pain keeps popping up.
Diane
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Jomogdh-
We're so sorry to hear you've just been diagnosed. We hope this community can be a source of support for you as you begin down this road.
The Mods
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I am having huge swelling under my right armpit (also painful), stabbing pain in my right breast which start from nipple and goes straight to back. I examined my breasts they are not aligned, right one appears to be much lower than left one. I had US but everything appears to be normal only fats were visible on US. But due to pain they did FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology), waiting for results anxiously
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Tehreem--please insist on a breast MRI. Although they can result in false positives, a false negative breast MRI is unusual, so a negative breast MRI could help set your mind at ease.
What did they biopsy if they couldn't see anything but fat on U/S??? I wouldn't be comfortable with negative results from that.
I have had pleomorphic lobular bc three times. The first time, on the left, I had a palpable lump that was not painful. The second time was a recurrence of the same tumor that was not palpable (it was in the scar tissue from the lumpectomy) and was not painful. The third time, which was just recently diagnosed, my right armpit swelled up very noticeably, and both it and my right breast hurt. A lot. Turns out I have an 8 cm tumor with lymph node involvement.
I apologize if I've scared you by telling you this information about my third diagnosis, but I want to emphasize the important of getting a breast MRI. None of my tumors ever showed on mammo, not even 3D mammo. The first tumor showed a little bit on u/s. The second one did not show on u/s. We didn't even bother with u/s for the third one. All three tumors were very visible on MRI. This imaging problem/pattern is very typical of lobular bc.
All that being said, the odds are in your favor that you have some sort of infection or fibrocystic issue going on. Please keep us posted.
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thank you nash for responding....nobody took me seriously, they said you are too young to have BC (I'm 22). Everyone kept on asking if this pain is cyclic, but I have this pain before and during periods which I think is not cyclic. still waiting for FNAC results. I will keep you updated
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My Dr found a lump yesterday and so just waiting for my breast clinic apt. I'm going out of my head with worry, with no exaggeration there! I'm curious to know, when people speak of breast pain, is it a pain, does it hurt too? My breast aches and feels like a pulling sensation but its it's not painful or hurting.
Thank you.
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Loulou, of my three tumors at different times, two didn't hurt at all, and the new one that hurts feels like a crampy, menstrual-like pain, but in my breast, obviously. But I also have lots of involved lymph nodes and a 8 cm tumor. Everything is swollen.
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I didn’t have any pain. The mammogram showed one breast was larger than the other.
Diane
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so after waiting of 10 days they said sample taken for FNAC was not enough to detect anything, they asked me to come again for another . sample. I met another surgeon my mom took me there, after examining he said that it is just fibroadenoma and gave me vitamin E and a painkiller, what should I do now? should I go for another opinion ? because it still hurts
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Yes go for another opinion. Insist upon a breast MRI. At the very least, get the area rebiopsied like they are suggesting.
A fibroadenoma is highly likely at your age, but since they didn't see one on your u/s, from what you said earlier, and they didn't get any tissue from the FNA, I wouldn't accept that as the diagnosis without more careful assessment.
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I was dx on 3/12/18 because I found a lump, but didn't have pain until a few days ago. Now my pain is increasing every single day! It is like a radiating pain thru the entire breast.
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It was the pain and discomfort from my lump (could not even wear a bra) that forced me to seek medical attention and ultimately lead to my cancer diagnosis. So the pain saved my life. I have a rare type of breast cancer that is called mucinous carcinoma which usually has well-defined edges that pushes against nearby healthy breast tissue, but does not invade it (grow into it). I can see why in many cases of breast cancer pain is not felt especially if the cancer is harmoniously invading the surrounding tissue.
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yes, one of mine were. I was pregnant and initially thought it was normal pregnancy discomfort but it was clear there was something hard and I went to get checked out
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On Friday I found a firm round lump in my left breast (outer part above my nipple) just after waking up, it appeared sudden and big to me (but might be because I'm small chested), i haven't noticed it before so I decided to go walk in centre Saturday and saw a doctor who confirmed it and was firm, on examination when he pressed my lymph nodes in armpit they hurt slightly, but the lump didn't hurt at all. The doctor said to go to my own GP for urgent referral to breast clinic to be seen within routine 2 weeks. He told me a range of options as to what it could be, asked about any family history of BC (grandmother on fathers side, which has history of other cancers-father pancreatic, grandad liver, but he assured me these are not linked). So after the bank hol on tues I went to my own doctors and saw a locum Gp (not my usual gp), she straight away dismissed me because of my age, nearly 28yrs, she examined me and said the whole breast is inflamed and it's because of hormones and I'm ovulating (Im not sure that I am), but I've never experienced a lump before and it's different to my usual cycle, I feel like I know my body and it's not right,she didn't comment on my inverted nipple (which I know can be a sign of BC, but not for me as I've had it since was born) and didn't want to refer me to breast clinic as she said strongly it's not BC (on examination only), she just said 'I can see he's planted that seed in your head'. I didn't say that I thought it was BC I just wanted further investigation! Just such a different experience to hospital doctor who didn't want to rule it out, just said not likely because of my age but it could be, even if it is a eg. 2% chance at my age I would like to be investigated as it's my life.To me and my fiancé there is an obvious lump and it doesn't feel inflamed the rest of it, but since seeing the hospital doctor it has started to hurt/ become very sore, and my armpit hurts more. She made me feel silly and wanted me to wait until my next period (could be 2-3 weeks as I'm irregular) and she thought it would disappear.. but I pushed for the referral because the hospital doctor really thought I needed the referral and I couldn't just sit on it until then to find it's still there. So she made a note to do the referral as she couldn't find the right form in the appt, she ignored the 'suspected cancer' one that the hospital doctor said it be, she said she didn't want to bombard breast clinic with an unnecessary referral as they get swamped, and to promise her not to go to the appt if it disappears. So I phoned my gp surgery next day to check referral had been done and it hasn't and was waiting for another GP to look at it, so now I don't know if it has, this is making me stressed when the hospital doctor said I needed to be seen for further tests as he couldn't tell me from examination only. Anyone else have similar experiences? I really feel like I wasn't taken seriously because of my age. I know hormones could be a factor but I would like it confirmed by a test rather than someone's opinion. It now hurts to wear a bra so feels like armpit and lump are getting more sore.
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I definitely knew I had a problem. The pain was pretty bad and I just knew something was wrong. But it was more than pain, it was just a feeling that my breast was different in some way.
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my first symptom was left breast pain, it lead me to find my lump. The pain spread to my armpit quickly this was dec 2016. I pushed for tests and biopsies. The doctors kept saying It couldn't be anything malignant because of all the pain. I was finally diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer August 8 2018. The same doctors again even after I was diagnosed told me my pain was something else and not my cancer, until I met my surgeon who did a proper exam and also found cancer in my axillary lymph nodes and sent me for another biopsy. I went from a stage 1 to a stage 3 just by getting a second opinion from another surgeon. During all this time I was offeredanxiety meds, pain killers, percocets and tylonel 3s mostly because they just didn't know what to do with me and I was "too young" in their minds at 29 years old to have breast cancer. It breaks my heart to read how many other women are treated this way.
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