I am a bit worried about the pain from my bone mets. My GP put me on stronger painkillers a couple of weeks ago and I went back to see her today as I am still in a lot of pain. I have been put on even stronger medication. The pain that will not go away is middle back below the bra line on my right hand side. The GP said it was a bony pain and my liver was ok. I am just worried which is not helping me at all.
Would appreciate comments
Anne
Hi Anne, wondered if you’d been offered any radiotherapy? I had a very painful leg which was due to mets in my sacrum. I had just one fraction of rads last week and the results have been super quick. I’ve not had to use any pain relief these last 2 days. With Love, Belinda…x
Thanks for your reply Belinda, I have had radiotherapy on my pelvis but that is all.
I do not like medication but seem to need the painkillers. I did wonder about a tens machine. I will check more on them from the internet.
Anne
Hi Anne
You are welcome to call our helpline for advice and support, the specialist breast care nurses on the team are there from 9am this morning on 0808 800 6000 and will be happy to talk to you about methods of pain relief.
Best wishes
Lucy
Thank you for your reply Lucy. I was just wondering if others had the constant pain or it was controlled.
Hi AneAnne,
I have had extensive bone mets since 2002. Initially the pain was constant and I took painkillers, had rads to the worst areas and started on pamidronate. It took about 3 months of treatment before i could stop taking painkillers but have had several years relatively pain free until recently. The past month my lower back and hip has caused a lot of pain again. I am back on regular meds, have had an MRI, xrays and awaiting another bone scan. You say you have seen your GP but really continuous pain needs more expertise than the GP can offer. Your hospital team need to be scanning to make sure that there is no problem with the vertebrae crumbling or compression of your spinal cord. Once they have eliminated that then they may offer rads to the affected area. My oncologist has also referred me to a macmillan nurse for effective pain control. Do you have one, if not it is worth asking that too.
dawnhc
xxx
Dawn,
Thank you for your reply. I do have a Macmillan nurse but have not seen or heard from her for ages. I think she retired and someone else came along, but that person is off sick now and they have gone back to the previous nurse.
I will be in touch with the onc dept and see if I can have an earlier appointment. My Consultant did not want to see me for a few months but maybe I need to see him!
Anne
Hello
Anne, I hope the consultant will be of help to you!
I noticed a few of you mentioned radiotherapy for pain relief. Mum has secondaries in her bones. She has been having very bad pain down the bak of one of her legs and the onc thinks its because of the cancer spreading to the bottom of the spine. Has anyone else had this? Belinda, your story sounded similar (good luck with Xeloda by the way, I hope it does the job!!) Mum recieved 5 doses of radiotherapy to the bottom of her spine a week ago but her leg is no better and she finds it very hard to walk. I was wondering how long the radiotherapy should take to stop the pain?? I hoped things might be better by now.
Best wishes to all! x
Hi Nipper, thanks for the good wishes, it’s taken 8 days for my leg to get back to normal. It felt worse for a few days after the rads and then suddenly it was fine. Picking up on Dawn’s posting I was checked for spinal cord compression and any possible fractures. I hope your Mum starts feeling better soon…xx
Hi dawnhc
Me again! Just pickin up on your treatment of bone mets. I note that you say you have had an MRI and are awaiting a further bone scan. What does each show up. Why are both needed? Why would a bone scan be requested after an MRI? As you will see on another thread I have had bone scan and was told by three consultants at hospital it was clear now moving on to onc and he has asked for me to have MRI as I have hotspots.
Would welcome the benefit of your experience.
Starfish x
Hi Starfish,
I had the MRI as i said because I have a lot of damage to my spine and the MRI gives a good image if there is compression on the spinal cord. I was offered radiotherapy to the area but I am not happy yet to go ahead with that. I feel they need to pinpoint the area more specifically as I also have a lot of pain in the pelvis/hip area. I then had x-rays of lower back, pelvis/hips and thighs. The onc can see something in the right pelvic area but is not certain what it is. She describes it as ‘subtle’ LOL. As I have not had a bone scan since last May she feels that is necessary to be sure there is no progression. As she said given the degree of damage to my bones - a report of ‘stable’ can be misleading as a small amount of change can be increasing the pain. Starfish - I don’t know in your case why your onc is requesting specific scans but I think we just need to be thankful that we are both getting such good care. Always happy to share experience 
dawnhc