I started my radiotherapy, right side whole breast, on Thursday. Second session on Friday … three more next three days.
I wasn’t very pink or burning or itchy but today the breast pain has got steadily worse during the day. It feels aching and bruised deep inside. Is this normal? Is it what others have experienced too.
I was expecting redness etc but not the ache
I think every one is different but in my case, my breast swelled up, was very painful, and my skin reacted quite badly despite regular cream/lotion being applied.
The swelling went on for about two years. I didn’t have anyone to compare with as I went back to work very quickly and did not have any therapy for the side effects. I took the odd paracetamol and just kept things to myself.
Seagulls
Dolly dreams ,
I finished radiotherapy about 7 weeks ago , my breast felt very uncomfortable during radiotherapy, some pinkness , burning and general ache . It started to settle about 2 weeks after I finished. Good luck. Keep applying the cream and drink plenty x
Hi Dolly dreams
I’m also 7 weeks post 5 fraction RT (also WBI on right side). Entirely normal I’m afraid. As RT damages all tissue in its path, you’ll experience various symptoms due to cell death and repair as time goes on.
I was quite headachy (as mentioned keep drinking 2L water daily to flush out any toxic byproducts), felt tired from after day 2, and had fatigue for a few days after the last session. I got away with a grade 1 radiation dermatitis which peaked as expected 10-14 days post RT then continued to improve steadily over the next 2-6 weeks. Breast pain (and a hypersensitive nipple 
) also lasted a few weeks but thankfully has now settled down. The other things to watch out for are rib pain (keep up the post-op exercises but do take care not to put too much strain on this side, my sister had a fall & managed to fracture a rib post RT) and weakened immunity. As with other treatments, your body is going through a hell of a lot and needs rest and good nutrition (especially high protein) for tissue repair/healing.
Do mention any concerns to your therapeutic radiographer - they should check with you daily in any case to see how you’re getting on. They’re also there for you after treatment is over.
I’m very grateful to have had the shorter course - can’t imagine going through 5 weeks plus… Happy to report everything is much better now and I’m back at the gym/yoga.
Hope the rest goes well and you get away with the mildest side effects.
JS64