Hello
I’ll be starting radiotherapy soon, I’ve been told that I shall have 25 sessions, plus 5 booster sessions (6 long weeks - eeek).
Not too worried about the radiotherapy per se, but the possible side effects do concern me and I was wondering if there are any preventative measures that I can put into effect now and hopefully minimise any possible side effects.
hi ellachen.
i sailed through rads. the only se i had was towards the end my bust was slightly itching and that was it.ask for some aqueous cream it does help i only had 15 lots of rads over three weeks. good luck xxx gaynor
Hi there,
Ellachen, thought I would say hi as I recently finished my rads after 25 sessions and 4 boosters, so similar to yours.
I used aquaeous cream on the areas more or less right from the beginning and possibly this is why I didn’t get too much bother. There was a difference in opinion (among the staff I saw) whether you use aqueous cream or not. My skin started to sting a little a few days in and was told to use aquaeous cream for it, while another radiographer said it wouldn’t make any difference and if you were going to get a reaction you would get it anyway. (I met quite a few ladies who had bad reactions, burns/blisters etc, most of them didn’t use anything, but don’t quote me on that!)
But to me, looking at it logically it was best to use something on the skin to stop it from drying out too much. Especially as it makes no difference to how the treatment works. In my mind, it was worth trying. (Also kept showers to a minimum and didn’t apply any soap to the area itself).
I had a little bit of flaking, the skin was quite itchy off and on but nothing terrible. 2 weeks post rads now and the skin on my nipple is peeling off but its ok, just getting a bit of pain on my underarm where the nerves have been stimulated. But again, ok.
Best to ask your radiographers where they stand on the aquaeous cream front, but if they say ok, I would use it.
Hope it all goes well for you! xx
Hi,
I’ve had 15 rads plus 2 of 5 booster sessions. Skin is pink and nipple a bit itchy. Feels a little prickly on boost area. Onc says it will get worse over the next couple of weeks. I was given aqueous cream to use at the hospital and have used it everyday.
I would use it if I were you.
Hope all goes well. Stella x
Hi Ellachen,
I’m going for everything I can possibly do to minimise the SEs of rads. Hospital says it can only recommend aqueous cream but several people admit that 99.9% aloe vera is better and has been known about for years. I am using both to see what benefits I can get from each, plus a pot of Penny B radiance gel which is aloe vera plus royal jelly and other stuff which feels very soothing. Drinking lots of fluids to flush dead cells and other cr*p out of the system helps me.
I don’t feel tired yet (14 rads down, 1+5 boosts to go) and my skin is only very mildly pink. Nurses said today for the first time they can pick out the rads square but that my skin was extremely good. Don’t know which of the above has done the trick or whether its luck of the draw but at least I feel as though I am doing something.
Apparently protein and beta carotene are also good for healing so diet may also help? x
PS: For itchy nipple I was recommended, but haven’t yet used Hc45 cream which you can buy over the counter. Mild hydrocortisone cream.
can i ask did you all have bolus used i did for every session just wondered if it altered side effects i was ok up to about no 9 then got redder (had 15)but week after it ended very burnt and sore peeling at moment, aqueous used,and was shocked by the tiredness x
99.9% aloe vera is definitely the way to go. I had a sort of lgfb session (Salisbury local style), and the lady doing that was recommended to use aloe vera over ten years ago, by a top radiologist who had been researching the best moisturising agent to use on skin during rads. She could not believe that we are still only told about aqueous cream…
I double checked with my rads nurse, who told me that the aloe vera was brilliant - either the 99.9% stuff, or even better, get an aloe plant and use the sap direct. (Not tried that). Hospitals get given the aqueous cream by the pharmaceutical companies (a suspicion that a couple of us on here held, and both asked independantly, and it was confirmed) - which is why they dole that out, rather than recommending the aloe vera.
I have had nine out of 15 rads, the last two without the bolus, and although you can see a pink square on my ex-chest - I have no itching, peeling, blistering as yet - and you don’t get much fairer skinned than me! The nurses are quite impressed - I was warned initially that I would probably be sore by the 5th or 6th session. I’m not saying that it won’t get worse… but the aloe is doing a fantastic job so far. I can still wear a bra with no discomfort at all - and I’m the skin type that would burn after 15 minutes on a sunny day.
Good luck
Sophie xxx
What is a bolus? You can guess from this that I haven’d had one! but I am starting my boosts on Thursday and they told me that the attachment they use for that rests right on the skin (is that the same thing?) so the electrons go through the skin and surface area not the tissue in the surrounding area. I guess it is the skin they are treating then it will go redder. They marker penned a rectangle on me around the scar area and my only consolation is that it is going to be a relatively small red patch if that is the case.
Trip it must be the aloe vera doing the trick then as I am fair skinned and have had 14 rads without looking obviously pink. I am tipping in on by the load, multiple times, trying to let the area breathe by going topless sometimes(if everyone is out!)and not wearing bras that might rub.
The only thing I would say in defence of aqueous is that for the last few rads my skin has been dry looking and whilst it does remind me of nappy cream, I think it is heavy enough to possibly help with the dryness x
The bolus is a thin, weighty pad that they stick over the affected area before zapping. I asked what its purpose was, and apparently, the rays have to go a certain distance before frying cells, so the bolus on top means that the rays then hit the skin cells too - rather than just penetrating a half inch, and then doing their job - so yes, that’s very probably what you’ll have for your booster - a good skin level session! My rads have been done the other way round - I had the bolus for the first seven, then the remaining eight without - which may be why my skin has already gone pink… now that the bolus is removed, it may be that I’ve had the worst skin ‘damage’… but yet again, that could be wishful thinking…lol.
I think I detest the aqueous cream because it is so much like sudocrem - and I’ve had years of slapping that on small bottoms (and scrubbing it off carpets when owners of said small bottoms have got hold of it and re-decorated. How come they put calpol with a child proof lid, and not sudocrem? None of mine have ever got hold of the calpol…lol). But yes, it is a good moisturiser, just so thick and messy, and awful to try to wash off your hands afterwards. Now have vast tub of it lurking in the bathroom… must find mum of small baby to donate it to…
xxx
Oh, I’m not having the booster session - so that may be why they’ve done the rads the other way round! What always tickles me is when they’re doing the measurement checks and every time the nurse goes, ‘can’t read that one, thin air’… presumably if I still had a breast on that side, they might have been able to do a reading of it!
Sophie xx
Hi,
I am on 14 out of 25 and will be having 8 booster sessions afterwards. I have been using aqueous cream supplied by the hospital since day 1, I also got some hydrocortisone for my nipple as it got quite sore after about 7 sessions, just used it for a couple of days and it calmed down. I now have a pink area which has defined edges. I am very fair skinned and it hasn’t been as bad as I expected. No peeling or cracked skin so far (fingers crossed)
I have had some discomfort within my breast where I had a LICP reconstruction (using skin from my back) 6 months ago, so I find it uncomfortable to sleep on my front, also underwired bras are uncomfortable. I go bra free as often as possible.
I do have a quite large aloe vera plant, so I may resort to using it’s sap, I know it is great for other types of burns.
Jennie
Hi
I finished my RT in March (had 15 sessions no boosters).
I used aqueous before I started to put skin in best condition possible. At end of week 1 I was itchy & started using aloe vera (99.9% I got mine from holland & barrett) Advised to let boob “air” when I got home.
I kept aqueous in the fridge which was lovely to cool your boob if feeling hot.
My nipple got especially sore & was given gel patches to use; these were great.
You carry on cooking for up to 10 days once sessions were finished & my sore nipple peeled; rest of boob settled very quickly. I was advised by my diabetic nurse to use aqueous as a soap substitute & she prescribed a cream called Diprobase; similar to aqueous but seemed a little thicker.
They did tell me I could take anti-histamine tabs which helped with the itching but check first this is OK.
I used hydrocortisone in the past for something else but a word of warning it does thin your skin so only use a very small amount if you do.
Now 8 weeks post RT & I’m pleased to say all SE have gone; started swimming again. I still use aqueous as a soap substitute in the shower; my skin hasn’t been so soft.
Best wishes to all of you having RT at the moment or about to start. I couldn’t believe how quickly it went in the end & met some great people in the waiting room. In fact met up with one person for a coffee the other day. Lovely to see her & swap stories. Hopefully meet up once a month.
Take care
Lynne
just finished rads today - (15 plus 5 boosters) and i am a wee bit worried cos i have big purple patch of skin on kneck/collar/breast bone and my nipple and boob is getting very red and sore.
radiotherapy staff didnt seem too worried and said use E45 and aqueous but i was just wondereing what everyone ekleses expereience has been - will it get worse before it gets better do you think? and what can i do other than creams to help myself get better?
comments/suggestions appreciated
Take care with E45 - it contains lanolin and doesn’t suit everybody; it irritates the hell out of all our family.
Hi Ninja & Little Angel
Just wanted to say E45 Cream contains Lanolin but the E45 Lotion does not- according to the ingredients listed on the containers.
I have both but prefer the lotion to the cream.
Have been using aqueous to “wash” with, and aloe vera and E45 lotion to moisturise with. Have had 22 treatments with another 8 to go, the last 5 of which will be boosters. The only visible evidence of treatment so far is a small rash around the collarbone area. Keeping my fingers crossed for the rest.
Bumping for Saphy
Thank you Ragamuffin, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.