Hi all,
i’m 24 yrs old and was recently diagnosed with invasive ductal breast cancer. I have only just started FEC-T chemotherapy and i had my first cycle last Thursday (5th May) felt pretty grotty the first 4 days, bit of nausea, fatigued achey and had a migrane for 2 days ( they suggested this was because of one of the anti-sickness drugs and i ended up seeing an on-call GP who gave me strong painkillers to help, which they did!). The day after i felt great and much more like myself however i woke up yesterday with awful tooth ache in 3 corners of my mouth (all where wisdom teeth are partially growing through,) but its worse in one corner inparticular. Today the pain is even worse and my cheek feels quite swollen, although i am eating its extremely hard to chew and its a constant pain. I am taking co-codamol and using cortisol which eases the pain slightly but its still quite agonising and i am aware i am not allowed any dental work doing.
Has anybody else experienced bad tooth ache on FEC before? Im not sure if the pain is a side effect, or that my wisdom tooth has coincidently dug into my cheek (its done this previously). If you have experienced agonising tooth ache on FEC before what did you do? im worried about calling the chemo ward as i dont want to be a pain and im not registered with a dentist yet as i moved once i was diagnosed to be closer to my family. Its really getting me down as apart from this i think i would be feeling fine now and i dont know what to do. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca, I haven’t had the toothache you describe, just sensitive teeth like I’ve been grinding them. But the reason I have replied to your its is because you have said that you don’t want to call your chemo ward and be a pain in the ass. Please never hesitate calling them if you are worried - they will not mind!! Have you been given a 24hr advise line to call? I rang mine a couple of times when I wanted to set my mind as rest. Take your temperature first because they will ask you that then probably get someone to call you back.
You should ring just incase there is an underlying infection possibly caused by your growing wisdom teeth and your low immune system not being able to deal with it. Definitely worth giving them a call.
Let us know how you get on
Lots of love Xxx
Hi Rebecca,
I agree with Kim, give them a call. You are not being a nuisance. If there is an underlying infection the chemo might provoke it, especially when you hit the low immunity period. And you are at the age when wisdom teeth are a darn nuisance anyway.
I think chemo can irritate any other physical vulnerabilities we might have. It’s certainly made my sciatica worse although that’s improving now weeks after finishing chemo.
Look after yourself and I hope it clears for you very soon.
Ruth xx
Hi rebcrab91,
It is great to see you are getting support from our users but I am sorry to hear you are going through this difficult time.
I am sure our users will continue to support you and help answer any questions you may have. You may also want to take a look at the facebook group Younger Breast Cancer Network where younger women with breast cancer are also showing their support.
In the meantime please do call our helpline on 0808 800 6000 who will be able to talk you through your questions on tooth ache and FEC-T and offer a friendly ear. The opening hours are below.
Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Late opening Monday and Wednesday 5pm-7pm,
Saturday, 9am-1pm
Best wishes,
Lizzy
Thank you for your advice and support, I really appreciate it 
.
I called the unit this morning and they were really helpful and have advised I see my GP asap today to see if it’s an infection or not and hopefully they will give me stronger painkillers also. They stressed it was most probably my gums rather than my teeth and unfortunately is a side effect of the chemotherapy.
Thank you again for your support and I now feel much more comfortable calling the helpline for advice.
Rebecca xx
That’s good to hear Rebecca, hope you’re all sorted soon.
Lots of love xxx
I couldn’t use corsodyl i’ve found it too strong.I prefer the gelclair watchers.I’m suffer with toothache too and this time lost a filling a couple of days after chemo.back of my mouth is all fillings so I’m kinda expecting them all to go.the dentist did fill it…its a sliver of tooth rather than an internal.its going to cost me a fortune though if its like this every month! 
mine are very weak and worst case I’ll need all new teeth at the end of this…
Hi all I have finished chemo but had FEC-t and found using an alcohol free mouth wash during the texotare chemo helped as the normal ones just really hurt my mouth and made it really sore, I also ate fruit ice lollies these also soothed my mouth.
Best of luck with the reast of your treatment.