freckles, pigmentation

Having trawled the net and getting no answers, I’m hoping someone here will enlighten me…
Has anyone else woken up weeks into their chemo to find that suddenly they have masses of new freckles?
I have asked my drs and nurses, but they have no answers and seem totally disinterested.
I don’t give a monkey’s about how it looks (least of my problems!), but am simply concerned.

Hi there
a few weeks into my 1st chemo (fec) I noticed a change in my pigmentation on my face. It was mainly on my cheeks + under my eyes. I suffered from something similar whilst pregnant- it’s often called a pregnancy mask. It looked like I had a patchy fake tan but did fade later on thru my chemo. My bcn etc said it was unusual but probably related to the impact it was having on my hormones (hence my similar experience during pregnancy). I’m only 33 so they said hormones the likely cause.
Hope it clears up soon- try not to worry too much
tina x

Thanks for that. My freckles have appeared predominately as a band across my face under my eyes. I am dealing with far more serious side-effects such as Steriod Psychosis, phlebitis, high blood sugar, hellish haemorrhoids, oral thrush… (the hair-loss and nausea are the easy bits!), but these I could get my head around - there were explanations.
So much of what we have to deal with is, is beyond our control. Cancer and the appropriate treatments is some thing that happens TO us. Understanding these processes and their effects empowers.
So again - thank you x

No problem really hope u start feeling better soon + all those nasty side effects ease up. Be sure to tell ur chemo nurses/ onc that u are suffering as there are plenty of meds they can give u to help with the symptoms. I always suffered with steroids, no sleep at all etc, so I now take sleeping tabs + the odd diazepam to help me settle + get some rest. The tummy + constipation probs can be sorted too. Fingers crossed the chemo does the trick + time passes quickly 4u.
Tina x

Hi emma

One of the warnings that comes with chemotherpay is that it makes your skin sensitive to the sun, so it must affect pigmentation in some way, even if it’s indirectly through changes to hormones.

Like Tina, I was affected by pregnancy and looked like I’d been on a long, hot holiday with lots of dark freckles across my face and all the moles on my body that hadn’t seen the light of day for a year were also darker.

It’s so frustrating not to have answers to these queries. There’s too much mystery both in cancer and its treatments.

xxx