Diagnosed September 2022 with grade 2 invasive lobular ER & PR positive left breast cancer. I have been taking Letrozole for 6 months to shrink the cancer to have the option of breast conserving surgery and it has worked it has significantly reduced in size, I am so pleased and looking forward to discuss my surgery at next appointment in May.
BUT I have in the last 3 weeks developed left breast pain - burning, pulling sensation. I have never felt any of this before, it is making me now think of the cancer more, whereas since and before my diagnosis my breast felt no different.
Has anyone else had this ??, I have spoken to the Macmillan nurse for reassurance, but the feeling in the breast is there all the time. Should i be worried ??
So sorry to read you are So uncomfortable I do hope that you start to feel a bit better over the weekend. I really can’t offer any advice but I just would like you to know I’m thinking of you and wishing you well and let’s hope that when you see your consultant he’ll be able to sort you out and make you feel more comfortable I am wondering if you may be able to get your appointment brought forward to see someone earlier for reassurance as anxieties take such a toll on us.
Sorry to hear you’re suffering with this pain and anxiety - my diagnosis and treatment pathway was very different to yours but I had pain that felt very much as you describe it - like a burning line pulling tightly across my breast and into my armpit .
This happened 6 months after a failed VAE , 4 months after surgery, 2 months after rads and 6 weeks after starting Anastrozole .I then found a lump in the same area and really freaked out .
I managed to get an emergency clinic appointment by calling my BCN team . I was examined by a BCN , who was reassuring but managed to get me an ultrasound on the same day. The lump was found to be an oil cyst - basically my surgery had blocked off / disrupted the circulation to a piece of fatty tissue which then liquefied and my body reacted against it and formed it into a cyst.
I still have a slight lump but the pain eased and disappeared over the following 2-3 weeks .
It’s not the same as such but Letrozole is blocking the hormone supply to your cancer cells and effectively starving them & so they will be breaking down which could be causing your pain . Also I’m thinking that the breast tissue will be tightening around the area where the cancer has shrunk .
I agree with Tili and if there’s a way to get reviewed sooner even if not by a Dr. initially then I would do it . You could try via your GP - an Advanced Clinical Practitioner at my surgery offered to refer me but by that time I already had my appointment .
I hope this helps and that it does turn out that the pain you’re experiencing is due to the treatment working ( which it sounds as though it is ). I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you
