Hi everyone,
Has anyone out there experienced pain radiating from the sternum over the top of the breast affected?
Dx Nov '06; lumpectomy Dec. + node sample; FEC chemo x 18 weeks and rads x 15. Now on tamoxifen. This pain is sharp like sciatica in the front(!) and present all the time; aggravated by certain movements.
Thought it was muscular, but ibuprofen for 2 weeks hasn’t cured and the new, stronger version 3x a day doesn’t seem to be touching the spot either. Making driving and teaching difficult and I could cry with it some days. (Mind you, compounded it yesterday by falling over on the way to the Health Centre and spraining my ankle! What next I ask…?)
Any thoughts? JY
If I were you i’d go back to your breast unit and check it out. I had back pain and had a bone scan which involved a small injection two hours ahead and then lie still on a machine fully clothed which scanned the body. The injection was to highlight any areas of bone that might be damaged. I found out my pain was due to old age, not cancer, but pain can be a symptom so it’s best to get it checked out. I took codeine tabs for my pain but they can cause constipation.
Mole
Of course you MUST get it checked out, but just wanted to say I had similar pain years ago, long before bc, and it turned out to be a condition called costochondritis - a sort of inflammation to the cartilage where the ribs meet the sternum. Another similar affliction is known as Tietze Syndrome. It was painful in the way you describe, but nothing to do with cancer.
Possibly the radiotherapy has caused the inflammation in your case?
Do get it checked just to make sure.
xxxx
Thank you both - most helpful. Also e-mailed the nurses and they seemed to link it to some reaction to the rads. The new tablets are easing it a little. If it’s still ongoing when I see the onc on the 6th December I’ll see what he thinks.
JY