My mum was treated for tnbc back in 2020.
In august, she started complaining of lower back pain. She works as a cleaner so initially thought she might have pulled a muscle or it was an injury.
After Hot water bottles and paracetamol, the pain went away after 2/3 weeks. She continued working but has since been diagnosed with osteoporosis.
Last Wednesday, after she had been working, she says that she felt the pain start up again. The next 2 days were fine but after a long’ish car journey over the weekend, it has triggered her back pain again and she is back with the hot water bottles and paracetamol.
Paracetamol completely takes the pain away for her. She says the pain is relived by movement and doesn’t feel it is any worse at night, but around 4/5am it will wake her up as she can’t get comfortable.
Lots of conflicting information online.
So I was just hoping you could answer a few questions for me about symptoms?
If the pain is being caused by secondary cancer to her spine, would paracetamol completely take the pain away?
Would the pain from secondary cancer be relived by movement? (Some websites say yes some websites say no).
I’ve read that pain from secondary cancer in spine “comes and goes”. Is this typically throughout the day? Or could it come and go over days/weeks? Could it be there in august, disappear and come back in October?
Can osteoporosis cause lower back pain? Information online suggests no, only when a bone is fractured.
She will be going to her gp if no improvement soon, but I was just hoping you could help with the above questions and no straight answers online really.
I had 3 broken vertebrae, before no pain until they collapsed, and mets everywear, that I didn’t feel…so it really depends from people to people. Lay down no painat all, so no pain at night, pain lifting heavy things…no initial pain running.
Best wishes to your mom, hopefully is just nothing, but a check is always a good things.
I’ve been living with secondary breast cancer in bone, spine and ribs for over seven years.
In the beginning the pain came and went. I too thought it was because of too much exercise etc. and stupid doctor put me on waiting for chiropractor. It too six months of different doctors not believing my pain was cancer before the pain became so extreme ended up in an ambulance to A and E.
I finally demanded MRI and it confirmed wide spread cancer in bones.
I wish I had acted earlier.
Please tell your mother to go to GP urgently and get CT or MRI. too many GPs sadly do not act fast enough and too many people leave hospital after all clear for breast cancer without knowing or being told the signs of secondary breast cancer.
In answer to questions. In my experience…At beginning paracetamol is strong enough. The pain can come and go over a period of months.
Hopefully you will hear good news but in case please move fast in getting MRI.
I am in a similar position. I am being treated for primary triple negative breast cancer. My last scan showed three osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the thoracic spine. I have been referred by the GP for a bone scan to see if I need treatment for osteoporosis. This is next week. I have written to the hospital I am going to ask if they could check the fractured vertebrae just to reassure me that they are not caused by bone metastases as apparently when they do a bone scan generally they scan lower down and don’t include the thoracic spine.
It sounds as though your mum is having a difficult time at the moment and it’s understandable that you are concerned about her symptoms.
The symptoms of secondary breast cancer are similar to other conditions and, as you’ve found the information and advice online can be conflicting. We cannot say what is causing her pain but as your mum has a history of breast cancer, she should report any symptom which is new, doesn’t have an obvious cause or doesn’t go away. Although your mum’s work as cleaner may be causing her back pain as @smbw18 says it may be best to ask her GP – or breast care nurse – to review and investigate.
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I went to see a physio about 1 year after primary diagnosis as my back would spasm every so often at the gym and i had to wait for it to release before i coukd get up.
Physio rang GP practice straight away, but GP had no concerns (they hadn’t seen me i person) so physio did what he could and gave me exercises to release muscles.
Roll on 3 years and i got what i thought wS sciatica, same story GP not concerned ( hadnt seen me in person) etc.
6 months later clear mammogram but told clinic i had a lump near surgery site znd was concerned. Ultrasound booked, which resulted in biopsy and diagnosis of cancer recurrence.
CT booked and expectation was it would all be fine…Not so big lesion pelvis on the side i’d had sciatica pain…
Go back to clinic immediate and get a scan. The smaller the lesion the more likely they can zapp it with radiotherapy and kill the cancer. Too late for me.
Hi there!! I have not had breast cancer (although my twin sister has), but I have osteoporosis. It had never been really bad until I started helping my brother in law at his cafe. I would mop, sweep and do dishes in the huge sink. My back began really bothering me and I also had severe sciatica. I saw a neurologist and he said that the pain would come and go, but that it was caused by pushing/pulling, bending, etc, and told me I needed to stop working for my brother in law. The pain does come and go, but it has gotten so bad before that I had to crawl out of bed in the morning in order to get to the bathroom to get ready. I got pain pills, which would help, but I still wake up at 3 am every single morning in so much pain that I can’t sleep. As with your mom, the pain improves after I have been moving around quite a bit. I had physical therapy for 4 months and it didn’t help very much. The neurologist told me that the only thing that would fix it is spinal fusion surgery, but told me that I should hold off for as long as I could before I have it done. I know that your mom has had cancer and I haven’t, but with her job being cleaning, and having this back pain off and on, being severe sometimes, I feel like that may be your mom’s problem, and it is not coming from the cancer she had. She should go to the doctor to find out what is going on, but I did want to let you know that it may not be cancer after all!! Hang in there and many prayers for you and your mom. <3 Janet
Hi Janet,
Thankyou so much for your reply.
It’s reassuring to see an outcome for back pain that hasn’t involved cancer or spread of cancer to the spine.
The pain started for her after being bent over for an hour going through old photos to show her nephew. It took a while to go, but after 2/3 weeks it was gone. It then started last week, after one of her cleans that involves a lot of bending to things low down. This eased off again, but flared up after a long journey in an uncomfortable car seat and she felt it again this Wednesday gone, after finishing the same clean with lots of bending and lifting a heavy vacuum. She took two paracetamol before her clean on Wednesday as a precaution but has not needed any since. She has slept well and the pain has not woken her up. Her back was achy tonight after bending over to wash her hair.
I did have a look online if osteoporosis can cause pain but it said it isn’t usually bothersome unless a fracture present, but not sure how true that is.
She had her yearly mammogram today, so she is waiting for the results from that (I know she is worried sick after being recalled last year) and all being well, then will speak to the gp. One thing at a time kinda scenario!
Thanks to you and everyone else on here for taking the time to reply x
Hi Clare!
Glad I could give some reassurance to you. Although I am not a doctor, and you will find out from her dr visit, I do know that my pain didn’t start until I had been bending/pulling when I was helping my brother in law with cleaning the cafe and washing the dishes in the large industrial size sink (the neurologist asked me if it was the large sink that restaurants have that I was washing dishes in). I would have bad painful flareups and sometimes they would last for several months before easing off. Other times, I would have a flare up of pain and it would get better, but it would be after several weeks. Being woken up at night is really bad because I never get a full night’s sleep. The pain medicine works for the first part of the night. But when I just lie down for a while, there is no pain. I do have osteoporosis in my spine, so I have to believe that there is a connection to that and the pain that I have. I have a lot of pain in my neck, which the orthopedic doctor saw was caused by severe arthritis in my neck. I’m 62, and how old is your mom? Like I said, I can’t say 100% that this is what is going on with your mom, but it sure does sound like what I have been/am currently going through!! Please keep us informed!! <3
My mum is 54 and was diagnosed with osteoporosis last month after she had a nasty fall on holiday and our gp advised her to do for a dexa/bone density scan. This highlighted osteoporosis and said the main problem area was spine (and another area but I can’t remember)
She was diagnosed with TNBC in 2020.
Every ache and pain is a constant worry.
This time last year she was recalled after her mammogram and this time 2 years ago, she underwent a ct scan and pet scan after an X-ray showed an usual area on her lung, after our gp ordered tests due to recurrent chest infections.
This eventually turned out to be scarring from the radiotherapy but the scares and worry just never seems to go away, it feels like there’s always something new to worry about, each day.
I understand totally what you are saying. My twin sister and I are 62 and she has had Rheumatoid Arthritis since she was 6 years old. She has been basically healthy all of her life (other than the RA) until this past February she was diagnosed with breast cancer. But before this, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and has been getting a shot every 6 months that is supposed to help it. I also have it, but it is an earlier stage than hers. I also have severe osteoarthritis which my ortho doctor says is most of the cause of my pain. But the symptoms your mom has been having are so similar to what I have been going through for the past 2 years. My problem is mostly in my spine and cervical area. I had 2 MRI’s on spine and neck. My back pain started when I was in my 50’s, and has gotten worse, to the point of me waking up every night in pain. I totally understand how every ache and pain is a worry for you. But I certainly hope that , even though it is not good, your mom’s pain is the same as I am having. The past 10 years is when my bone density started going downhill, even though I was taking calcium everyday. Same with my sister, but the shots seem to be helping her. Maybe it’s something your mom can consider . hang in there!!!
We hope you have found the posts supportive. As you say, taking it one day at a time can be helpful.
Please do call our helpline if you would like to talk through your situation or have any further questions. The helpline team have time to listen to your concerns, talk things through and signpost you to more support and information. Your call will be confidential, and the number is free from UK landlines and all mobile networks. The number is 0808 800 6000, (Relay UK - prefix 18001).
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<3