hi, i live in wisbech cambs ,i ve had some lymph nodes removed and am finding the pain under my arm differcult to cope with .i am doing my excercises and taking pain killers but by the evening its unbarable any advise or helpfull tricks anyone ?
Hiya,sorry I dont live anywhere near you but can empathise with the underarm pain,I suffered badly for a couple of months,it made me quite down in the dumps at the time. My BCN got me an earlier appt.with the surgical team and the doctor gave me "Lyrica",a tablet that treats nerve pain. It helped with the pain therefore it cheered me up,dont suffer in silence because Im sorry to say the underarm pain isnt much better now and it`s 18 months since my surgery,I still need these tablets everyday. The other name of the tablet is Pregabalin,I believe a similar one is called Gabapentin a lot of girls on the forum appear to be on these for hot flushes.
Good luck,love Mags x
I have the same problem had opperation 4 weeks ago i have been moisturising the top half of my arm and around the arm pit it does ease a little and i have found i can raise it more afterwards
Hi
I had some nodes removed at same time as mastectomy and was in a lot of pain afterwards due to cording - like having strings sticking out across armpit. Doing stretching exercises was awful, but I got an early referral to the phsiotherapist attached to the breast care unit and she has been wonderful. Three sessions of massage later and the pain is much more bearable. She told me the more I do the stretching exercises the better it’ll get. I’m mentioning this as my surgeon wasn’t at all interested in talking about pain, just about the results and further treatment needed for the cancer. Perhaps a physio could help you?
Good luck
Janet x
I think pain, in general, is just one of the many things many surgeons neglect to warn us about. I attend a pain clinic now (my surgeon told me “pain is subjective”) and was told at least 40% of breast surgery results in permanent pain but they don’t tell women that for fear they may decline surgery - piffle, and if we did decline then that would be our right. It is interesting to know that physio can help but does this mean you do physio for the rest of your days? Is it a fix?
Goodd luck and hope you continue to see improvement.
I’m 4 months on from surgery and I still have a lot of pain in my armpit and along the back of my arm from shoulder to elbow. Coincidentally I spoke to my BCN this morning and mentioned it and she said that in time, my brain should stop giving me ‘pain’ messages and therefore it should stop hurting! An interesting perspective. I’ll let you know if and when it happens!
The pain gets me down too, especially in bed when I get spasms and prickles that keep me awake. Hey ho, keep reminding myself it’s better than being on the way to my grave.
Jane
Hi everyone. I had lymph nodes removed just over a year ago and I still get aches / stiffness and prickly feelings. I mentioned it to my surgeon last week and she said this was perfectly normal. My arm does feel heavy too when I try to dry my hair with the hairdryer. I cant keep it above my head for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Like Jane72 said its a small price to pay. Still find it weird that the back of my arm and shoulder is still numb though!
Hello all,
I had mx + node clearance 6.5 years ago and am sorry to say i still get pain amd stiffness…nothing like as bad as it once was, but still there, although i think I’ve had it so long I don’t notice it most of the time! I’ve never been offered tablets - wish I’d known about them then. I think that even in this 6 years things have improved for us if they are now being offered. I also had (and still sometimes get) cording. The thing that has always really helped is swimming. Once a week, any stroke, even 10 minutes helps. It hurt a bit the first time but after that it has done wonders.
Hope this helps
Mo
Yep like Mo
I’m 2 and a half years from dx, full clearance and my armpit and under arm still feel strange and painful sometimes. I have got used to it somewhat and it doesn’t bother me like it used to. It’ll never feel the same and I’ve grown used to that.
As Mo said, I always feel better when I’ve been swimming.
Good luck
Mal x
Hi All
Had mx and node clearance 10 months ago and contrary to Surgeon, Onc and GP’s opinions that this shouldn’t be happening, I have also had post op pain underarm. I believe the pain for me was exacerbated by Taxotere (not FEC) and now more recently Arimidex. I had one Herceptin infusion prior to Arimidex with little adverse reaction, but I guess until I finish Herceptin, I cannot be sure that it is all (getting the joint pain too) attributable to Arimidex . I have been trying to reduce Lyrica right down, but I upped it again today.
So glad to know I am not the only one.
Very Best of Luck Everyone
Cham
P.S. I think swimming helps me too
its two weeks since my mastectomy and full lymph clearance and the pain is very bad my bc nurse told me to do the exercises as much as possible and i’m glad to say she is right it helps a lot i still have to take painkillers sometimes and like the other ladies i will try swimming as it helped with my previous op a lumpectomy and sentinel node op in 2009 good luck with the pain it will get better