Breast Cancer Now Forum

Yes lottie63, they are.  I've been misplacing words for a while now, I can't leave the house without compulsively checking the stove, doors, windows, etc. (having once left some eggs boiling on the stove when I went to the Turkish Baths, not a relaxing experience when I remembered...), can't find keys, glasses, obviously can't remember why I went upstairs - or downstairs, today my husband found my bank card in my dressing gown pocket.  I'm sure I had a good reason for putting it there, but...   The checking thing started before the cancer, sparked off by being harassed at work over 2 years, but the elusive words and misplacing things is more recent and has got worse since I started on Tamoxifen.  I was on Anastrazole for app 3 years but swapped due to the joint and muscle pains, only to get the leg cramps.  I don't remember having the same memory problems on Anastrazole.  What makes it worse is my Dad died of dementia and I'm always on the lookout for it.    Research helpfully points out the taking oestrogen can improve memory problems.  Great!  However, I finally decided it's better to accept that it's happening and try and manage it rather than stressing out about why it's happening.  So, pill boxes, phone alert for Tamoxifen, shopping lists, To do lists, etc.  Also I found this article useful, especially the bullet points:   http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/coping-physically/sex-hormone-symptoms-and-cancer/coping-with-sex-hormone-symptoms/memory-and-concentration   I noticed it's harder to multitask and do things on autopilot like I used to, I need to focus more on what I'm actually doing, e.g. in the kitchen if I'm tidying up like a mad thing, I need to look at the thing I'm putting away or I might put it in the wrong cupboard.  Memo to self: Don't do things on the fly.  Slow down. And try not to obsess about it because that just makes it worse.    Hope you're feeling better   M x       ... View more

Hi Sandier   I've only just seen this post, so I hope you're still looking at it.  I had BC on left in 2011, lumpectomy, cavity shave (to clear out wider margins) and radiotherapy.  Came off my bike on Jan 24th, luckily the road broke my fall ;-), landed on my left side, broke 3 ribs.  Did the same thing in 2010 but was back on the bike in about 6 weeks (I am clearly deranged) But.. this time it's 4 months down the road and I'm still in pain.  It's ok for a day or so then I risk some light gardening or cleaning the bathroom and it's like being kicked by a horse.    Doctor doesn't have any answers but basically agrees with my assumption that it's due to radio damage, a lot of scar tissue and pre-existing damage from the first time, although I don't know if the ribs were broken then because they didn't xray them.  He sent me for an xray about 6 weeks ago to see if there was "anything else going on", I think we all know what that means, and it isn't good.  No, nothing sinister.  So just the knackered ribs then.  Also sent me for a bone scan, which was fine.    I find it odd that your oncologist is baffled, bone damage due to radiation is very well known and documented.  Also the fact that he/she's not very interested is not acceptable.  I know 2 people who've had facial tumours and radio, one of them needs implants to reconstruct his teeth, but due to radio damage the bone is compromised and he was sent for sessions in a hyperbaric chamber before they could contemplate surgery.  This is usually used for divers who've got a problem and need to be oygenated.  It oygenates the blood and supposedly speeds up healing.  BTW that was on the NHS.     Check out this article:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1311768/Radiotherapy-saves-millions-cancer-inflict-cruel-damage-answer-.html. Also Google hyperbaric treatment, medicine etc, and you'll find lots of stuff.  I'm guessing your oncologist hasn't heard of this either, which would be shocking but not surprising.  I know what caused my breaks, If I'd had 17 breaks for no apparent reason I'd be raising merry hell.  Broken ribs hurt like hell and make you feel like a fragile old lady, which totally sucks!  I'm not ready for that yet and I doubt you are.   Don't know if you're taking supplements, but I'm taking calcium, magnesium, Omega 3, Vit D and turmeric.  Also you could look into the use of Comfrey oil, which is an old herbal remeday also called Knitbone.  Talk to someone at a good health shop before you spend lots of money.   I hope some of this is helpful.  Hang in there!  Monica             ... View more

Hi ladies, long time since you posted but I've only just got the problem, so hope you're still looking here.  I've been on Anastrazole for 3 years, horrendous muscle pains, anxiety, memory etc.but a new one is slow and irregular heart beats.  Had an ECG at the GPs, then a trip to the cardio, did a treadmill test and now he wants me to do an echocardiogram and an angiogram.  Don't mind the echo but the angio means putting something up from your leg into your heart. Yeah right!  That sounds like a great idea.  He also put me on a low dose  beta blocker which slows the heart down, which considering my rate was about 40-50 seemed a bit wierd.    I don't have any symptoms, I've never had any heart issues, always been slim and fit, regularly cycle 30+ miles.  Only just found things on the net mentioning irregular/slow heart rate with Anastrazole becuase I didn't notice it until recently.  Doesn't say anything about that on the box...I've changed to Tamoxifen to try and reduce some of the other side effects, so far no change.  Oh joy.   Anyone else having this?   Monica   ... View more

I hope you ladiies are stilI looking at this thread, because I need some help.  I've been on Anastrazole for 3 years, and had problems with joint and muscle pains, but over the last 2 weeks I've been waking up about 4am with a headache and nausea.  I don't know if you can develop new side effects 3 years down the road.    I can get rid of the headache but the nausea is harder to get rid of.  I've had IBS for ages and I wondered if it has to do with that, but I've never had nausea with it before.  I've just found this thread and I'm wondering if it's got something to do with Vit D - I had no idea it could cause problems. At the moment I'm taking Vit D and Magnesium tablets, both are 100% RDA.    Does any of this sound familiar? It's doing my head, and my stomach, in.   MonicaS     ... View more

HI Rattles - I just found this thread while looking for something on arimidex and muscle/joint pains (Side Effect of the Month) but I had this dizziness problem at the end of last year.  Freaked me out.  Immediately diagnosed  myself with a brain tumour and/or incipient dementia (my dad died multi infarct dementia which starts with mini strokes/TIAs).   I had lumpectomy/WLE in Oct 2011 and 3 weeks of radio in Jan 2012, and have been on Arimidex/Anastrazole ever since. Dizziness isn't listed on my tablet packets as a side effect but it does appear on some drug information sites and obviously lots of women are reporting it.  I had a brain scan, no tumour, then was put on Allervert for dizziness, but I never really took it becuase I was also prescribed Gabapentin to prevent headaches and I didn't fancy all those drugs merrily interacting in my system.    The dizziness went away by itself, does still appear occasionally but it's manageable. Still don't know for sure what causes them but there may be a link to your headaches as I have had occasional migraines  and daily headaches (caused by painkillers!) for years. I think in my case it's probably wear and tear on the brain from all those headaches, plus Arimidex.  For me it's manageable at the mo, but it's really scary when it happens.  If there's a headache clinic near you, it might be worth asking your GP to refer you, that's what fixed my daily headaches after 10 years of weeping in the GP's office.   Of course you're "anxious" - you've had cancer and you're still working!   I hope you get it sorted   Monica       ... View more

Hi Janet Sorry to hear of your predicament. Bad enough have BC without having to worry about Sjogren's as well. I had a 2cm tumour in 2011, grade 2, ER+, lumpectomy and SNB, then cavity shave to clear out some stubborn little buggers. Hadn't spread so no chemo Huzzah! 15 sessions of radio. The only reason I commented was your comment about all the radio stories being so grim. For me it was a complete doddle. Everyone said I'd be completely floored, not able to get out of bed, etc. Apart from 1 day when I felt a bit tired, I can honestly say it really didn't affect me at all, at the time. My ribs ache quite often now, but I put that down to stretching a bit too much at yoga, cycling, and good ole arimidex/anastrazole. Both my surgeon and onco blame it on that. All I'm saying is radio isn't necessarily as horrible as it's usually portrayed. By the way, don't know if it's relevant, but I'm 61, ie no spring chicken! Good luck with your decision. All the best, Monica ... View more

Hi Ladies Glad I found this topic but most posts are quite old so I hope someone's still watching. I hope you all had good news. I had a lumpectomy, SNB, cavity shave and 3 weeks of radio at the end of 2011. I'm on Arimidex (oh joy) and have the usual - vaginal problems (am I the only one who has THAT problem?), aches and pains, sleep problems, etc The thing that's really bothering me is that I have this niggling pain in my ribs on the opposite side from my tumour. There seems to be a little tender point that bothers me when I'm in bed - I can only sleep on my side. In June my surgeon said he couldn't feel anything, it was due to Arimidex, but sent me for a scan, that was fine. 1 yr mammogram in Oct, also fine. My onco says he can't feel anything and says not to worry cos we caught my cancer very early and it hadn't spread. But. I can still feel something wrong! Worst thing, I'm aware of it in bed when it's hardest to ignore. Also before I got the diagnosis, I had been aware of a similar pain on the left side but I put it down to the fact that I'd broken a couple of ribs falling off my bike. Any ideas what this could be other than the Thing We Don't Want to Think About? Any (reassuring) ideas gratefully received. MonicaS ... View more

Hi Ladies Glad I found this topic but most posts are quite old so I hope someone's still watching. I hope you all had good news. I had a lumpectomy, SNB, cavity shave and 3 weeks of radio at the end of 2011. I'm on Arimidex (oh joy) and have the usual - vaginal problems (am I the only one who has THAT problem?), aches and pains, sleep problems, etc The thing that's really bothering me is that I have this niggling pain in my ribs on the opposite side from my tumour. There seems to be a little tender point that bothers me when I'm in bed - I can only sleep on my side. In June my surgeon said he couldn't feel anything, it was due to Arimidex, but sent me for a scan, that was fine. 1 yr mammogram in Oct, also fine. My onco says he can't feel anything and says not to worry cos we caught my cancer very early and it hadn't spread. But. I can still feel something wrong! Worst thing, I'm aware of it in bed when it's hardest to ignore. Also before I got the diagnosis, I had been aware of a similar pain on the left side but I put it down to the fact that I'd broken a couple of ribs falling off my bike. Any ideas what this could be other than the Thing We Don't Want to Think About? Any (reassuring) ideas gratefully received. MonicaS ... View more

Hi Ladies! Haven't been on here for a long time but am having problems with Anastrazole and wonder if anyone else is the same boat. Had a lumpectomy and SNB Oct 2011, no chemo, then rads and Anastrazole. The hot flushes, fatigue, joint pains and headaches were manageable as they seemed to take it in turns, but over the last few weeks they've all been coming together, plus a new wrinkle, dizziness. This is freaking me out, funnily enough not so much because of the obvious paranoia (it must be a brain tumour aaaargh!) but because my Dad died of dementia which started as a series of dizzy spells and got worse (TIAs). There seems to be quite a lot of stuff on US sites about anastrazole causing dizziness, but not so much here. Seagull - I too have no problem with hair loss and was doing a lot of cycling and the joint pains were not bad. I go to yoga once a week, try to do it 2/3 times at home, it helps with the joint pains and with stress. I think the stress and anxiety is as bad as the physical side effects, and probably makes them worse, so anything you can do to reduce it is going to help you beat the Big C. The Breast Cancer Haven charity in Leeds, London and Hereford provide all kinds of support to BC patients, it's fantastic and all free. However, if that's too far away they also have great relaxation CDs, on http://www.thehaven.org.uk/ Ah Anastrazole! The gift that keeps on giving... Happy New Year and good luck everyone MonicaS ... View more

Hi Helen Scared witless is right. I had a Grade 2 IDC in Sept last year (bad month for us) lumpectomy/SNB/rads. Nodes not affected so no chemo just the prospect of 5 years on Anastrazole (oh joy oh rapture) thought I'd got off lightly. Over the last few weeks I've had an odd feeling in the other boob and called the BCN, I hadn't found anything but had a baaad feeling, and she moved up my checkup from next Wed to this. Last night in the bath, found a lump. Had my lumpectomy approx a month after I found the lump last year. I can't believe it can happen again so fast. I'm off the to surgeon tomorrow hoping I'm wrong. Hope you got the news you want from your doctor. Hang in there and keep me posted Monica ... View more

Thanks as always, Ladies. Since Chinook's given us so much information, I must admit I did eventually insert a capsule without the help of my OH who obviously isn't as helpful as hers or perhaps I didn't trust him to get it in the right place (it's been a while) lol. I'll have a look in Holland and Barrett as well. I did look up Scream Cream which was mentioned by someone earlier. Hmmm. I felt like screaming the last couple of times I tried sex but sadly not in a good way 😉 Anyway, always glad to spread a smile around! Ya gotta larf. Monicas ... View more

Hello ladies I seem to recall someone on here talking about using Vitamin E oil internally to help with moisturising/lubrication etc. I don't think whoever posted it mentioned how to get it up there, which is a bit of a logistical nightmare. I can't face trawling through all the posts, so if you posted it and/or know how to do this, please can you let me/us know? It comes in capsules so if you can insert the capsule, easy peasy, if not I'm a wee bit stumped. Any suggesetions (serious ones, ladies, no hanging upside down or use of complicated kit) will be gratefully received. Hope you're all hanging in there - not upside down, well, whatever floats your boat...better sign off now LOL MonicaS ... View more

Sommer43 - you SHOULD laugh. We should all laugh as much as possible. Keeps us sane or as close to sane as we can get, which personally speaking probably isn't very close 😉 Naz/Sheil - you put it very well. We all want the old me back again, with just the problems we thought were so important before the BC Fairy left her toxic little gift. We'll never be the same as were before but I'm hoping the new me will find/create a new normal that doesn't involve freaking out over every little twinge and cough, and agonising over every (tiny) glass of wine. I think that'll take a while. My OH has been great too, but I've spent years supporting him during his health problems, so it seems only fair. MonicaS ... View more

Hello girls, and thanks for all your comments. No solution but misery loves company, eh? 😉 Still trying Replens and will report back later. Sure you're all gagging to know what's going on in my bedroom! (mostly a lot of night sweats and snoring, lol) Sheil - I might try the Lidocaine, though, I could use some numbing effects and at least one of us could have fun 😉 Re the Demon Drink, there's another thread on here about diet but I found it hard going if you're not a biochemist. Also, as usual, the information you get about diet is contradictory - oncologist says a healthy diet with lots of vegs, fibre etc and moderate alcohol is best. Other sources say no booze, no red meat, no butter, no cheese, no sugar...I think the stress from worrying about it probably worse than the drink. I have app 3 small glasses of wine (ish) over the weekend and no alcohol in the week. I'm currently ploughing through Dr Susan Love's Breast Book - everything you wanted to know about breasts but were afraid to ask - and then some. She is a guru of BC and she says "high intake of folic acid, e.g. spinach, broccoli, corn, legumes and multivitamins appear to mitigate the excess risk of breast cancer from alcohol" Hurrah! Pass me the wine and another heaping helping of spinach. Monicas ... View more

Good news, bad news. Used Replens for about 3 weeks and it does seem to help with general lubrication/discomfort etc., so I gave it the sex test. Bad. I mean really baad. Don't know where I go from here except possibly back to the GP but I don't think they have any solutions. Even when I was on HRT and used oestrogen cream it didn't completely cure the problem, but at least it was bearable (occasionally veering into pleasurable - huzzah!). Which was great compared to what it is now. Hey ho. Time to stop dyeing my hair blond and start shopping at Damart...and I don't even have any grandchildren! By the way, I'm thinking of asking for a swap from Anastrazole becuase of the nuclear hotflushes and joint pains. Anyone else in the same boat? MonicaS ... View more

I've been tuningn in to this thread for a while but only just decided to make a comment - or a cry for help? I'm totally bemused by the torrents of contradictory information I find (mostly on the Internet) about diet and cancer, ranging from "of course a healthy diet is a good idea but there's no evidence that "anti-cancer diets" will cure/prevent cancer" to "don't eat any chickens you didn't know personally". Help! I'm damn sure all these hours hunched over the laptop reading about bio-chemistry stuff I don't understand are doing my neck no good at all. I'm slim, don't smoke, eat virtually no processed foods, no junk food, lots of veg and fruit, glass of wine a day (okay, 2 on weekends), walk, and am a keen cyclist. Had no BC in my family at all. Took HRT and it's easy to blame that but that's not necessarily it. I use quite a few complementary therapies - I go to yoga every week, get herbal/dietary information from my son who's a herbalist, go to reiki occasionally, I've tried other types of healing, and acupuncture. But when it comes to cancer cures, I need someone better qualified than I am to evaluate the claims. One thing none of us needs is more stress. And when I start agonising about whether I've eaten enough cabbage this week, or having a glass of wine, I get stressed. So I'm going to do what BCC tells me re diet, and lighten up a bit. Keep scanning the horizon for information and developments from reliable sources, and try to chillax. BTW the Japanese are often cited for their longevity and superior fishy diet, and I wondered what cancers they got - well: lung, stomach, colon, liver, cancer and pancreas, in that order. 1 in 3 dies of cancer. Food for thought? Sorry this is a tome. Take care, Monicas ... View more

Ladies, thank you all for your comments. I'm waiting for a free sample of Replens before I start my one-woman review, although I don't know if I'll have the heart (or whatever) to work through them all... By the way, just to complicate things, I'm a cyclist. Although I haven't been out for a while due to weather, gales, etc. but am hoping to get back in the saddle big time when the weather clears. So, it's really quite crucial to sort things out Down There in more ways than one! However, I am going to get a new saddle which is advertised as "reducing soft tissue pressure" LOL. All those in favour say Aye. Sorry, was that TMI? Monica ... View more

Soo glad I found this forum! I've had the vaginal problem on and off since I had my son, at age 32. I had no idea what had hit me. Just another side effect of childbirth/pregnancy no-one tells you about... After my daughter's birth my doctor told me "your vagina looks like a 65 yr old woman's" I was 38 (who's got mine? and can I get it back? I asked). Started on HRT at age 47-ish before menopause becuase of sex problem cycle - have sex, get cystitis - does wonders for your libido. Had no BC in the family and no risk factors. It helped but didn't solve the problem completely. Came off HRT for 2 yrs, 2005-2007 and nearly went nuts so went back on. DX with BC, grade 2 and ER and HER2 receptive in Sept this year. Had WLE and SNB in Oct and am now on Anastrozole. Menopausal symptoms - hot flushes etc have gone ballistic and that certainly hasn't helped the sex problem. I'm desperately looking for something that works and isn't carcinogenic. Tried Sylk but that was a disaster. Before I embark a one woman trial of Replens/Senselle/Yes/Balance Activ etc, I'd like to know if anyone's got feedback on them. TBH at this point I'm almost ready to call it a day on the old sex stakes and take up knitting. Unfortunately my husband isn't...any info/feedback from fellow sufferers would be really helpful. Monicas ... View more