As you may gather from the subject, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and had some extensive active treatment with added immunotherapy to finish off. Since finishing treatment I a have suffered with neuropathy in my fingers and toes, this I have learnt to deal with - the cold weather makes this worse but nothing I cant manage. I am however really starting to struggle with the nerve pain I am experiencing under my armpit/chest wall where I had my breast surgery and re-incision. I have been told by my consultant that this is 'normal' and an ultrasound have indicated that this is just a collection of nerve tissue firing again.
This 'normal' is one of those niggling pains similar to that tiny piece of straw that eventually broke the donkeys back. I have been prescribed Gabapentin which may or may not have worked previously as this nerve pain is potentially new nerve tissue which has formed. The issue I face is that although the pain keeps me awake all night and I'm one inconvenience away from becoming Michael Douglas in 'Falling Down', the Gabapentin wipes me. I cant stay alert, I cant wake up and its still not fully managing the pain.
I've been refused by my breast care team to be referred to the pain management team until I have tried this medical approach (this is apparently the pathway). I'm on a low does and its affecting me this much, I really don't want to increase to have myself feel wiped out further on a daily basis. My question is has anyone experienced this neuropathic pain increase following treatment? How did you manage to overcome this? Had anyone been referred to the pain team and have any positive stories re-treatments offered once there? Has anyone paid private for nerve block injections and if so have these been sucessful?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x
Hi ToeBean and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I’m Anne, one of the Community Champions here on the Online Community, and although my treatment for breast cancer could have induced neuropathy I count myself very lucky that I didn't get it.
The online community is divided into different support groups so I'm going to recommend that you join the breast cancer group as you'll then connect directly with others who have the same type of cancer as you and may also have suffered with the same type of pain that you're experiencing.
To join, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
