Hello.
Over the past 2 years I’ve been suffering severe weakness, pain, swelling and numbness in my left arm and hand, following chemo, surgery and RT back in 2015, for male BC. Over this time I’ve seen an Orthopaedic surgeon who told me ‘these things can happen’; lymph oedema nurse, physio (well actually 2 phone calls); had an MRI on my neck, ultrasound scan in the collar bone area, none of which have categorically pinpointed the exact issue. Meanwhile my arm/hand issue has gotten to the point where I can barely use it.
Obviously my Oncologist is aware there’s an issue but it’s worsened since I last saw her. I’m currently taking Palbociclib, letrozole and zoladex. Could one or more of these be the cause I wonder?
So, this morning I saw my GP. He suspects the problem is the combination of all the treatment I’ve had/having. He prescribed Amitriptyline and recommended a specialist cancer physio. Does such a person exist?
Im also interested to know if anyone else has experienced similar issues and specialist physio etc.
Cheers
Hello
I'm sorry to hear of the problems you are experiencing with your arm and hand. Lymphedema is, as you know, one of the risks of having the lymph nodes removed following BC. I've not experienced this sort of issue and I didn't want your post to go unanswered if no-one else has either.
I have been given amitriptyline previously during a bout of ME (post viral fatigue syndrome) and it's a drug which is used for depression too. It could be that as nothing has been found to have a 'physical' reason that they can pinpoint and as your doctor suggests that it might be a combination of all your treatment causing this. The amitriptyline worked wonders for me with the ME, so fingers crossed that the chemicals in this drug can trick your brain into overcoming whatever is preventing it from working.
As an example of how the brain can be 'tricked' - my Dad suffered a stroke which rendered him blind initially. Then it became that he become 'left sided blind' and everything was really fuzzy, so he couldn't even make out features of a face / see anything on the left. There was absolutely NOTHING wrong with his eyes, but it was the damage to his brain which told the optic nerves that he could only see anything from 0 degrees to 180 degrees.
The hospital said there was nothing that they could do, but if you can imagine only seeing half a picture of everything, with the other half fuzzy it was almost impossible for him to see anything. I found a company which had purchased a stroke related computer program from a Scottish University specifically for this problem and we subscribed to it. He had to sit in front of a computer screen for 1/2 hour twice a day and identify dots on the screen. After 2 years, these dots had moved significantly over to the left and he was able to see them. By the time he finished their treatment, he was able to see quite a lot on the left and was even able to watch the fast moving cars of motor racing on TV. This goes to show just how the brain can be 're-trained' and overcome something which looks as if it could be physical, but is absolutely nothing to do with a physical condition.
It does sound realistic that there is a cancer physio as there's bound to be a long list of different to the norm of physical issues caused by cancer and it's treatments.
I do hope the amitriptyline works for you.
Kindest wishes, Lesley
