Acute pain in upper arm

Hi BWBCancer welcome to the forum. is it possible that this nerve pain you describe could be coming from the position that you have to be  in to get the Radiotherapy with your arm raised and in the same position for some time? Is that possible as a cause? . 

Could be ,but treatment only lasted for 5 minutes i am just searching for answers hoping someone says yes it goes away as it has been 4 weeks of bad sleep now .Had this pain after node clearance surgery but only lasted 5 days

Hi there,

I’m having radiotherapy atm.  I do have some upper arm pain - and shoulder pain but it’s very minimal. Have you had any lymphoedema? 
Could lymph fluid be pressing on a nerve? 
do you think that exercise would help? 

Interesting ,could be ? I am doing exercises at 2.30 in the morning at the moment trying to get the pain to stop after it has woken me up. I think i will be referred to pain management next week, this is not nice .I turned down chemo, wish i had turned down radio also. The treatments for cancer are truly horrific. 

Hi BWBCancer, sorry you’re suffering this ongoing pain and the torture of never getting proper sleep. I had issues with my arm post surgery and had to sleep on my back for months after as it was just too uncomfortable for both the arm and the scooped out breast, to lie on my side. You’ve probably tried everything but I just wondered if sleeping on your back might help? I arranged pillows in all sorts of ways to help to get comfy. 
Other than that, I will say that getting full arm mobility back took time, but it did happen! I can’t remember how long exactly but I started Nordic walking 4 months post rads, and at that time had quite limited shoulder movements and couldn’t undo my bra from the back (sorry I know you’re a bloke so can’t use this as a mobility measure!). There were exercises that I just couldn’t do on that side. But at some magical point it all resolved. I still have mild lympheodema in the affected breast but arm mobility is pretty much normal. So I’m hopeful that although it may take time, your issues will also gradually improve. 
Wishjng you well, love and hugs, HFxx 

Thank you for that, cant wait for the magical point,  i thought i was doing really well after both ops and it is mentally drowning to be in so much pain and tired, you start to look at alll your meds you are having, and even bought tens machine or is it the tamoxifen, thank you, guess this is the joy of breast cancer i to are having to get wife to help me putting on coats etc due to arm restrictions i just seem to be going backwards

When i first came on here in Oct i was looking for tips and anything i thought i was missing and i remember reading a post about some one had bought a v shaped pillow and that little gem has been a life safer  and i still use it now, so all you ladies writing on here it is really helpful and there must be a lot of people who come on here and dont write but just read posts like i did last year thank you. 

Hi BWBCancer if  this is Lymphoedema then ask if you can have manual lymphatic drainage this is a type of massage.  I had it after my first breast cancer and it was in my breast I actually went to a hospice as the hospital only gave so many sessions whereas the hospice gave as many sessions until you and the nurse agreed that it was ok.  Hope they do this in your area it is always worth asking. wishing you all the very best.

Hi BWBCancer, the bit about putting on coats reminded me that I struggled with this too. I had to put coats or fleeces on by putting the ‘bad’ arm in first which didn’t work well for me as I was so used to the other way round. It was so awkward, but far too painful to attempt the other way so it was all about not being able to put my arm behind my back. Recently I noticed that I’m back to my old ways - I have no idea when that particular magic moment happened but it’s over 3 years since my ‘active’ treatment ended! So I got there in the end. 
And yes the added joy of the hormone zappers. I’m on Anastrozole which has its own little store of nasty effects, for me mainly fatigue, brain fog and joint pains. It’s truly the unwanted gift that keeps on giving!

I wonder if you’ve seen this article by Dr Peter Harvey 

https://www.workingwithcancer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/After-the-treatment-finishes-then-what.pdf

I know your issue at the moment is unresolved pain and sleeplessness as a result, but lots of us here have found the article useful. HFxx

Wow, what a terrific read, that letter should be part of every bodies treatment plan, brings every thing home with nearly every sentence, was getting emotional at one point, thank you for sharing