Cribriform

Hi Italia, sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I’ve not heard of this type of cancer and I understand the language maybe a little bit of a barrier but it would be good if you can talk to him/her about the other symptoms. They should be able to advise on those and if they are related in anyway.  Do you have any friends who could come with you and help with translation and support you through your journey?
I know myself every little twinge or ache sends me into panic mode and it’s difficult when you are waiting for results. It’s a rollercoaster ride and finding people who can give you support is great. The online forums are a great way and hopefully someone who maybe has your type of cancer can shed more light. 

Wishing you all the best for your op and treatment.

Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x 

Hi Italia, I’m sorry to hear about your symptoms. I don’t know about your diagnosis, but I have sometimes looked back to the few weeks around my own diagnosis (January 2021). Looking back, pre me finding BC symptoms, I was very tired, and was very much under the weather. Through the required blood tests, I had a very stressful job, and I think was running on adrenaline. Then one evening, I found something, and my BC journey started. A few days after that, my breast became very painful, and I had all sorts of niggles. I couldn’t get comfy in bed, I couldn’t sleep, and I was prescribed painkillers. I have never understood this, because only a week or so before I had no pain at all. Can stress and anxiety do this? Did the adrenaline from my job mask things? What I also know is that these pains disappeared once I started my treatment plan. Within 10 days of formal diagnosis I was on the chemo and strangely, I felt better (in terms of pain, twinges, etc). Admittedly, I was later changed to Docetaxal, and sure, the pain from that was pretty bad, but that is normal for that chemo.
But 22 months down the line, I find that these pains, discomfort, feeling under the  weather etc re appear when I am awaiting results from a test, or if I am (yet again) fearing recurrence. Can the brain do this to me? I would be interested to hear people’s thoughts. xx

Hi Italia, Im not able to answer your question with any authority and I would certainly get any other symptoms checked out for sure but prior to my diagnoses I had extreme fatigue which started gradually, several months before my BC diagnosis, and at one point was so bad that I couldn't work or even get up to feed my pets and had to call my daughter in another city to ask her leave work and come home. I also felt very achy and if I banged something it just didn't seem to get better. I had a full blood count done several times and my thyroid and cortisol etc. checked by my GP. Since then after the BC diagnosis, after the first operation (removal of breast tumours I was 30-35% less tired (that sounds weirdly exact but that's how it felt). I even said to my consultant that I feel like you've got most of it out but something is still there as I was still feeling so unwell. It turned out that it was in one of my lymph nodes. Two days after an axillary clearance I woke up SO much more mentally sharp and I am now back to 60-70 of my old energy levels. I'm hoping the rest will come back once I have fully healed from surgery as I will worry that there is still some cancer left if not. Or that I have a separate and additional issue (please no). Like I say, I'm not medically trained and I can only speak for myself but from my experience and after doing a fair amount of reading I am convinced that breast cancer, especially hormone receptive and producing tumours) can cause these symptoms. Since the operations my white blood cell count and prolactin levels have come back down to within normal ranges. Coincidence perhaps but it doesn't feel that way. Do be sure to get your symptoms checked and let us know if you have any improvement as your treatment continues, I'd be really interested to know. Take care and try to stay positive as best you can x

Thank you all for your replies, especially Bunny7.  I went yesterday for blood tests and I have an MRI booked for next week so if there is anything more nasty, I hope it will be found. I do find it reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who feels this fatigue and I’m very pleased to hear your energy levels have begun to return. I hope you continue to improve.