Stopping treatment due to also having severe pain from sciatica due to bulging disc

Hi tcatz

Welcome to the forum and I am sorry to hear that you were diagnosed with breast cancer and that you have sciatica. While I haven't got the experience you are looking for but I noticed that you haven't had any replies yet so I thought I'd reply to you to move you to the top of the discussion.  Hopefully someone will be along shortly to give you the benefit of their experience.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Hi, sorry to hear you are suffering with sciatica along with everything else you are going through.  I didn’t have chemotherapy but do suffer with arthritis in my back at multiple levels.  The pain started behind the site of my surgery so I had a ct scan which diagnosed arthritis.  It is very dibilitating.  I had 6 sessions of physio and my dr prescribed duloxetine which is supposed to block pain signals to the brain.  Although I still suffer with back pain I am able to get out of bed without rolling on to my knees.  I would keep at your gp to see if they can prescribe something do you can continue your treatment.  I hope you get this sorted I can really sympathise with you.  Hugs xx

Hi,

Thanks for your kinds words.  I have spoken to my Gp who has adjusted my pain relief which seems to have helped a little, hopefully that will continue and I will continue with physio at home and weekly physio with the PT she is convinced she can fix me , will just take some time! When chemo finishes I am going to try and get a steroid injection for my back before surgery. It’s all so overwhelming and difficult to see any light , although I feel more positive today, despite being flattened from chemo this week. Hopefully I will finish the chemo only 2 left ,wishing the days away now. I’m sure that there’s many people suffering with other conditions like us with a cancer diagnosis aswell. Big girl pants on and keep going.!Actually feels better to have just got it all out. Thanks again for your kind words and support , and hoping you’re not suffering with your back too much, it’s the worst.xxxx

Hi I’m Sara x 

in a newbie here .I’m so sorry to hear about your situation.

can I ask please has anyone referred you to a pain clinic or specialist anaesthetist regarding your severe back pain issues.? They may be able to give localised nerve blockers etc.
I totally emphasise with you how debilitating this can be as in May this year my husband had severe back pain which had latest weeks.,and was also on gabapentin and multiple types of analgesia.. He collapsed while I was having radiotherapy and had urgent spinal surgery  2 days later when they found a spinal tumour on MRI He has recently  weaned off most of his analgesia including gabapentin.

Have you spoken to the chemo nurses to see if you can have your chemo infusion while semi recumbent or on your side in the position that best suits you?. You could try a simulation practice of this before starting your treatment to see if it is tolerable.

i sincerely hope you can get some relief soon and that the medical team can refer you for a thorough  urgent  pain management review.  

xx Sara

Hi Sarah,

I have been referred to a pain clinic, but still waiting for an appointment. I can have an injection in my spine once chemo is finished, I can’t have the procedure until then, due to the risk of infection. I have asked if I can lay down for my next infusion, I think I will have to shout a little louder, I don’t think they realise how painful and uncomfortable it truly is. It has been an ongoing problem since diagnosis and my first surgery which has caused this sciatic flare up. Up until then it was all under control and leading a normal life.It is due to trying to rest and recover from chemotherapy, which obviously means I’m not active like I was , which is the worst thing for sciatica.
Like your husband I am on gabapentin, with little effect and slow release morphine which is helpful, but awful, never have I been a pill popper!
i speak to the chemotherapy and breast care nurses regularly and am sure they get fed up with me, i am going to insist that I have a comfortable place for my next infusion, i need to be heard    Thanks for your support and kind words, really appreciate it xxx. 

Hi

please don’t ever feel as if you are bothering your onco team, you deserve to be treated kindly with an individualised approach.  Definitely go to your next session and lie / rest in whatever position you feel more comfortable in. If you have someone with you at the next review / treatment they could kindly be an advocate for you if that helps, and perhaps bring a written note for the team.to read as well. I hope the physio helps til you are well enough to have the steroid injection. I had doxetaxel too during my initial chemo, I hope you do not have too many side effects. I’m still having targetted chemo treatment ( Phesgo) 3 weekly and have posted on the new to the group site for the first time this week since my cancer journey on Sept 6th last year. I was very low for the first 6 months after diagnosis, but set a goal to get  better mentally and get back to work in my role as a busy midwife  Despite  the 3 weekly targetted chemo , and initial concerns that I might be immunocompromised from my treatment, I achieved this in early May. You are a strong woman, and I sincerely hope you feel better soon.

Hi,

Thanks for replying.  I’m actually at a point now where I can’t find any position that’s comfortable and definitely can’t sit in a chair or lay on my back,’having to switch from side to side which is also now uncomfortable. I have chatted to my husband this morning and we are going to have a conversation with the oncology team, hopefully before my next review and suggest that I only have one more infusion, which means I would have 5 instead of 6. This is so daunting and obviously I will have to seriously listen to what they say about the outcome of this . I have to have a double mastectomy in January also, so that has to be a consideration for my back problems , because from finishing chemotherapy to that date doesn’t leave me much time to sort it all out . And a mastectomy means laying on my back to recover!  Unless they can find some pain relief that actually works I can’t see a way out of this . I have never felt so stressed,tired and anxious, and trying to cope with the side effects of chemotherapy, bad day for me.’ I would love to get back to my job in a hospice, and never thought I would miss work so so much .Thanks again for your time and wish you well xxx

Hi sorry I’ve not got back to you earlier. I know that a double mastectomy will have its own challenges but just  to reassure you the mastectomy recovery for me was pretty rapid , home an hr after the op , and drain out on day 10 by which time i was fully able to get pretty comfortable in bed at night . I was on a mild sleeping  tablet then and you should ask your GP and onco team about  that for yourself if you think it might help.. Be kind to yourself and take all the support that you can including getting a proactive plan in place to deal with your back pain.

I  had some paracetamol after my mastectomy but was informed that I could have opiate based medications prescribed if I needed them, but did not.. The arm exercises were fine too. I know we are all individuals but wanted to let you know that I think you are really strong. Hang onto the wish to return to your work at the hospice, it really helped me mentally to focus on the goal of returning to work.

My chemo side effects from doxetaxel ,  ( when I was also on phesgo), subsided quickly after my treatment ended, and at least I knew which side effects were phesgo related then. 

I hope your conversation with the onco team goes well.and they support you in whatever decision you make. Ps I took a daily loratadine antihistamine tablet 10 mg after discussion with onco team, and it did help with my chemo side effects. 

Wishing you well

xx Sara x

Hi Tcatz, I’ve been away from the forum for a while because I’ve been cancer free for three years and doing well. The reason I’m back here is because I have a few friends with cancer (not all breast, quite an assortment)……. Anyway, I realised that I should check in with the forum because it helped me when I felt desperate and scared, so should try to reassure those who can be reassured from my experience. Yes, I stopped my chemo earlier than advised. I was prescribed 6; managed the first 3 relatively easily, but the fourth was hard work, so I decided to give the last two the swerve! Glad I did! I’m fine now, no problems, just getting on with my life and loving it……. Go with your gut, whatever feels right. Any chemo you’ve had already will go a long way to preventing any reoccurrence in the future. All the best you x

Thanks Sara,

Wow that surprised me on the recovery time with the mastectomy.  I do have some kind of plan in place regarding my back pain, time wise it’s a bit tight to have a steroid injection which is what I need but I’m going to really push for it as I wil not be able to lay on back for recovery.  I will be having a conversation in a week or so and will see what oncology advise. Since diagnosis everyone kept saying it’s just a blip in your life it will be finished soon. Well it’s feels like the longest and never ending blip to me. Thanks for your advice and kind support means a lot right now xx