Back pain after radiotherapy

Hi Michelle

I am sorry to hear that you are having back pain after your treatment.

Have you been in touch with your CNS to get advice and to be checked over? If you are on regular check ups, perhaps ask for it to be bought forward. Whilst some back pain can happen, it does seem that yours is really affecting you so it needs further checking. They may need to do a scan to rule out any insufficiency fractures etc. 

Why not give the Support Line a call and talk to one of the Macmillan nurses.

Jane

Hi Michelle

Sorry to hear about your back pain. I can relate to this as I had lower back pain during my radiotherapy treatment. It got so bad I could not get on the radiotherapy table without extrene pain. It was so bad the last 3 treatments they kept me in hospital and did a scan which revealed a wedge shape fracture to a vertebrrae It was a relief that it was not the cancer spreading.

ILike you the best relief is lying down flat.I am still suffering 12 months later but that is partly my fault not excercising as much as i could. I am swimming 3 times a week and getting in the pool relieves any discomfort. Just being in the water really helps.

Hope it gets better for you

X

Thank you Jane.
I havent spoke to my CNS since my pathology results back in January. I will give her a call on Monday.
My first mri isn’t until 24th July and  my1st 3 month check up isn’t until late August which still

seems ages away. 

Thanks Missy. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one struggling with this. It is hard to know sometimes if I’m overdoing it back at work or not moving enough or is it something else. I’ll definitely speak to my CNS on Monday for some advise. 

I think that it is a good plan to call her on Monday. 

I was also told that anything after radiotherapy that could be connected- I could also email the radiotherapy dept and they would assess if needed. Due to the amount of pain it may be that they need to bring forward your MRI- to rule out any insufficiency fractures that may have occurred and to just check the area for reassurance. 

I had some back/leg pain before my cancer diagnosis but put it aside as I felt I couldn’t deal with more than one thing being wrong with me at once. After my hysterectomy and radiotherapy, I decided to revisit it. I asked my GP if my planning MRI could be reinterpreted to check my spine. At the same time, my oncologist had said I should have a DEXA scan post treatment given my risk factors (age, hypothyroidism etc). The DEXA scan showed osteopenia (bone density loss) in both hips and spine . This may have been present already or it may have been exacerbated by the radiotherapy. Different medics have different opinions on that. I was prescribed D3/calcium tablets daily to try to improve my bone density score. My reinterpreted MRI indicated spinal stenosis (unconnected to the radiotherapy) and I had a new MRI done to give a more up to date image. 4 years down the line and both my hips are now not osteopenic and my spine is still but has improved. What I’m basically saying is that it may or may not be due to the radiotherapy and that there are things that can be done to check it out and help.