How long will pain and tightness in chest last after BMX??
Comments
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I had a NS BMX with SNB and TE placement on 02/21. I know it has not been 2 weeks yet since my surgery but I am wondering how long the pain lasts? Mornings and evenings are the worst. I feel swelling and tightness in my chest, my chest always feels like it had two rocks sitting on it, and just a little bit of work around the house makes my back hurt badly.
I stopped taking the pain meds because they just don't work good enough. They just make me groggy and want to sleep. Tylenol or Advil help to lessen the pain during the day. At night, I take 800 mg of Advil and that allows me to sleep along with a ice pack laid across my chest.
I'm just want to know if these symptoms will go away in another 2-3 wks when I return to work? Or will the pain I feel now be something I have to live with for the rest of my life?
I see my PS on Friday for a fill and plan on discussing the pain with her.
Does the swelling and tightness across your chest go away when you go in for exchange surgery and have the implants put in? Or will I always feel abnormal and like I have rocks on my chest? Do they ever soften up?
I don't want to complain because I am THRILLED to have the cancer out of my body. I just want to know what I have to look forward to 6 months or years down the road from now.
I'm wondering if reconstruction is worth all the pain or if I would have been better off opting for none. I know I don't want to live the rest of my life in pain just to have boobs again.
Jen -
I am one year out and remember feeling like you do now. It is still early. I called it the iron bra feeling. In the morning and evening was the worst. Take your meds! I thought I was being good by getting off of them and it was just dumb. Your body needs a long time to heal and pain does not help. Each day will get better but somedays you will feel like you took two steps back. My week three was by far the worst. I think I moved around and did too much too soon. Good luck!
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I am just over one year out. Recon with TE's is tough, but worth it. I remember those first few weeks were really hard. I only had one fill - 150 CC, and that really hurt. The entire time I had the expanders I felt like I could do very little in terms of my pec muscles. I remember saying that my pecs grabbed my neck. I was still on the fence by the exchange time in terms of continuing or de-constructing (5 mo post mx) but decided to move ahead. I am so glad I did. The "real" implants did make quite a lot of difference. Once I got post exchange and could start getting back to my normal routine things improved dramatically. Now I am back to doing what I always did. No pain. It feels different for sure, but OK. I am glad I had the option of recon, and I really love the new boobies. I think I look better than before (no nips though). Also I'm glad the implants are behind the pecs and any breast tissue that is left is front and center.
It will get better it just takes time. Plus all the other treatment stuff going on at this point seems to exacerbate the TE issues. I had three weeks of PT at about 6 weeks post mx and that really helped. Take care!
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My reconstruction from bmx to Te, and then to implants took about 5 months. The first 2 weeks was the worst with the chest area feeling tight. By the 4th week, it was noticeably better, still tight but not as bad. Then I went for my 1st fill and it got extremely tight again, can barely take a deep breath w/o feeling a sharp pain. The few days following the fill, it does improve until I get the next fill. I managed the pain and the discomfort by taking Valium and Tylenol usually the 1st 2 days after I get a fill and sometimes before i go to bed. So it is doable, just have to be patient and take the meeds when you really need it. Good luck!
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Jen - I think I cried the entire first month after I got home from the BMX. Then I found out I wasn't taking my pain meds properly, and could not break the pain cycle. I was also not drinking enough water, and not getting enough daily protein to heal.
Once I got those things under control, I was SO much better. I took the pain meds around the clock - DH even set the alarm clock to give me my 4 a.m. dosage of Norco and Valium.
If your pain meds aren't working, get different ones! But you might try taking them at the prescribed dosage first. Yes, they may make you drowsy, but right now you're not supposed to be doing anything (like "a little bit of work around the house") except resting and recuperating. I took LOTS of naps!
A few things struck me in your post: you say you take 800 mg of Advil at night... my PS told me to NOT take ibuprofen as it can interfere with the healing process and cause excess bleeding. Advil is 200 mg ibuprofen. Just make sure your PS says it's o.k. to take.
The other thing is ice... the problem with laying an ice pack across your chest is that many of the nerves have been severed during the BMX, and you run the risk of frostbite in tissue that can't sense when something is too cold. Again, please check with your PS!!!
Once I figured out why I was feeling so bad, I went through fills with no problem whatsoever. Many women do get muscle spasms with TEs, but I found that having DH massage my back, and taking a hot shower before bedtime really helped. And the Valium was always there if I needed it.
Most women will report immediate relief when they exchange their TEs for implants. The TEs feel like boulders because of the way they are constructed: they have hard backs, which press against your ribcage, so that all of the injected saline makes them push outward, stretching muscle and skin.
The implants, however, are squishy all over, and conform to your chest.
I was in the minority.... I did not get immediate relief from the TEs, but then again, I had a huge amount of "pocket work" done at the time of my exchange, which brought on additional issues I am just now resolving.
I don't think anyone can predict exactly how they will feel with implants, but I can tell you that most women do feel better after exchange.
Wishing you the best!!!
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Ladies: thank you all for the advice! I am glad to hear that I need to just wait things out and the pain I'm having now will improve. My PS did tell me when I got a fill, I would feel tight for a day or two and then it would subside.
Blessings my PS did not say anything to me about Advil. She didn't say whether I could take it or not. Just said by this time I really shouldn't need my pain meds (Percocet) anymore. That is all I was prescribed after surgery and only have enough left for 5-9 days depending on if I take 1 or 2 pills every evening. When I suggested a different pain med last week due to constipation, she told me they all make you constipated and a few more days and I probably wouldn't need the pain meds anyhow.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting plenty of protein and water, but after reading your post I'll make sure I up my intake to see if that helps. I told my PS about using the ice pack and that it has seemed to help me at night to sleep. She said as long as it is not against my skin, its ok. I keep the ice pack rolled up in a towel and then lay it against my shirt-never directly on my skin. I have noticed the past 2 days I don't need the ice pack as much during the day, usually only at night or early morning.
I'm glad to know that most women feel some relief when the TE are exchanged for their implants. I too sometimes have the muscle spasms and a dull, tender pain at the bottom of my rib cage on the right side. My armpits are also very sore. I expected that on my left side since that is where my SNB was done. But when the swelling gets bad, I feel like I have hard lumps on my chest and under both armpits. Ugh!
I go in Friday for my first fill. I'll make sure I bring up all these concerns to my PS. I'll also ask about other types of pain meds that may help.
For now, I will stop taking the Advil asap. I'll go back to taking the Percocet as prescribed and see if that helps.
Thanks again for the tips and advice! It is most appreciated.
Hugs to all
Jen -
I also recommend the "low and slow" approach to fills - you are the decision-maker on this, not your plastic surgeon. I had weekly fills of 25ccs and didn't have the discomfort that some describe on other threads, I did not need any pain medication after each fill. Filling slowly allows your pectoral muscles to adjust more gently. I also had a shorter wait until exchange surgery because my fills were slow.
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thirdgeneration i am with you, wonderng f this kind of painis really worth boobs in the end. i feel like i should be off all naracotics by now but sometimes i am in teasr because it hurts so much. my boob were huge and the swollen/sutured mess that is left feel like it is in my armpits but goes up to my collar bone and done under the boob fold. my ps said it is rough because they used the large 700 size on me. I am 2 and 1/2 weeks post op and these te's suck. tylenol and ibup does little for the pain, am is the worst, i thinkeverything gets swollena and tight overnite. i worry the oxy and valium i have are going to make me dependent on them. today i just keep falling asleep but am on otc meds only. is it safe to gently massage that awful bundle of nerves in the armpit? i have my first fill next fri and ps said it should make me feel better becaue the tes are all rolled up(nothing in them) you can see the long ridges in the breast, look like i have soemthingin there, but just swelling. she thinks smoothing things out will bring some relief. i was happy to be done with the tubes, but feeling like this pain will not relent at all. may try sleeping in the reclinder tonite, i keep slipping down off my wedge pillow during the nite.
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GreenCowgirl, I was also thinking the pain is sometimes unrelenting! Trying to stay with OTC medications, the tightness in my chest and the sensitive skin can be most annoying. Thought I would be back to the old me by now. Sometimes it's just a matter of doing too much with my arms and paying the price. Feel better. Thinking about you.
Kathi
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Hang in there... it gets better! Tomorrow will be 5 weeks since my BMX with 700 cc TE's. I was filled at surgery to 180 but 2 days post-op PS removed 60 cc's because I was so uncomfortable. My first fill was only 30 at 1 week. I had 50 at week 2 and I finally felt some relief. I never discussed it with PS but after reading another post I realized it wasn't all in my head. Being a little fuller made a big difference. Everything felt less irritated, if that makes sense. And the pain surgical pain was starting to subside by then. By week 3 I felt much better and cut way back on my meds. Now at 5 weeks I can honestly say that I don't have any pain, just discomfort and only take Advil as needed. And yes, the tightness is the worst in the mornings and at night. The numbess and sloshing saline is what bothers me the most... it gives me the creeps. As they fill up I'm guessing the sloshing will go away and I'm already getting some feeling back so things are looking good! My fills are now 60 cc's... I'm only at 260 and still feel very flat compared to what I was before... and 700 seems like a long way off... I really miss my old body! This whole "rocks on my chest" feeling is awful but my light at the end of the tunnel is cancer free, tattooed, perky boobs by my 50th birthday next January!
Sending healing energy your way BTW ~ I've been taking Valium about an hour before each fill which seems to help. -
Dear recent post BMX ladies,
So sorry you are having such a rough time. Here are some strategies to help with the pain and discomfort:
1. I took NSAIDS regularly around the clock (ibuprofen, naprocyn sodium). TAKE WITH FOOD to avoid GI bleeding, a big risk, and follow the dosing instructions, do not take over the recommended amount.
2. When you are feeling really really sore, put a cool washcloth on your chest.
3. Consider wearing a zip up sports bra (Sears has them) - the compression may help.
4. Buy a very emolient cream, like Aquafor or Palmer's Cocoa butter wth Vit E, rub it into the skin that feels tight, avoid incisions until they are closed.
5. Ask for a muscle relaxer prescription like Robaxin - take it at night.
6. You are not a wimp if you need to take a narcotic at night when the pain is bad.
7. Don't overdo it the first few weeks. Chill. Your poor chest muscle is cut, stitched and stretched. Be kind to it.
8. If you can't sleep in bed or a recliner, try the couch: pad the armrest with soft pillows and catch some shuteye there. Can switch between bed and couch.
9. It WILL get better. The fills can sometimes be intense - USE YOUR EMOLIENT CREAM and take your NSAID and muscle relaxer at night for a few days after fills.
Thinking of you, hang in there, you will make it through this.
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I am so glad i keep checking this site! My BMX and PS are both wonderful...and younger women, which i have appreciated, but they dont know really what we are FEELING. They warned me about very little, but i know i can call if needed anytime. Its easier and more informative to come here. I had bmx 2/28 and TEs in both. Relieved to find others feel tight crushing as well, esp in am. Tried to sleep on bed and woke at 3 terrified, felt like heart was being crushed and couldn't get up. Had DH move me back to chair with bunch of pillows. Anyone else get bad chills that shudder chest vibrate TEs and give you heebie jeebies? Here i was hoping to feel much better having had drain tubes out yesterday! Also trying to cut back on rx drugs...after some of your posts i will feel better about taking them, especially at night! My armpits are very sore as is right arm (nodes removed). I have used some heat as well as ice & that helps. Anyone know if either can cause circulation or TE issues? Thanks!
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Grover - I don't know if you have noticed yet, but the TE (and eventually the implants) will feel colder than your previous breast. My husband and I joke that it brings new meaning to the saying "colder than a witch's *#*!". I don't mind it. I think of it as a secret only us TE / implant girls know about! I slept in the lazy-boy for about a month after the original surgery and after the exchange. The day my PS said I could sleep on my side was heaven!! Also I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath, and I had a CT scan of my lungs. There was fluid around my lungs that they felt was from the mx, and that it would dissipate on its own. It did.
I bought a heating pad for my chest and that seemed to help. Also, once I could get in the hot tub that helped also.
Continued good progress!!
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Ladies so glad to know we are not alone. I'm 4 wks post op and while I can say my pain level is slightly better than a few wks ago, I still have pain. The fills did help to relieve some pain and also took away the constant iron bra feeling. But after each fill (and now I take valium before each one) I still have severe tightness and pain the first 3 days after the fill. After that I feel great during the day (can get by with just some Tylenol or Advil). At night and early morning is the worst. The tightness returns and feels like swelling (which shouldn't be anymore at this point I would think?). Then the cycle continues when its time for the next fill. Hoping I only have 2 more fills to go and then I'm done. I hate these TE and some days I do wonder if its worth it! I'm hoping by what all I have read on here that the implant exchange will make it all worth while!
I have all the same cold feelings with my TE too. When I drink something cold I feel it deep down in my chest. If its cold outside I get the shivers in my chest and the random muscle spasms. So weird! I will certainly not miss these turtle shells in my chest when they are gone. Would just like to feel as close to my old self as possible. I know things will never be normal again but a new pain free normal and being able to live my life again would be wonderful.
Jen -
Hi,
When I had my PBMX it felt very cold when I drank something cold. I litterally had tightness like the skin was not lying perfectly flat between my implants/breasts. It has been almost two years and I will have some tightness and discomfort if I do not wear a bra. Sometimes I get a zing of pain but not anything constant. I'm sure you will feel better with time and healing. Best wishes to you and I hope you feel better and pain free soon. But it definitely takes time. I had the "one step" procedure and for me it wasn't one step it was about 100 steps!
Amy Lynn -
Jen, I am so grateful you shared...hadnt read of anyone else having the shivers & spasms like mine...thought i was crazy. And i thought the cold feeling when i drank water was my imagination! One huge difference from posts I've seen...my PS doesn't want to even start injecting saline til after chemo & rads, which will put me in Oct. Then she wants to take it slow, then wait (I THINK she said!) 6 mts. before reconstruction. I'm happy to have a slow, methodical perfectionist, but hoping I can stand these things that long & that there are no problems!
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Also the skin over my implants is always usually really cold, but I don't mind that so much because I am going through menopause, I can't believe I am writing that. I'm 46 almost 47 so I am at that age but when my sister who I lived with for ten years up until her death in 2011 our periods were always around the same time of month. When she started taking tamoxifin her periods stopped and mine became irregular, and after she died I've only had a few periods. I don't miss having periods at all but I can't stand the unannounced sweating like a ran three miles. Oh well maybe it will pass soon.
Amy Lynn -
Amy, the cold sensations are so weird! I thought I was imaging them too until I read others who posted on here with the same symptoms. Do you still get those cold sensations even after your implant exchange? My PS keeps reassuring me that all these things I feel now with the TE will go away once the implants go in..I hope so! Lol
Grover where are you in Md? I'm in Howard Co about 15 mins outside of Baltimore city. That stinks that your PS won't do any fills until chemo and rads are over. Mine told me she could fill, but if I had to have chemo I had to wait 3 months after finishing treatments before I could have exchange surgery.
Waiting to get oncotype dx test results back from MO on 04/08 before I find out if I need chemo or not.
Amy how has tamoxifen been for you? I will start taking it once I go back to see my MO if I don't need chemo. Otherwise I will start after treatment. Am wondering how many women have the side effects and how bad they are. I'm actually hoping for no periods because I have an awful time with my cycles and am going to get uterine ablation done if tamoxifen does not help my period issues.
Jen -
I am 4 wks post ob bilat mx, aux lymph node disection on left, sentinel on right. had chemo first. will have radiation as soon as skin ready-hopefully within a few weeks. I, too, find the tightness from the TE like a vise around my chest. The aux drain was just removed last week and my pain right now is still so intense where that drain was which is close to the aux node sutures and where I feel the TE. I try to space out the pain pills but once I hit 6 hours, I can't stand it. I guess I thought each day would feel a bit better. Main goal we all have is to beat this cancer. I am so praying! for all of us.
Robin
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I had bmx with expanders on April 1st. I woke up in the recovery room screaming there was something heavy on my chest. They thought I was having a heart attack. After the EKG and realizing I was allergic morphine, they started a different approach to pain managment. Till this day, and I have yet to have a fill, I have extreme tightness across the front of my chest. I have done a lot of research, and from what I understand it's the alloderm they literally melt to your ribcage that can cause this "iron bra" syndrome. I am having the alloderm and expanders out and having a diep flap done. I could not possibly life the rest of my life like this.
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At 3 and 1/2 weeks post bilateral mastectomy w/TEs, I really needed to read this thread and the others on pain this AM. I've got the "iron bra" pain/tightness/heaviness and it's driving me nuts. When I told my husband the name, he said, "Well--now that it has a name, you can yell at it!" LOL
I've had hundreds of those weird chills and each one bumps my pain levels way up. At first, they told me they were from morphine withdrawal, but that was at least a week and a half ago and I still get them off and on all day. I've taken to wearing a long, soft scarf wrapped around my chest and that helps, but just now I ordered a microwavable heating pad from Amazon.con to use in the early AM and late PM when it's worst.
So many good pieces of advice--I'm going to get the call to the Kaiser Breast Care Center over, then try some of them. I'm having no luck at all getting any reply to emails about pain and pain meds from my plastic surgeon, so I'm going to see if a nurse there can advise me. I don't want to go back on morphine (which completely kills the pain) because I'm afraid of getting addicted, but the vicodin/ibuprofen isn't doing much more than taking the edge off... -
After reading this, I think I'll cancel my appointment with plastic surgeon for DIEP flap. I don't want to re-awaken the dragon of post mastectomy pain syndrome from the first mastectomy....I find the prosthesis just fine enough but I am also older (63) and find breasts no big screamin' deal anyways. Did you know that breasts age faster than women who own them do? Might be one reason for breast cancer since cancer cells themselves age faster. Anyway, I kind of think I'll pass and be thankful that I have had two second chances! -
I am now 8 week post BLM for grade 1 Ca bilaterally with no reconstruction, no radiation or chemo because I wanted to get on with my life. Also, I live in rural area and my surgeon is over 200 miles round trip and did not want to add PS visits. Tightness and burning in chest has been non-stop since surgery. Narcotic pain meds did not work as the problem is not an excruciating pain rather tight burning sensation. I do have full ROM in both arms after several weeks of PT and have started a very mild yoga class for continued stretching of arms and chest. I am on Neurontin of increasing dosage (as of today taking 1 tab 2xday and will up that dose to 1 tab 3xday until I see my surgeon next week. So far no relief, however, Neurontin helps me sleep at night plus a long nap during the day. Today tried 90 seconds of ice followed by 90 sec of heat with relief only during the 10 minutes of this routine. My surgeon's next step is to refer me to pain doc for treatment.
I see many comments about tightness and burning but no indication of how long it lasts. If I knew there would be some relief if 3 months or 6 months or even 1 year then I would have some timeline, but it is this big unknown that has me baffled. Obviously, I cannot get back to my life enjoying travel as hours in a car are unbearable and airline travel unthinkable at this time.
Any thoughts?
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magiclight,
This thread hasn't been active for more than a year and a half, so you may not get many replies. You might try going to the forum Surgery - Before, During, and After. The other suggestion I have is to go to "Active Topics" and look around for threads that apply to you. As for your question, everyone's recovery time is SO different. Since you do not have tissue expanders though, eight weeks post-op pain, burning, and tightness seem like a lot to me. It's probably time to call the pain doc.
I had TEs placed at the time of BMX. By eight weeks there was still tightness but no pain or burning.
Let us know how you are doing.
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Magic...sorry to say after my final exchange surgery in April 2014 I am still experiencing tightness, but no pain. Every once in a while I will get spasms in my left breast, but they quickly go away. I still feel like I am wearing the tightest bra EVER...but there is no pain. I take Neurontin for spinal stenosis twice daily. I do have full range of motion. Even my sternum is still uncomfortable when I do stretches. -
Thank you for the info and i will check other areas.
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on of gary null's commentators said the other day: don't try & do anything for pain: it just makes it worse. many years ago the biker & I smoked some opiated hashish. I have a horror of opiates & I don;t like canabis having used too much for too long, but the combination did away with the nausea & inflamation of the opium. no dreams of course, but for pain I'd think this is the optimum method
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Shorfi- I'm sorry you still have that tightness but glad pain is gone. Looks like I must learn to adjust to a new normal and also aware that in the next many months some of what I'm experiencing may lessen in intensity as my body adjusts and heals fully.
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Magiclight, you might ask your surgeon if you can do gentle range of motion stretches. I've found that they help the "iron bra" feeling mentioned earlier in the thread.
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Magic,
Gabapentin eased the discomfort for me; however, I do not deal well with chemicals -- I tapered pretty quickly. My best relief came from finding a physical therapist who specializes in BC patients -- she does awesome massage on the area for me every week, releasing scar tissue. I finally feel like myself in the shoulder/chest area. I also had BMX with no reconstruction, no radiation or chemo. My physical therapist is out-of-network, but worth the investment for me. You are still in the early phases of healing... Take care.
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