I have Breast Cancer and Lupus

Hello Dominique....I too have Lupus SLE, Raynauds, and Sjogren's Syndrome.  I was diagnosed with lupus at age 37...quite accidentally but that's another post.  I have the same thing with rashes, fatigue, and joint pain.  I have chronically low sodium and pleural thickening.  I, however, have been lucky enough not to be hospitalized for the lupus.  I had one breast removed and the other removed after chemo with no reconstruction.  I had Adriamycin, Cytoxan, and Taxotere every three weeks for six treatments.  I did not tolerate the chemo well.  I started to vomit the day of the first treatment and by the next afternoon my DP brought me to the emergency room and I was admitted for a few days.  Same for the second treatment.  After that they just admitted me to the hospital and kept me for 2-3 days for each chemo treatment.  There were times where just getting out of the chair made my heart beat so hard that it scared me.  There were other times that I lay on the bed and prayed that I would just fall asleep and not throw up.  Mid way through treatments my oncologist ordered 2 units of blood because my counts dropped so low.  Overall, it was an awful time.  In terms of the lupus, they say that the chemo is supposed to put the lupus in remission but after my third treatment, I told them that I was getting a rash.  It seemed similar to the Lupus rash but it was winter time and I never get the rash in the winter.  I thought it was a reaction to the chemo but rheumotologist confirmed it was a lupus rash.  It got worse after the last two treatments and I was on steroids for a few weeks to address it.  It was even on my scalp.  Now my hair is growing back but the hair growing in the area of the rash (it was about the size of a quarter) is pure white.  By the way, I have since read that Lupus puts you at higher risk for all sorts of cancers, including breast cancer.

Now I am past all that and truly feeling way way better that I did but I am having a tough time with the tamoxifen.  It makes my joints ache more although that appears to be subsiding a bit and I can tolerate that, but more importantly it is impacting my mood terribly.  I saw oncologist today and she is recommending that I have my ovaries out (they are not certain I am in menopause and won't be until October) so they can put me on a different medication that she feels does not impact on the moods as much.  I asked her if the hormone medication was really that important and if it made THAT big of a difference.  She responded that she will argue more with women over the importance of the hormonal treatment more than the chemo.  It was the first time that I left that office thinking, "I'm going to be okay".

I truly hope your treatment is going better than mine did, and if it isn't please know that you will feel better.  I certainly know where you are at in terms of the double whammy.  Feel free to PM me if you'd like.

GML