LE AND PAIN

Jo,

Do you have a glove and sleeve?  When my arm feels like that, and it's not very often, I put my sleeve and glove,take lots of water, and do MLD.  I'm sure there's a pain thread here somewhere, and that Binney and the girls will be along to help you out. 

Take something for the pain, too.  I'm sorry you are having it.

Bobbie

I have had both kinds of pain.  I have a constant pain that runs down the back of my arm.  But I also have sharp pains in the front & back of my arm.  It was the pain and inflammation that had me thinking I needed to go to an LE therapist.  MLD really does help.

I'm glad to see this post because I was wanting to ask a similar question.  I have pain or aching in my arm and fullness in my armpit pretty much everyday.  I also get a "needle stick" pain in my fingers from time to time.  I have very little swelling so my LE therapist said that I didn't need a sleeve.  I haven't seen a therapist since mid summer due to insurance not paying.  I think I'm going to have to suck it up and go back to see her tho & pay out of pocket.  I over-used my arm about 2 weeks ago and ended up having lots of truncal pain in my ribs....it was very difficult/painful to take a deep breath and it still hasn't totally gone away.  I do LE exercises and MLD daily but still cannot get pain free.  Per the LE therapist,  I'm considered stage 1 LE.....is it possible to ever be pain free or is this the new way of life for me?  I can't talk to my BS or Oncol about it because they don't seem to know much about LE.  They both tell me that they question me having LE because I don't have much swelling and they also tell me that LE is not painful.....this makes me want to scream!!!  This is also someone who told me not to worry......that I wouldn't get LE because I had a SNB!!  The LE therapist says that they are very much "incorrect" and that I do have LE and that the pain I'm experiencing is common.

I have truncal LE and it's when I get the pain that I notice the swelling and "remember" to do my MLD. It happens every 6 weeks or so, not on a regular enough schedule for me to know what sets it off. I am surprised that the pain breaks through the pain meds I'm on. How bad would it be if I wasn't on the Hydromorphs and Oxys?

I feel so bad for those of you who have the pain every day!!! We've gone through enough already!I

What is RIBP?

Huh, I dodged THAT bullet! Lucky me..... that sounds like a doozie!

I'm still on a waiting list for an LE threrapist.  I'm five years out from bi-lateral mastectomies, auxillery lymph node dissection and rads to both the supraclavical nodes in the chest and the auxilla.  Yep, I'd say I'm high risk.  Anyway I have been experiencing pain in the treated area for the five years.  For some reason it seems to flare up in the winter months, which has landed me in PE for frozen shoulder twice in January.  Well it is acting up again, shoulder and arm pain but this time instead of treating frozen shoulder I am going to find out if I have LE.  One thing that has complicated things is that I am on Femara and I never know if Femara is making things worse.   When I touch my left chest right above my implant, it has always felt like pins and needles and seems swollen to me.  My PE told me I have significant scar tissue in that area.  I have always been suspicious if I truly had frozen shoulder or if that is just the easiest diagnosis to give me.  What caused me to think LE this time is that my arm was aching and before it was just pain in the shoulder that made it's way to the right side of my upper back and down my arm. 

I'm with you Jo.  I take Celebrex, but occasionally  would need additional help from Darvocet (actually the generic brand).  Now that it's off the market, not sure what will be available to take its place.  I too have those cramps that seem to extend out and up from the chest that seem to happen mostly when I move or twist into a certain position......just grabs me for a few seconds.  Because of my arthritis I see a chiropractor regularly and notice that when my neck is not right, it can also affect how my shoulder and arm feel, probably something to do with the nerves, both in my neck and what has been damaged in my chest and axilla.