Pain in IBC breast during chemo?

Yes, I'd say I had pain in my cancerous breast that was worse than pre-chemo for a bit, absolutely, because I also remember wondering if I was just getting worse.  I'd say that went away in the second month sometime.

I did not have pain in my breast prior to dx or chemo, but I have had intermittent pain throughout chemo. I had 4 AC, I just had dose 11 of 12 taxols, and I take on 800mg of pazopanib (clinical trial). Despite the pains, my breast now appears normal and I had a clean PET CT in January.



I choose to believe it's the chemo working!

I did have shoulder pain, absolutely - I don't know if it was directly related to IBC, but it was definitely at least indirectly related.  I wouldn't worry about any shoulder pain, back pain, neck pain, headaches, or stomach problems that didn't last very long or weren't severe - basically, any sort of common stress pain (such as tight shoulders and neck!).  Your sister is under an immense amount of stress!  

You're a wonderful sister.  Feel free to PM me with any other questions!

I am currently doing weekly Taxol for IBC.  I am having a lot of pain in my breast right now.  Not sure why, but it's definitely worse than prior to chemo.

I'll throw my 2 cents in. I had very sharp pains in my breast & under arm while on chemo. It felt like someone was stabbing me with at knife and twisting it. Wouldn't be constant, but happened @ 3-4 times a day. I chalked it up to the chemo working. Hope this helps. Leisa

Hi there HerSister,

 Very sorry to hear about your sister's IBC diagnosis and pains with the chemo.

 I've posted on here before when I was first diagnosed back in Dec 2010, but haven't been around in awhile. I actually found your post because I googled IBC and chemo and was trying to see if others has stories of strange things on chemo for IBC. 

Like other IBCers I'm getting the neo-adjuvant (pre-surgery) chemo. I've had 10 weekly Taxols, and 3 of my 4 cycles of AC. Things were moving along well for me when I was on Taxol -- the pain and redness went away -- but now I seem to be dealing with pain again.

It's interesting to me that you write about feeling like you lied to your sister about there being no chance of progression on chemo -- because I have worried about that and have had my medical onco and residents say that to me (!). Obviously you didn't "lie" to your sister -- you were trying your best with the knowledge you had at the time. :-) But it's strange to think that some of my doctors have tried to tell me that as if it's a fact -- they're doctors and should know better.

 Similarly, I had one of my main nurses tell me not to worry about the pain because pain is rarely associated with BC --- but I think IBC is different, because I definitely had pain leading up to my diagnosis and until I went on chemo.

Anyway -- I'm sorry not to give you a more cleat answer to your question. I am still in treatment and have not figured all this out yet. But I'm hoping to get some answers this week and will share anything relevant that I find out. 

I guess I'm just writing to say that from what I've experienced, all this stuff is not so clear-cut. It's important to not get too wrapped up in fear, but at the same time, I'm starting to believe that the person going through the treatment -- living with the cancer pre-surgery, is the best judge of what's going on in their own body. So if your sister is concerned she should feel free to talk to her team seriously about it.

All the best to both of you, and to all those who have posted above me in this thread. xoxo

OH MY!!  I was just googling sharp pain with IBC and Chemo and found you.  It took me 20 minutes just to get signed up to this community!!  WHEW!  My mom has IBC.  She is undergoing INSULIN POTENTIATED THERAPY.  Which is a low dose chemo (10%).  They use insulin to lower the bloodsugar, which opens the cancer cells and makes them much more vulnerable to the chemo.  YOU MUST LOOK INTO THIS!!!!   She will NOT be doing the surgery OR radiation.  This link is where she is going.  Euro-Med in Phoenix AZ   602-404-0400.  Please look at their website!    My mom is responding very well. Her numbers went from 280's to 30's.    Ok, now about the pain.  Recently she is having sharp stabbing awful pains in the breast. I found a website (How to Relieve Inflammatory Breast Cancer Pain).  It says pain could be from damaged  nerves caused by the chemo.  Mom JUST NOW did what they suggested and feels better already.  Far infrared heating massager.  The sharp pains have subsided.  I couldn't put links in this post, sorry.   Please contact me anytime.  This is my first posting, so I am not quite sure how this works.   BUT LOOK INTO THE INSULIN POTENTIATED THERAPY!!!   Please, because it could save her life.  It is worth a phone call or at least look at the website.  I have to admit that the website is not all that exciting, but the results ARE!!!!  G O O D   L U C K~~~~

Friends,

Thanks for the response. After this post  got my wife checked by a psychiatric and he suggested Cymbalta 60mg and Ativan on a as needed basis.   Just wondering, does anyone know how long before she starts feeling significantly better.