Do you get sharp pains in breast with LCIS or ALH?

tjohnson1971 · February 2012

About 8mos ago I had my first mammo at 40, they did a biopsy and found ALH, and then a lumpectomy that found LCIS. I chose not to do tamoxiphen just yet, since I did not want to go into menopause prematurely, however if anything else was ever found in the future I would take a more active stand with all this.

Here is my question: Even before the first mammo, my nipple on the right side would give me occasional pains and always seemed tender and sore to touch. After the surgery, I don't get the tenderness as much on that breast (only a wk before period-normal) but I still get sharp stabbing pains. Have any of you had experience with this? I keep feeling for something but I was never even able to feel the first lump at all. Thanks for your help, Tiffany

machfowler · February 2012

Tiffany,

I get all kinds of twinges, aches and soreness especially on the right side (ALH side). What I can't decide is if they are new or if i am just hyper aware of every little thing. They always say that pain is not a symptom of cancer but what I get is not really pain and not consistent. It's daily but random. I wish I knew for sure, it will help me from driving myself crazy with worry. Hope that helps.

Maria

tjohnson1971 · February 2012

I know! That's more what I hate about these little pains more than the pain itself. I keep associating the pain with when we found the lump on the mammo, since it was not a both sided thing, only the side they found stuff in. Thanks for your support.

SarahsMom · February 2012

Same as Maria here - I have lots of weird twinges, pulling, white hot burning sensations, etc that come and go in my left breast. My Dr told me they were "phantom pains" whatever that means! I think once you have surgery anywhere in your body and things have been "disturbed" it is inevitable that we'll have residual things happening. I had a walnut size amount of stuff pulled out, so they may have damages nerves, muscles, etc in the process. I try not to hyperfocus on it and get on with my life, if the diagnostics and manual exams don't feel or see anything, there is nothing else to do. I am sorry - I know how it can wreak psychological havoc on you, I'm there and it others out here are, as wel!

leaf · February 2012

Since LCIS is usually multifocal (in several places in one breast) and often bilateral (in both breasts) then its hard to pinpoint 'where the LCIS is' because LCIS is usually an incidental finding. I assume its the same case with ALH, though its a lot harder to find studies on that subject.

I didn't have any pain before my 'suspicious mammogram'. I did have twinges, etc after each biopsy and excision. After the excision, I had twinges/zingers even, say, 1-2 years down the line, though they decreased in frequency over time.

Breast pain is common; about 70% of women probably have breast pain at some time in their life or another. Its hard to find statistics, but I am sure no doc estimates that 70% of the population has LCIS, ALH, or even has had breast biopsies. From what I've read, it can be hard to find out the cause of breast pain, though if your breast pain is after a biopsy, surgery, or trauma, then I think its certainly reasonable to suspect nerve damage as a cause.

Anonymous · February 2012

I had some on again off again pains after my lumpectomy, but that's pretty common. I never had any pain before my LCIS diagnosis. Just to clarify: tamoxifen may mimic some of the SEs of menopause (such as hot flashes), but it does NOT "put you into premature menopause". It does not decrease the amount of estrogen (like the AIs do), it just blocks the estrogen from binding to the receptors in the breast tissue. It is actually estrogenic to some other areas of the body, such as the bones and the vascular system, that's why is it good for your heart ,your cholesterol, and your bones. I took it for 5 years and until my total hysterectomy/oopherectomy, I had very few SEs at all. My menopausal SEs came from the rapid depletion of estrogen immediately following the ovary removal. I continued on the tamox for 3.5 years after surgery per my oncologist, then switched over to evista, which I've been on for nearly 3 years. I haven't had any further issues which required biopsies or lumpectomies, so the meds seem to be working very well for me.

Anne

leaf · February 2012

Anne makes very excellent points that I missed. Thank you Anne.

farmerlucy · February 2012

I get burning and itching in both breasts. My old radiologist said it was hormonal. I'll find out next week what's in there.

mommy23kids · February 2012

I feel ya I had small stabbing pains in my left breast. My doc shook it off as hormonal when i came back a few months later she said ok we'll do a mammo and ultrasound that's where they detected a lump and when it was biopsied came back as ADH. My surgeon said that I was lucky that that pain was right in the area of the ADH.

tjohnson1971 · September 2014

I still get sharp shooting pains in my breast and my surgery was 3 years ago, the pains are close to the nipple area and not where my incision scar is, so who knows? I was having these pains before we found the LCIS, so when I get them, I always worry. I have had clear mammograms since but sometimes that's not reassuring either because most of the time LCIS isn't found on a mammogram, I was lucky mine was. Just gotta live day to day and not worry about it.

Do you get sharp pains in breast with LCIS or ALH?

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