After radiation - feeling like my heart has to work harder

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NWMom
NWMom Member Posts: 7
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hello,

Does anyone ever feel like your heard beats faster and harder after you are done with left breast radiation?  I have been feeling like this for more than a month. I finished the radiation to left breast about 6 weeks ago. I can feel my heart beating fast and hard, kind of like after heavy exercise. but it happens randomly - when I am lying in bed, when I'm having dinner, when I'm driving, etc. My medical oncologist said that I am "out of shape", but this doesn't only happen after an exercise!!  My radiation oncologist said the radiation should not effect my heart at all, and I am lucky my anatomy is "the best it can be" for radiation. Now I feel I shouldn't have believed her. I feel something is wrong with me. Anyone has similar experience and what do you do? Thanks in advance.

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  • CTMOM1234
    CTMOM1234 Member Posts: 633
    edited February 2012

    I had left breast rads., and absolutely not, my heart doesn't beat faster or work harded. It's been 2 years, no regrets.

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  • itsjustme10
    itsjustme10 Member Posts: 796
    edited February 2012

    You really should get that checked by your primary care physician or cardiologist, if you have one - that doesn't sound like it should be a reaction to radiation that ended a month ago.  It could be nothing more than anxiety or lack of exercise, but it's always better to be safe and have it checked.

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  • DAnne01
    DAnne01 Member Posts: 31
    edited February 2012

    I would get your thyroid checked.  I am hypothyroid and after chemo and rads, I went from normal TSH to acutely hyperthyroid, then severely hypothyroid ... all in a six week period.  Your heart can race if your thyroid is off. 

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  • SaraN
    SaraN Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2012

    I would definitely have your heart checked by a cardiologist. I had consulted a cardiologist during chemo to sort of get a baseline, as I was worried about the effects of treatment on my heart. (family history of heart problems - although I had not had any yet). I had an angiogram in Nov while still in chemo that showed a small blockage in an artery on the front of my heart that was less than 50% closed.

     Before the end of rads in the following March, I found that the blockage had progressed to more than 95% and they wanted to give me open heart surgery ASAP. My cardiologist worked at MDAnderson and flat told me that the rapid change was because of the left side radiation damaging the artery.

    Heart and/or artery damage can be long term side effect or short term. Or both. Lucky me, I got a dangerous stent 6 wks later instead of the open heart surgery (they decided that healing would be problematic due to the radiation effects on skin/tissue) And so far, it's working fine.

     You really need to see a cardiologist. I hope that's not your problem, but it could be.

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  • peggy_j
    peggy_j Member Posts: 1,700
    edited February 2012

    Seems like this is worth checking out--even if it's not related to rads. Since it happens intermittently, I wonder if having some objective data would help. If you can have a home blood pressure and heart-rate monitor handy you'd have data to share with the docs. i.e. my resting heart rate is usually X but when I was laying in bed it jumped to Y.  Unrelated to BC, I had a friend who had panic attacks and that caused her heart to race. When she went to the ER they wanted to monitor her overnight. So whatever it is, seems worth checking into.

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  • coraleliz
    coraleliz Member Posts: 1,523
    edited February 2012

    I had the feeling that my heart was having to work harder after radiation, especially when I'd go for a run. I pushhed myself anyway-this might not be advisable but that's what I did. It got better with time. Had both left & right sided radiation. No problem at rest that I remember.

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  • FireKracker
    FireKracker Member Posts: 8,046
    edited February 2012

    Not me....not yet anyway.finished tx 1 yr ago.

    bc suks.

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited February 2012
    I've felt mine flutter 2 or 3 times since starting radiation (9 tx so far, L side).  I've been paranoid from the beginning about my heart being damaged from this, so I'm not sure if it's all in my head/anxiety/whatever.  I figured I'll mention it to my RO this week, but I won't be surprised if she poo-poo's me. Tongue out  And she may be right, but I figure if it is something, it would be very stupid of me not to mention it.  
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  • Greatlakes435
    Greatlakes435 Member Posts: 12
    edited March 2012

    Yes!!! I am having the exact same issue. I was looking on here to see if anyone else had this problem. My rad onc said "it's not due to radiation" like he did with all of my other radiation symptoms. My husband and friends have all told me to get it checked out. But I am so sick of this whole thing that I havnt done it. You have motivated me. I finished rads 12/14/11. I still have major fatigue and heart flutter weirdness.

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  • koshka1
    koshka1 Member Posts: 678
    edited March 2012

    Hi,

    I went to see a cardiologist for an ultrasound after I had finished radiation but not related to my radiation treatments.

    Basically, it was found, right before I went in for my lumpectomy that I had a slight heart murmur.

    I decided to have that checked out after all was done.

    The doctor who was looking at my heart told me that after radiation...it takes at least 5 years to see if there is any impact to the heart at all.  He told me that with the way radiation is given in this day and age that it should be very little impact to the heart.

    I hope this helps.

    Hugs...Kosh

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