Shoulder issues ?

Purple,

Sorry to hear you're struggling! Unfortunately I can't give much advice. I'm the same in that I can't sleep on the 'bad side' bit because of mets, the other side is 'bad' for different reasons! Hopefully someone will come along who can help you out; in the meantime - I'm thinking of you and I hope you get some relief soon.

Nicky

Purple I might not be of much help either except to say, Im really sorry you are having to endure all that LE keeps throwing at you and indeed all of us to one degree or another.. Im really feeling for you because as if sleeping isn't hard enough as it is without this added extra. If youre one that has sleeping issues anyway well all this just exacerbates the problem. Hugs

What a pain, literally!  I can empathise but for different issues.  I'm trying to find a way to sleep on my back so that my right leg doesn't go to sleep.  Fortunately I can lie on my 'good' side so at least I can alternate between that and my back.  Experimenting with different pillow combinations for knees and back for the leg issue, combined with elevating LE arm and keeping my neck happy.  Purple, I wish I could offer some helpful advice other than PT or meds.  I've got so many pillows and supports with me in bed I feel I should start to number them so I don't forget what goes where.

Hey Purple... just posting my own experience with shoulder issues as far as an exercise goes, but obviously if youre in too much pain you wont be able to do these or maybe only very gently try a few and work up. Part of my "education" was that I was given 4 simple exercises to do daily morning and night if I got issues OR just to do them as a prevention thing.. Well I believe these are very beneficial and I have to say they have definitely helped me with pain. I get, with regular monotony, burning and or aching pain under the affected arm (upper) and more recently around the albow AND my shoulder as well as some around the mast sites and axilla when my bodies is TIRED of any thing that passes for a bra (lol). The exercises are very simple and probably well mentioned in other threads so you probabaly know about them anyway... (theyre quite hard to accurately describe)

1/ 30 x "fist pumps" - I do this with arm raised straight above my head. I was given a "cancer ball" (about 3inches across) and use that to squeeze which I find better than just opening and closing my fist.

2/ 10 "elbow lifts" (arms bent) out to the side

3/ 10x "elbow lifts"  directly in front, arms bent, fists end up more or less behind your head on the lift.

4/ 10x  "arm lifts" (arms straight) out to the side and lifted to above your head.

HTHs some.

Hugs

No probs at all Purple. I hope something turns up to alleviate your mega suffering, and I really tend to gravitate toward those who are having a hard time with any aspect of this horrid thing called LE or with BC in general actually.  You sure are having your share at the moment.

Often we don't just have one ordeal to cope with but many, and that tends to make us look more like whiners and I guess Im pretty sensitive about that especially when someone insinuates we're not thinking/being "positive" enough or something... grrrr facts are facts and the fact is this danged LE sure can hand us the prickly end of the stick.

Not sure this will be of any connection. At my last PET scan my right shoulder (LE in upper right quadrant, especially arm) "lit up" greatrr than my mets in my spine. Referred to a rheumatologist and following an MRI I was diagnosed with impingment syndrome. The bone that comes around from your back and meets your collarbone at the shoulder are impinged where they come together. First course of treatment was to have the bone at the connection shaved, but no surgery for us mets people. Steroid injection then done. WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY NOW. No needle sticks in L E. The doctor is not always right. He said it would be ok, but Cellulitis came along and put me in the hospital for 4 days. Maybe you should be checked for something further in that shoulder.Ihad the pain for about 6 months, but thought it went with the "territory" Never dreamed it could be impinged.  I shared the Cellulitis art only to emphsize our need to be careful with LE.

Purple - my first LE therapist dx me with a shoulder impingement as well as LE.  She gave me exercises for both.  She said she's found that shoulder impingement to be fairly common among b/c patients - we've had so much surgery on our chests that we get in the habit of hunching slightly.  Your cause sounds a bit different, but maybe the sleeping all the time on that arm was doing something like that.   

It was 4 years ago so I honestly don't remember the shoulder exercises that much, but she also treated me with PT and that therapy machine.  Whatever she had me do worked.  My second LET gave me some simple ROM exercises to do to keep my shoulders loose and I still do those.  Obviously these are not something you want to do in the middle of an acute attack, but maybe file them away for later.  I do these on both the LE and non-LE side.  She had me start these very slowly, and increased the stretch only very slightly every week or so - so as not to trigger a flare or strain anything .  I've found them very useful. 

Get a cheap ball from someplace like Five Below - about the size of one of those red playground balls.

Put the ball on the wall, holding it against the wall with one hand.  Stand facing the wall far enough out so your arm is straight out perpendicular to the floor, holding the ball at shoulder height.  Roll the ball in a small circle to the right a few times, then the left, just to loosen things up.  Then, take a step towards the wall with the same leg as the arm holding the ball, so your toes are touching the wall.  Roll the ball up the wall as your arm reaches over your head, keeping contact with the ball.  Lean into the wall, stretching the axilla and shoulder area.  Hold for a few seconds then ease back, rolling the ball back down.  Repeat with the other arm. 

Then turn 90 degrees so you're standing next to the wall.  Hold the ball onto the wall with the hand closest to the wall.  Stand far enough away from the wall so your arm is out straight at shoulder height.  Roll the ball in a small circle a few times to the right, then the left.  Then take a step sideways with the foot closest to the wall, so the side of your foot is resting against the wall.  Roll the ball up the wall along the side of your arm as your arm reaches over your head.  Don't turn the arm so that the ball is rolling along the inside of your arm - it should roll up the side.  Lean into the wall, stretching the shoulder area.  Hold for a few seconds and release.  Repeat with the other arm. 

Interesting to hear that impingment is fairly common with LE. I do remember hunching at my neck some following surgery. 

Ugh  Purple that is some crazy rash, but rashes seem to do the strangest things. I know you surely must be getting so brassed off with trying to nail down this problem. I hope you are rewarded with some answers very soon.  I have itchy lumps that appear on both elbows every year and they can really turn nasty if I don't put some sort of cortisone based cream on them. Fortunately my BC side through the special treatment its got, seems to give less trouble there, but who knows about the future.

Yes please keep us updated ...as a person who has to deal with an assortment of rashes I am interested in your outcome. 

Purple, I am late to read this thread, but wonder if you have seen anyone about your shoulder pain yet? I had a very nasty round that lasted 3 years of bilateral rotator cuff syndrome, sounded very much like what you are describing. I did over a year of PT before agreeing to ortho surg intervention. Long story, but I was told by my last doc, who is a non-surgical sports medicine specialist, that I didn't need more surgery, and in fact, was "over-therapized" - had me take a break, did a cortisone injection, started PT when the pain had settled down, VERY GENTLY and VERY SLOWLY working up to normal activities. Key was SLOW. Something I am not good at, but I got great improvement with it. Main thing is to have a proper diagnosis and then proper PT exercises. You can do more damage with the wrong exercises. Hugs and hope you are doing better.

Ketch, hey, I just suggested to purple to sleep in a soft recliner on your back when you are suffering shoulder pain. I know we all want to be in our comfy beds but sometimes the recliner offers a painless night.
Also when I had a frozen shoulder I learned to sleep kinda on my edge of my shoulder blade instead of my shoulder. It was the closest to side sleeping I could get. I am trying to be a back sleeper due to LE but Its not going well. I luvvvvv to sidesleep.

Ketch, We are happy to have you on the threads because 2 heads are better than 1! Do poke around on the LE threads as we have amazing experts here that have literaly saved us from LE taking over our lives!

Also "NO CANCER ANYTHING!" merits a celebration of chocolate anything. Maybe Binneys famous virtual brownies!