Breathlessness after radiations

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
Breathlessness after radiations

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  • Cocoredrose
    Cocoredrose Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2017

    good evening beautiful roses ,

    Its been a Month and a half I finished 28 radiation sessions. Im on holidays and the weather is very hot. Im feeling discomfort in my chest and shortness of breath.

    Has anyone felt like this? Im wondering of its side effects or not ? ...

    Im quite scared even of all the ct scans at the end of the rads were ok.

    Thank you for your help !

  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited June 2017

    Talk to your Drs about your new issues. Only THEY are capable of DXing what might be/is going on. No one here can!

    The sooner you find out what might be going on the better and getting (if needed) the correct TX.

  • Cocoredrose
    Cocoredrose Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2017

    the way you answer is really not very kind. Im anxious!!

    And of course Im gonna talk about thèse symptoms to my onc!

  • MeToo14
    MeToo14 Member Posts: 493
    edited June 2017

    cocoredrose I too have had shortness of breath for almost two years. It all started after I finished radiation and started AIs at the same time. I have had test after test and am currently waiting on the results of an abdominal ultrasound. My MO thinks it's the AIs, but I do have slight damage from radiation. I'm hoping that's all it is. It really takes away from my life. Not being able to be is not any kind of way to live. I hope you get answers soon and I hope you feel better!

  • Emily2008
    Emily2008 Member Posts: 605
    edited June 2017

    Okay, I will share my experience, but I don't want you to be afraid because apparently my situation is VERY unusual according to my RO, MO, cardiologist and pulmonologist.

    Six weeks after concluding rads I began to feel shortness of breath and I had a dry, non productive cough. This continued for several days, and after doing some research I realized I probably had radiation-induced pneumonitis. I had a chest CT a few days later (this was an already planned scan--every 6 months), and it showed fibrosis in the lungs. Almost every patient who goes through rads will show some lung damage on a CT. This is normal, and it usually goes away over time, although a little bit of scarring will always remain on imaging. But because of my symptoms (shortness of breath and cough), I was dxed with pneumonitis and started 6 weeks of steroids.

    About 3 weeks into the treatment I started experiencing chest pain and pressure, particularly when lying down. It felt better when I sat and leaned forward. My heart started to race as well. Long story short, I was also dxed with radiation-induced pericarditis. Ugh! So now I'm being treated for that as well as the pneumonitis. It has been very tough and it's taking a long time to feel better.

    If you're only experiencing shortness of breath, I'm not sure that's enough to dx you with pneumonitis. There is also the dry cough that goes along with the condition. The discomfort in your chest could be related to it, but it depends on what you mean by discomfort. I don't know where you live, but here on the east coast of the US a lot of people are experiencing seasonal allergies. Could that be part of it?


  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2017

    During chemo my MO sent me to a pulmonologist for a base line lung capacity reading. That helped me not worry do much when I got short of breath due to fatigue. But yes, do call your RO.

  • Cocoredrose
    Cocoredrose Member Posts: 12
    edited June 2017

    its à feeling like chest tightness. I dont know why but it makes me the same sensation as when I was on chemo. It happened tWo days ago. Hot weather and wind... i went to swim in our pool and in the evening I had the impression I cant breath normally. This afternoon I swam in the sea and felt good

    I have no fever sometimes I caught 2 of 3 Times a day but not much. And After swimming in the sea I realised I was breathing well. The problem. Was joint pain on my chest. But i keep on having voice problem like I was having a flu.

    Thank you for your attention and your answers

  • Connie1230
    Connie1230 Member Posts: 192
    edited June 2017

    I have what I call (for lack of a better term) a hitch in my breath sometimes. I asked my RO about it this morning and she said not to worry unless I developed my symptoms such as a cough, a fever, shortness of breath etc

  • Winters74
    Winters74 Member Posts: 25
    edited March 2018

    just bumping this. I am About 7 months out now from radiation. Shortness of breath has been a issue. I thought I was just out of shape from all the chemo and radiation. I had a pet Nov. 28 and all was fine. I had a ct scan last week that showed a 6mm nodule on my lung. Same side that was radiated. Doctor isn’t concern. And said it could be many things other than cancer. Anyone else have this concern???

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