symptoms: Hello everyone, Did anyone else have... - My Ovacome

My Ovacome

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symptoms

Sarah23 profile image
9 Replies

Hello everyone,

Did anyone else have a pain in there shoulder and in there ribs? mine is all on my right side, sadly my cancer came back only after 3 months [my first 3 month check-up] these symptoms came on after about 2 months, I noticed that they were not going away so I would guess they are symptoms of O.C, once again my doctor but it down to muscle strain and a bad shoulder, I was just given painkillers it was only when the oncologist did the C125 that my number had gone up so that is how I knew my O.C came back, if I hadn't had that C125 I would have gone along with what the doctor said and just left it to go away on its own!! which is what I did the first time when I was dignosed, the pain did ease, but then as time went on I had other symptom and so on and so on!! there is to many symtoms that go through you off.

Sarah.

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Sarah23 profile image
Sarah23
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9 Replies
BusyLizzie profile image
BusyLizzie

Hi Sarah,

When I first started feeling a little different (about a month after the end of my last chemo) I had an ache below my left shoulder blade, that is about the nearest I had. My symtoms now are hard to miss though - the big bloat. CA125 is now 560ish. It is sad how we lower our standards. My last CA125 3 weeks ago was 480ish, so a rise of less than 100 in 3 weeks was quite a relief for me LOL! Anyway, I have had a reply from Angela and she thinks 6-8 weeks if the caeylx has an effect for me, the bloating may subside.

What are you being offered as second line treatment?

Love Lizzie

X

MargaretJ profile image
MargaretJ

I had back acke in neck area and lumbar region so they did an MRI scan. It turned out to be a couple of partial slipped discs, probably very old. I now ache everywhere but I am putting it down to the after euffects of surgery and getting used to the stoma. Hopefully my surgeon will confirm this in 2 weeks.

Jane profile image
Jane

I had the rib pain and a shoulder pain which is apparently a referred pain from the ribs when I was first diagnosed. It's hard to know what is from recurrence and what is post surgery pain even 18 months after surgery now but also any exisiting conditions are inflamed by the treatment process so not everything is cancer related. I have recently started quite intense yoga (my last chemo was on 5 Oct last year) and this has really helped to reduce those random pains that could be from adhesions or anything really and I'd recommend it. I have recurred in the abdomen and am watching and waiting before I start any treatment but would definitely recommend some good stretching whatever you have.

Jane

x

ScardyCat40 profile image
ScardyCat40

I'm having a follow up CT scan next week I know that it won't be clear because there was residual cancer after chemo but it had stabilised. Recently I have been feeling breathless again and getting fatigued easily when doing household chores and walking etc. My weight also fluctuates and I also get pain in my right side as well. I asked my consultants secretary to bring forward my clinic appointment as I didn't feel I could wait a month for the results and they won't tell you over the phone.

nandi profile image
nandi

I had a bad shoulder pain prior to my first recurrence. but not at the second. I had rib pain before the 2nd.

Best wishes to all.

FlorenceW profile image
FlorenceW

I had/have pain under right shoulder and right ribs and lower back...I agree it's very hard to know what is referred pain/OC/normal bodily pain/scar tissue etc...and trying to keep sane...so try to ignor it...and just rely on ca125/ct results!!!!!!!

Best Wishes to all

ps I am on 2nd line treatment....I have had 3 chemos so far...I felt ok on 1 and 2...but started feeling down again on this 3rd one.......this happened to me on 1st line treatment...anyone the same.......?xx

Florencexx

TinaWright profile image
TinaWright

OMG, this is scary, I had never even thought the two could be tied together, I have a chronic muscle pain condition called fibromyalgia (FMS) you see. This nasty begger tends to map just about every other disease ever discovered and once you are diagnosed with it you and GP tends to blame everything else on it.

I never did this with the OC because I had symptoms that could not possibly be FMS related.

However, pre-cancer I had the FMS under control, I had followed self help techniques as well as followed a complex protocol. Eevn all through the cancer and treatment the FMS was as good as gold. In fact I often jocked how well I felt, maybe the healthiest I had in years. THEN, after the chemo little by little the FMS symptoms came back. I never fail to mention this to my oncologist because they are fully aware of my FMS and have taken that into count with the treatments etc. Now, they tell me these pains are Chemo related, they tell me the steroids we take as an anti-sickness treatment with the chemo is the best thing for treating muscle aches and pains so we don`t notice the chemo damage until we actually stop the chemo. Because when we stop the chemo we stop the steroids. Are you keeping up?

But a couple of weeks ago the pain was so intence in my right breast and rib and under the right arm, my oncologist actually offered me steroids. I didn`t want stearoids so I have been taking 2 tramadol 4 x a day as my pain relief.

The tramaol made me sleep and in effect i rested my muscles and now I am fine again. I have to say I never once thought it could be a reocurrance, I simply thought it`s more likely be a flare up of FMS again. And I still think that is what it was. My CA 125 result was a 9 the week before the pain flared up.

I am just wonderring if shoulder pain and rib pain is more likely to be chemo damage to the nerves etc than anything else, if you had a reocurrance this could be just coincidence, couldn`t it?

I understood that should a reocurrance arise it would be within the abdominal regeon and not as high up as the lungs, breast or under the arm.

Adding to this I have never had under my arm checked but my oncologist does check for lumps in the lymph nodes in my groin, which would be more likely than under the arm????????? Confussing, isn`t it?

I do belive that our general aches and pains are down to what we have been through rather than anything new happening. Remember how much we might be affected emotionally, even subconciously, stress and tention and worry can trigger aching muscles and joints and tention triggers shoulder and neck pain. Always, always tell your oncologist, never just assume and if your not happy go with your gut feeling and ask for a scan or blood test or another exam.

Hope this helps - love to you all from Tina xxx

Suzy profile image
Suzy

I have only had shoulder pain when I had pleural acites. My advice would be to ask for an ultrasound scan . (this was before I ever had any chemo - therefore in my view not chemo or nerve damage related. )

SueLR profile image
SueLR

Hi Sarah,

Shoulder and rib pains were my first symptoms. I don't know whether it was a coincidence, because I had had events which pulled muscles, but they didn't resolve, so I was diagnosed with chronic pain (if that is a diagnosis).

Even when I started having digestive problems, and with a history of breast cancer, alarm bells didn't start ringing. We put our lives in the hands of these doctors and hope for brilliance, or at least competance, but so many of us are let down. I lost at least 6 months.

I do hope all goes well for you with your treatment.

Warmest wishes

Sue

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