I’ve been taking prednisolone for a month now and my breast have been so sore for about half the time now!
I’ve had a breast ultrasound which showed a simple cyst (1cm) however the discomfort hasn’t gone away and I’m thinking it might be medication related? Can prednisolone cause this?
It feels like what I would imagine stuck breast milk would feel like
Is this normal?
I honestly can't remember anyone complaining of breast pain before. Was the cyst removed?
Sometimes I have a pain…just in one spot. It feels like a hard lump. But I can follow the pain all the way over to my side up to my neck where there’s the origin of tightness, mine seems to be related to how much I use my neck and shoulders, especially on my iPad. It comes and goes, but very scary.
I've never heard of breast soreness related to pred nor have I experienced it and have been on pred for three years. Maybe you should pursue this, so glad you had the ultrasound. Did they remove the cyst?💕
I know we tend to blame pred on everything, but I think in this case it may not be guilty, although I may be wrong.
I have officially ‘left’ the forum after being wrongly diagnosed with GCA in 2019, but I do read it still from time to time (to see how people are doing) and I felt I should comment on this post as breast pain/discolouration (for want of a better word) were very much a part of my symptoms leading up to (wrong) diagnosis. I spent 8 months on pred, starting at 40mg and as I got towards the end of the tapering I developed painful lumps in my breast, mostly on one side, which were red and could be seen and felt on the surface of the skin. (These were completely different from the original breast symptoms which contributed to GCA diagnosis). I was referred quickly to hospital with ‘suspected breast cancer’ but although the consultant could see and feel the lumps, nothing showed up on mammogram or scans and eventually they resolved with no treatment and thankfully have never returned. Not much help I know, except to say that there can be breast involvement in GCA, and tapering pred seemed to coincided with breast symptoms too.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/185...
Susiquew Hi
You certainly were a very lucky camper. …..
Your post , I’m sure, is greatly appreciated..
Keep well.
Yulik 🌷
Yes, I feel very lucky, but I know how it feels to be worried and confused by symptoms, and by pred. I was very grateful to this forum for information and support.
Hi Susiquew. I was so interested to see your reply. I have posted previously but it seems like this is a very rare symptom. I am a bit confused ( not uncommon:). Were your breast symptoms GCA of the breast, if so how was it diagnosed. I have had PMR for seven years with two major flares. The last one I was very ill. I had an US for temporal GCA but it was done after I had been on 30 mg for a month. I had jaw and head pain, put down to TMJ. Around that time I developed a rash on my breasts. It looked just like inflammatory breast cancer so I was sent to the quick apt breast clinic. Mammogram was normal so I was referred to a dermatologist for a biopsy of the rash. 7 months later (!) I had it. They biopsied right on the edge of the rash. It came back as livitigo reticularis, associated with autoimmune diseases. I was told not to worry and see him again in Nov. My rheumatologist doesn’t want to know, just says it’s for dermatologist. So I have pain in the left breast and a this rash which is like a web with raised red marks and swollen veins. Any insight from you would be so gratefully received.
Hi Nightingale...sorry for the slow reply...been out all day.
You probably found my reply confusing because the whole experience was confusing. My case was not at all typical and the diagnosis of possible GCA/PMR came after all sorts of confusion and alternative diagnosis/treatment of my symptoms which probably isn't relevant on this forum. I could PM you if you were interested but as everything was inconclusive I doubt it would help much.
My symptoms at the beginning of diagnosis were a general feeling of being unwell with fever at times, debilitating pains in my thighs, small tender lumps on my temples on both sides, about where the arm of your glasses might be, uncomfortable jaw (but no worse on chewing) and, most alarming to me at the time, the very tender breasts which had the red lines and swollen veins that you describe which felt and looked bruised, but no rash as such, and never any headache at all.
It was a Friday before bank holiday when the GP got the results of blood test that she had asked for, and when she saw how high my inflammatory markers were she phoned me and told me to go straight to A&E which I reluctantly did. I was seen eventually late on a Friday night and diagnosed with GCA after an inconclusive questionnaire by a junior doctor and put on 40mg prednisolone. It was a month later when I finally saw a rheumatologist who listened carefully to the whole sequence of events (which had been ongoing for months) and then said GCA was 'unlikely' and told me to do a fast taper over 7 months, which I did. The breast symptoms that came towards the end of the taper were completely different, they were several painful lumps that were almost like blind boils that could be seen and felt but which didn't show up on a mammogram or ultrasound scan, and which eventually resolved after about 6 to 8 weeks. This was at the end of 2019 and since then I have had no further symptoms. I have my own theories but really it was all a bit of a mystery so not much help to you I'm afraid.
Thank you so much for replying. Your story sounds much like my saga. It certainly sounds like GCA and the research studies recommend paying attention to breast symptoms. Your symptoms sound so much like mine except that mine aren’t resolving. In fact it’s spreading to the other breast. But as I have several other painful problems I must admit I am ignoring it although I am having trouble tapering without my CRP going up. I know that there are many autoimmune and rheumatic conditions that have rashes so it will take a really experienced drs to diagnose. I am glad it’s resolved for you. I would like to hear your theories if you wouldn’t mind sending me a pm. Did you have a PET CT scan? Thanks again.
I didn't have any PET/CT scans for reasons I'll explain...I'll PM you later.
Hi Louie
When did you have the Ultra Sound? I think you need to return to the Doctor to have the soreness checked out again.
It’s unlikely to be the Pred but something is causing it so it needs checking.
Kind Regards
MrsN
Thanks everyone.I only had the ultrasound a week ago. I’ve booked to see the doctor again on Tuesday. I find in the morning (now), it feels fine. I’ll take my dose of predniosolone and a few hours after, it will flare up.
I’m also currently tapering off that makes a difference?
I should also say, I am extremely sensitive to medication. I’m on prednisolone as I was put on Plavix for an artery tear. Within weeks, I had a huge allergic reaction to the point my immune system attacked itself and I was diagnosed with drug induced arthritis.
It could be pred making matters a bit worse, although I would have thought it might be helpful in this instance. If it were all the time I'd suspect a nerve was somehow impinged. But it is possibly also correlation. You take your pred after you've been resting all night and a few hours later the pain begins again. But maybe it's the rest which helps and getting up and going about your day is causing whatever is going on to flare up again? Definitely I think you need somewhat more thorough investigation as at the very least you should not be in distress from a "simple cyst".
Breast pain, for me at least, occurs in my right breast often after I've spent some time using my right arm for various functions. Sometimes it's quite sharp and a bit worrying, but there's no lump. I was once told that I had a small cyst so perhaps it's still there. Wearing a bra for too long can also cause me pain as I have heavy, though not large, breasts.
I had a similar thing when I first started pred. The doctor thinks it is all part of the PMR as she says it can sometimes go into the breast especially if there is a lot of inflammation in the arms. As my PMR has possibly been going on a long time before I was diagnosed it could have been this for me. Anyway after about a month on the steroids it pretty much disappeared. The doctor has said she will refer me if it returns. It does twinge if I've used my arms too much. I also know I have a lot of benign cysts as had a number of tests last year due to concern with mammogram results. So who knows really what is going on!! I also read this thread when I was searching for info which may or may not help? Like the other say its still worth getting checked out. Take care healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
I've had sore breasts just about all my life, up until menopause. Nothing since taking Prednisolone,
Yes. I experience sore spots from time to time in my breasts. Usually tied into neck and shoulder pain so I think mine is referred pain from these areas. I am on six mg now but and still get these worrying niggles.
I have breast pain constantly and I am trying to sort it all out. I am going to reply to susiqueu also. I now have a rash but before that it was associated with rib pain and my back dr said it was referred pain from disc problems in my thoracic spine. This sounds different to yours and I think it would be wise to go back to the breast clinic because I don’t think simple cysts constantly hurt.
Hi. I've been on Prednisone since Jan. 2022 and in the processing of tapering. My breasts are very tender, not to mention large. I do not remember them being this tender ever. Whether or not it's Pred related, I do not know.
I had excruciating bilateral breast pain when I first reduced from 4mg to 3. The pain was like mastitis,sore with stabbing pain. I endured it for two weeks then put the pred up back to 4mg and it gradually disappeared. I tried again a month later and the pain returned but not so bad, I took NSAIDs for a few days and it's not returned since, I'm now down to 2mg. I did a internet search at the time and found very few people with a similar experience. Breast scan was all fine.
Yes. I was thinking I was nuts! I talked to my ob/gyn and he said it I was due for a mamogram but that didn't show anything. He also said the HRT wouldn't do it. I never thought to relate it to the pred! It does feel a bit like having very full breast from nursing.
i have exactly the same discomfort, and having searched in vain for any correlation with pred and PMR, this is the first time it has been mentioned on this forum.
It is such a relief to know I am not alone.
I am assuming it is a side effect of reducing the pred. I am on 3.5mg and have recently had a stressful week of work.
Prednisolone dose? I’m not sure where to go from here
Prednisolone withdrawal
Fatigue from prednisolone 
Tapering Prednisolone
Dropping down from 2mg to. 1 1/2mg prednisolone. 
