Chest pain from radiation

ryley

Hi everyone. I have been lurking and reading what everyone posts and it has been very helpful for me. I had my last chemo round in April after a mastectomy for Stage III BC. I'm now receiving radiation and just had #14 out of 33 total. I'm having mild to severe chest pain. It's located in the middle of my chest and makes it difficult to take a deep breath, bend over to pick something up, or lay down to sleep. I know it's from the rad because it gets better on the weekend when I don't have rad and is worse on Friday. I mentioned it to my rad dr. and he didn't think it was anything and said I should take Maalox. This isn't heartburn, I've had hearburn, and this is much worse.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if it gets better or if it's just something I have to put up with until I'm done.

God bless all of you who read and respond to these questions. Sometimes I didn't know where I could turn for answers, but I've never seen this question here.

KimInBeirut

I completed radiation about 2 months. I, too, had chest pain during treatment. My docs said it was likely a combination of things: a.) the burning/tightness of the skin; b.) the fact that my radiation treatments were causing some lung damage; c.) the tightness of my recent surgical sights. The pain has disipated somewhat since treatment ended - although the first two weeks after completion there were days that I was in such stomach pain I could barely walk!!! Now, I get an occasional, but brief bout of chest pain. It doesn't last long and doesn't happen often, but when it does I can barely breathe. I have found that a few seconds of "relax, relax, breathe, relax" repeated to myself help a great deal.

ryley

KimInBeirut said:

I completed radiation about 2 months. I, too, had chest pain during treatment. My docs said it was likely a combination of things: a.) the burning/tightness of the skin; b.) the fact that my radiation treatments were causing some lung damage; c.) the tightness of my recent surgical sights. The pain has disipated somewhat since treatment ended - although the first two weeks after completion there were days that I was in such stomach pain I could barely walk!!! Now, I get an occasional, but brief bout of chest pain. It doesn't last long and doesn't happen often, but when it does I can barely breathe. I have found that a few seconds of "relax, relax, breathe, relax" repeated to myself help a great deal.

Thank you for responding. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this. I will try what you suggest about relaxing. My chest pain is always there to some degree and I can only take shallow breaths. That makes it hard to walk or garden or do anything even remotely active.

jamjar62

I'm definitely not an expert on radiation having just finished my 2nd treatment yesterday! But I noticed that my chest, under my arm and even my shoulder blades hurt.

This past Tuesday, I had my first appt with the simulation. I laid with my arms up over my head for 45 minutes. Then at my first appt on Thursday, I laid that way for 30 minutes. And yesterday, it was 10 minutes.

Both my right and left side are sore but my left side (which is where I am radiated) is much more sore. I think that the pain is from muscles being in weird, uncomfortable position for so long. By the time I was done on each day, my fingers were numb and my shoulders were screaming. It's been a looooooong time since I've worked out but I think the pain feels similar to muscle strain.

Karen

Karen

ksfc

I didn't have middle of the chest pain, but I don't think I had much radiation directed there. I did have and still have pain in my collarbone and my ribs. Diane

KimInBeirut

To those just starting, or mid-treatment, may I also suggest using the cream they give you right from the start. Don't wait until your skin starts to burn - it was only after several treatments, before I started to see outward physical effects, that I asked the docs if the cream was "preventative" in anyway. Yes, it is, so start creaming right away! Also, during treatment I found my energy level went from a high one day followed by a day when I could barely do anything but sit in a chair all day. On my "high" days I'd run around, move boxes, work around the house and go gung-ho. I always felt like I had to "make up" for my laziness the day before! I must tell you, my body suffered from it.

ryley

KimInBeirut said:

To those just starting, or mid-treatment, may I also suggest using the cream they give you right from the start. Don't wait until your skin starts to burn - it was only after several treatments, before I started to see outward physical effects, that I asked the docs if the cream was "preventative" in anyway. Yes, it is, so start creaming right away! Also, during treatment I found my energy level went from a high one day followed by a day when I could barely do anything but sit in a chair all day. On my "high" days I'd run around, move boxes, work around the house and go gung-ho. I always felt like I had to "make up" for my laziness the day before! I must tell you, my body suffered from it.

Yes, Kim, I have fatigue like that too. Everyone said the radiation is nothing compared to chemo, but with the chest pain and fatigue, I almost have to say they are a toss up.

And yes, the cream (Aquaphor) is a skinsaver. I use it twice a day -- right after chemo and right before bed -- and almost halfway through I am just a little pink (and I'm fair skinned, so burns easily). My nurse told me they are doing a clinical trial with women who've had lumpectomies and having them use it 3X daily, so I figure 2X would work well enough for me.

Thanks for the responses.