OT breast lumps

[supermum_ms]

Hey girls (sorry guys i'm sure your not familiar with this issue)

A few years ago, sorry can't remember exactly when but it was after my son was born (he's 13 in a few days) and before i started having intercostal muscle spasms in 08. I found 1 pea size lump and my GP found 2 more in the other. I had a mamogram but due to having small breasts they didn't get enough breast tissue in their torcher machine and I had to have an ultra sound, that didn't even pick up the lumps. GP was perplexed because they are there, she assured me they were probably nothing but cyst because the area was tender, and problem lumps like cancer dont usually have any tenderness.

So fast forward to last night, and my left breast (why are all my problem on my left lol) didn't feel right, each time my arm touched the side of the breast, it was sensitive. That area where your arm pit and breast connect, for me there isn't much but anyway, it was bothering me enough to remember i actually do have breasts lol. I did the breast check and once again that breast is really tendar in spots and feels even lumpier than before, peas anyone?

I had thought the reason why i had tendar spots was because i'd been prodded and poked by everyone with hands, and lets be honnest when you have small breasts and they squash them into pancakes, with all the skin on your chest about to rip off, well they are bound to be a little tendar lol.  I stopped checking so often just in case that was the reason behind the tendarness, but if that was the reason then, it doesn't add up, now.

I can honestly say that its not normal for me to get lumpy prior to my menstral cycle, but i'm going to wait until after my next cycle and see if its hormonal, before i once again go through all that again. But i've had a thought, does anyone know about veins in your chest, this is the breast that the veins pop. Could this have affected the blood flow to the breast? producing cysts that are like dried peas or mushie like mini kidneys?

Cheers............JJ

[supermum_ms]

Hi Lisa and Candy,

I'm not concerned!! I do find it interesting that I dont 'normally' have tenderness in either breast, apart from years ago when the lumps were first found. I normally dont know I have any, cause its not like they ever get in the way lol I do get frozen nipples (when its been a long cold winter) due to the Raynaud's but that's got nothing to do with lumps that i'm aware of.

It's probably just coincidental but i'd been out shopping all day with DD, way longer than I should but it was nice to be foot loose and fancy free for a change. My left arm by the time we got home was really aching, i'd assumed it was just my arm, and or one of the intercostal muscles playing up again, either of those things are normal for me, I really didn't expect to find anything new in my breast.

My thoughts are centred around the vein issues, and if the blood flow is off in my left arm, could it also be off in my left breast/chest? Which is also the only breast that shows the bright blue veins usually at the same time that my arm veins are playing up and they are really playing up at the moment. Weird but yesterday afternoon, i was just getting up from a nap and sat on the edge of the bed to take a pain pill. Dh and I watched all the veins in my left arm engorge, it was really spellbinding because neither of us had seen it happen like that before.

Anyway I'm not bothered, and I am thinking its more likely to be connected to the blood flow and muscle probs i have in my left side, its the how i'm not sure about. Thanks for giving me input!

Cheers...........JJ

[candy158]

I also have fibrocystic breasts, and have had since they first deveoped.  They do get extremely tender and sometimes actually ache.  I have had many a mamogram, and they all say the same thing ( thank goodness) .... the lumps form and break on their own, and sometimes can be there for years and years.  Now that I am in menopause ( age 52) it does seem somewhat better though.  

Rest easy in the fact that it is not uncommon, and that if your Dr. did suspect something, it would be dealt with immediately,...

The ultrasound is a great too as well, I have had those too, and most cysts will easily move around and will feel very small, (like a pea) to very large like a plum.  That is what I had when I was 19 and had it removed, that was my start with breast problems.

Hope this helps,
Good Luck,
Candy

[Guitar_grrrl]

As a veteran of fibrocystic breasts all my (teen and adult) life, I can say those lumps probably are cysts.  The tenderness around your axilla (armpits and there 'bouts) are lymph nodes talking.  Mine do that all the time, especially in that premenstrual week before my cycle.  That's largely going away, now that I'm smack dab in the middle of menopause.  The cysts are disappearing, the tingling in the axilla/breasts are significantly decreased.  Ive heard from countless Gyn MDs that as we go through menopause, that all goes away (whew!).

If you're really concerned, insist on an ultrasound.  Cysts are very easy to differentiate from serious lumps.

Good luck,
Lisa