For the past few months I've had almost unbearable breast pain that begins about two weeks before my period. At first it wasn't so bad but each month it seems to get worse! Of course, my doctor doesn't seem to think that I'm in peri (he says that 38 is too young) but at my last visit in March he diagnosed me with fybroids. He put me on Errin (progesterone only BC) and said that it should help my symptoms. This month it stopped ovulation so I didn't have to endure the pain I usually have with that. My mood swings and anxiety have also improved a great deal. I just need to know what I can do about this pain in my breasts...I couldn't even go to my aerobics class last week because it hurt too much to move around. On top of the Errin, I'm also taking Evening Primrose and vitamin E to try to combat the pain. I also cut caffine out of my diet for the two weeks before my period. If you have any advice, please let me know!

Thanks so much!
Karen

I don't have any advice to fix it, just that I went through this breast pain and it actually stopped almost a year ago until this month. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but remember we are all different, I went from pain before my period to literally all month long pain for a couple of years. I was so swollen and sore I learned to gaurd against hugs or if I thought my children, when playing, would accidently hit me there I would tense up or just block my chest. It hurt to take my bra off. It would let up a couple days into my period and start again before it ended. I am 40 and the breast pain was at it's worst pobably from 37 -39.

I started to get hotflashes over the summer and the breast pain was gone completly. This mo. my nipples are so sore not so much my breast itself, they hurt to just rub my arm against them. I know vit. e is supposed to help and less caffiene, but I was never a caffiene person so I don't think this was my problem. GOOD LUCK Mikki

Karen,
Seems to me like you are already doing the very important things I have tried. Now I will add that heat, like a heating pad does wonders.
I also found a salve that is very soothing. We cant post websites so PM me if you want the name to order it, It also helped me with extreme itchness and dryness.
I also dared to put hot creams believe it or not, that area is sensitive but the heat kept going all day and after the intial hotness it was very helpful.
Of course when you sleep dont sleep on them I would cushion the ol girls with an extra lil pillow so they dont hang
I also have the Fibrs. breast but it has gotten better with time and the primerose capsules.
Take care,
Tinks

Karen,

Like Tinkybug (Hi Tinks!) wrote, the heating pad helped me very much. I have fybrocysitic breasts but as my periods became less regular so did the pain in my breasts. You are right in avoiding to much caffiene. I found a good support workout bra helped but not for the workout, just for my normal day wear. My breasts hurt the worst around the top outer edge and where my armpits meet. I have some lumps in them and they swell sometimes. I got a mammogram and ultrasound and they are just fibroids. I hope that like me your pain subsides with time.

Hi Shakti
Oh reading Shaktis post reminded me also one very important thing that helped me was not to wear underwire bras.
Also I am a bit large with the ol girls about a 38D so I use extenders that give me extra room.
See ya
Tinks

Thanks everyone for your good advice. I'm sorry if I mislead you all to believe that I had fibrocystic breasts. My fibroids are in my uterus which has caused a great deal of pain in the past....from the time just before ovulation until the day my period starts. The Errin BC pills have really helped with the cramping I normally experience. So far, so good. The only real pain I have now is my breasts and as I said before, the pain begins about two weeks before my period and ends as soon as my period starts (It's like instant relief!) My biggest concern is that it has gotten progressively worse during the past three months (I never had pain or swelling before this past February). I will continue the vitamin E and Evening Primrose and just keep my fingers crossed that this all ends soon!

Thanks again for your very helpful advice!
Take care, all!
Karen

Karen,

Breast pain can be caused by inadequate iodine. We used to have more iodine in our diet until 30 years ago when the government changed some rules and replaced iodine with bromide. Iodine competes with the estrogen receptors in the breast. If you do not have enough iodine, estrogen fills up the receptors and can cause pain; if you take enough iodine, it replaces the estrogen in those receptors and your pain goes away. There is an interesting Yahoo mailing list on iodine that you can sign up for that has great information. You can actually order an iodine loading test to find out how deficient you are. There is also a simple skin test you can do as well.

I started taking iodine in the form of Lugol’s solution at the beginning of the year. My breast pain is completely gone. I first used topical provide iodine from the pharmacy and applied it directly to my breasts. Topical application helped my breasts feel better the same day. After I had good luck with the topical application and got tired of the iodine stains I started the oral iodine. The first month I needed extra topical iodine but since then I have only needed the oral iodine. Lugol’s solution also comes in a tablet form called Iodoral but it is more expensive than the liquid. Lugol’s solution and Iodoral contain both iodide and iodine; some parts of our bodies like iodide and other parts like iodine better.

If you tell your doctor that you are taking extra iodine many of them will tell you that you are nuts and that it is going to mess up your thyroid function. In reality iodine actually helps our thyroid function but some people with thyroid problems have to be careful with iodine. To protect yourself from possible side effects it is best to do your own research. The yahoo iodine mailing list group is a good place to start. I recently saw my GP for my yearly visit and I told her that I was taking iodine and she said that I needed to be careful because it might depress my thyroid function. I told her that I was taking my temp. to check my thyroid function and she said that it would be a good idea to do a blood test instead. However, she did not order any blood tests—I guess she was not really that concerned about it after all or maybe it is because I have a HMO who likes to ration my tests. I told her all about the iodine eliminating my breast pain and she has never heard of anything like that. I am just curious to know if she did any research after the visit—probably not.

If you type : breastcancerchoices.org/iodine in your browser address bar and add www. right before it you can read about iodine deficiency and breast cancer (sorry but I am not allowed to post a direct link).

Kathy