I swear my breasts get more tender every day and they are so swollen. Just a little brush against them hurts! I know this is all part of peri - but it s*cks!

I like to do jumping jacks as exercise - but even with a good sports bra - it just kills me!

My fiance thinks its cool my breasts are larger - but he doesn't like that he can't touch them because it hurts! Poor guy - he can only look

I have just started taking recommended vitamins and supplements. Hopefully my body will start adjusting and all my symptoms won't be so bad. I can dream - can't I.

Okay - just had to rant!

Any suggestions on how to help aleviate/minimize the tenderness would be great!

Here is what I am currently taking:

Calcuim
Magnesium
Zinc
Estroven
DHEA
CoQ10
CLA Tonilin
Lecithicin
Flaxseed - milled and oil
Quercitin

Oh, the jumping jacks are out for now!

Along with pressing up against your honey, holding a squirming toddler in your arms, laying face-down on the bed, etc. etc.!

I remember this well, and how much I HATED it!!!

The GOOD news for you, is that once you are through having periods (if you don't go on HRT), the pain will completely go away.

I have loved sleeping on my tum in the past year!

Hang in there (so to speak) - it gets better. Meanwhile, you might get some relief by avoiding caffeine and chocolate - it used to help with me. Hard to do, tho', when you like a cup of java in the morning... Also, my doc recommended Evening Primrose supplements, but I stopped having breast pain at about the time we discussed it.

I spent years walking like Frankenstein - arms stiffly out ahead of me to avoid being "bumped."

(My husband used to lovingly offer to "soothe the savage breast...")

JJ

Jolie: Ooooh, your post made me feel better!!! How long has it been since your last period? My breasts hurt so much, I have been thinking that my DH will never be able to touch them again. I LOVE the fact that you said the pain completely goes away...my question is: how long since the last period does this blessed relief begin?

tia,
Robin

Hi Robin,

In 2005 I only had 2 periods, 6 months apart, so pretty much no breast pain for a year!

In early October, my breasts began aching, and I thought OH NO! - sure enough, a period came after 11 MONTHS without one!

No periods since, and no sore breasts at all - heaven, heaven. I can do face-down workouts on the yoga mat, hug the kitties, jog in place, LOL, you get the picture. It's gonna come for you, too! Once the periods begin to spread out, there are longer and longer stretches with no pain.

Last mammogram was a snap!

I should say, I'm not on HRT, and know that would bring the soreness back.

It gets better, Robin!

JJ

Oops, I meant in 2004, I had only 2 periods all that year.

In 2005, I had ONE period, again, in October.

JJ

I am just starting peri - so does that mean I possibly have years of tender breasts before the pain will go away???

I used to take Evening Primrose for PMS but realized it had expired and haven't got any since. I will have to try it again though. It can't hurt.

Did your breast swell too?? I was a full B about 5 years ago until I gained some weight and then they were C - turning to a full C and now C is too small and my breasts are bulging out. I swear I have to be a D cup now. People who have known me for a while have actually asked if I got a boob job! My breast aren't sagging or anything yet and are roundish and pretty firm - so I guess I can see why they think so.

gell: Yup, my breasts are not only sore ALL the time, but they're huge! And not a good huge either...I'm barely 5 feet 2 inches tall and I bulge out of a D cup. Sometimes I look at them and just cry; I feel like a freak. I think my breasts are gross. What I wouldn't give for nice little B cups....

Round Robin - I am 5' 2" too so I know what you mean - Mine are only at bulging C. My fiance thinks they are a definitely a full D - How did I go from a full B to a full D???? and like I said - they aren't saggy. I guess I am not quite where your at a bulging D though - so I should be thankful for now

Mine got very sore, full, and extremely sensitive to slightest touch for about a year or so after several yrs. of perimeno. symptoms. Then, they went mostly numb, so didn't feel the pain. Still have monthly cycles, but totally different and still changing. Now, the numbness is mostly gone, so the pain then numbness come & go these days. The numbness did help A LOT when I had my 2nd mammogram - cuz I didn't feel the pain, & no soreness after. yeah!

Someone on one of these threads on this topic talked about itching, and I get that intensely underneath my breasts for several yrs now. Do u guys get that? Just found out that if I don't wear a bra, it's RELIEF!

Mine are okay until PMS week and then wow! They become huge [pretty big to begin w/ so I feel ridiculous], the breasts hurt, and my nipples are so tender and sore, it's hard to describe.

Once period is over, they return to normal. What gets me is I still forget it's going to happen [only been a few months]. Asked my PCP what was wrong w/ them and she shot me almost a dirty look and said, "That's caffeine, you shouldn't have it!!" Well, excuse me, but chocolate or not [don't drink coffee or caffeinated sodas], the PMS week is a bear!

Only 48, so this could go on a while. Anybody try Evening Primrose Oil [think that's the right name] to help w/ this?

new

Sore breasts? Tell me about it.

My son accidentally leaned on me as we were watching TV last night and I almost shot through the roof. Yeeeaw!

I've had it for years with PMS, two weeks out of every four, and now my periods seem to be getting closer together (?) it seems like all the time. A couple of days relief and then that familiar 'bruised' soreness starts all over.

When I take off my bra I have to try and hold my bazookas in place with one arm across them because the pain of them falling out of the cups is too much. Just thinking about that now makes me shudder.

I look like I've had a boob job too. They stand out straight to attention all full and swollen, so I suppose that's the only upside to this. Women pay a fortune to get t*ts like mine!

What worries me is that when all the rigmarole is finally over, are they going to just shrivel up and hang there like a couple of dried out teabags like all the doom and gloom articles I have read seem to suggest?

By the way, I've been taking Evening Primrose for years with no noticeable change in the breast soreness, but I keep taking it because (I think or imagine) it helps with skin dryness.

Something really strange has happened with me. I get breast cysts but the are usually not painful. Well I was reading someones post here about sagging boobs and got to thinking boy I'm kind of saggy myself. Anyway I got kind of paranoid about it so I went to buy better bras. A lady told my daughter about a brand that Oprah supposedly uses that are really supportive. I went out and got a couple(at $66.00 a pop no less) They are called Le Mystere. Well I guess I got the right size according to the bra lady. They are underwire ones and do have the best support of any bra I've ever had. The problem is my boobs which never hurt before hurt all the time now, all over. I don't know if this means the bras are bad for me or it's just something I have to get used to. Maybe I'll go back to my old ones and just be saggy. Has anyone else ever had this experience with bras?

I've had the opposite effect - they feel better when I put on a good fitting [underwire] bra... Even a little tight helps more. BUT, changing, taking off clothes/bra can be really bad as jenilou described!

Truth is, they are going to sag at some point - right now that seems impossible to me as mine are huge and standing out there like I'm pregnant! [Thankfully not, those days are done at this house! ]

It could be the fit of the Oprah bra and at that $$$, I'd make sure and then return them! Could be coincidence tho' - been eating extra caffeine? Kills me every time!

new

Coming into period week now and had a strange sensation this month.

Some months are good, others are as you've described, very tender mostly the nipples though ... this week, a sharp needle like pain happened for almost a whole day (on and off) from under my arm right up to the nipple) ... then it was gone, just like that a day later.

How many of you do the self exam daily because you think something is wrong? I do ... AND I get a mammo yearly because I worry so much (I'm going on 44 now) ... so far all I've been told is that I have "dense" breasts ... they're always full feeling and thankfully still round enough.

I've also found that being on progesterone cream helps as well. They were much WORSE 5 years ago when this all started (holy, as I wrote that I realize its been almost 5 years in perimenopause, yikes)

My breasts usually get swollen,tender and sore BEFORE my periods,but lately they have been getting that way afterwards.What does that mean?What hormones are high/low right after your period starts?