Cancer Support Thread 98: support for those diagnosed and going through treatment

[FcukBreastCancer]

Hello 👋

@cantbelieveIamhere gosh I get terrible itching too. I’m on letrozole and another stronger tablet but I reckon it really dries skin out. Any estrogen has just left the building basically..Plus the water where we live is very hard. I’m prone to a bit of psoriasis anyway . My hands and feet and shins ( for some reason) are awful. I stick hands and feet in hot water with salt when it’s unbearable , it’s probably not recommended at all ( haven’t mentioned it to the dr haha) but it calms it down enough to sleep in my case. No amount of moisturizing really helps but I do it anyway and take antihistamine every couple of days which doesn’t help with fatigue. Do ice packs calm it for you? I remember doing that when i had loads of mosquito bites one holiday and it did help..It’s weird how it flares up at night isn’t it? it can wake me up too . Oh the joys of treatment
sending everyone best wishes and thinking of @Ventress in particular
Hang tough everyone

Hello everyone, hope everyone is doing as ok as they can be.
I stepped away from the cancer threads for a while, I got a bit overwhelmed about being the 'cancer patient' . Im a very impatient patient and I had other stuff going on.
So I guess my mental health was taking a bit of a hammering.
My son was home from uni for the summer which has been lovely. We had a short holiday to the Isle of Wight where we go every year which helped a lot.
I'm still struggling with the changes to my life but am going to do some courses put on by Macmillan.
Im also in the grip of scanxiety. I had my end of chemo scans on 26 July but results not back yet.
Physically my fatigue is off the scale and Letrezole is starting to take its toll I think.
Anyways- onwards and upwards (hopefully) because what else can you do.

@Ted27 good to see you back here, glad you had a trip away, the tiredness is definitely worse on these tablets, I am on exemestane which I have been told is more tolerable than letrozole but you still have to juggle brands as some are worse than others.
I too am in scanxiety, its relentless. Best wishes to you - has your itching eased now?

@Nonamelass definitely try icepacks, they are the best for calming down the itching, I use dermexa cream and fexofandine antihistamines and the combination of all three usually works.

@cantbelieveIamhere

I will be talking to the consultant about the Letrozole when I see her.
I am increasingly cross about the manner in which a consultant (male) told me I was going on to this medication. Ive since done my own research and understand the science but I do want to discuss the alternatives.
Like chemo I have pretty much the whole set of side effects.
My skin wasnt itchy as such before, I had a very angry bright red rash up my arms, thats gone but my skin can get very itchy. Neuropathy is a lot worse and I get cramps in my hands.
I barely sleep, put the fatigue and brain fog on top of that and you have zombie Ted

My hair is growing back though and my eyebrows are back with a vengence so Im going to have them waxed tomorrow

Ted I had neuropathy after my last chemo in 2017 ( I’m on my third primary for my sins) terrible pains in legs too. GP gave me vit D ehich I swear helped plus got adapted ( expensive) trainers and did alot of walking and it did get better. My feet are still sensitive though probably not helped by current treatment and I dunno if that’s psoriasis or neuropathy or just age but I’m careful about shoes.. no more herls for me!

Thanks can’t believe. I’ve been taking over the counter antihistamine and try not to every day for fatigue reasons , I’m still hanging on to my job somehow ( part time) so it’s a pain when my brain is too scrambled . Thank heavens I have the loveliest boss ever and her boss is just as nice. Phew.
will ask the consultant to prescribe some antihistamine when I see him next

Oh God scanxiety . Mine was picked up last October, then had a petscan in December ( boxing day 😵‍💫..) so I suppose there’ll be more checks soon gloops. I haven’t got anything left to put through a mammogram but consultant mentioned chest MRIs.to check stuff.. sigh it’s the bane of my life. A roller coaster of fear .

@nonamelass I got the gp to prescribe the antihistamines and they dont make you drowsy, put the cream in the fridge so its cold when you put it on, and icepacks of course are the last resort but they do work, dont put up with it!