If you're 40+ have you paid for private mammograms?

[Mo2]

That's it really... am hitting 40 this year, an am thinking of having mammograms every year privately until I'm 50.
My Mum died of breast canacer, so I'm fearful
NHS only do every 3 years after age 50.

BUPA do them for £130 - seems pretty reasonable for peace of mind....?

oh - just me then...

if it gives you peace of mind, it's worth it.

I had one FOC a few weeks ago as I found a lump - turned out to be benign thankfully.

Im only 30 this year but also lost my mum and my nana to breast cancer and I would definately pay £130 a year when im 40 onwards. As you say it isn't much for peace of mind!

Did your mum have breast cancer at your sort of age, Mo2? If she did I would have thought you'd have a good case for getting them on the NHS. The only thing I would say is that you might get some false positives having mammograms when you're premenopausal (making a big assumption), which could be alarming.

Hi Mo2, can you not get regular checkup because of your history??
my Mum had breast cancer years ago and my 85 year old Nan's now got breast cancer...
I'm planning on going to the doctors to see if there is anything they can suggest for me.. I'm 41 this year.

Apparently you'd only be considered at risk from a hereditary perspective if your Mum or another female relative was diagnosed with it before 50?

I think there are ways to 'play the system' i.e. complain of a lump every 18 months and demand referral, but if I can pay for it I'm happy to.

That's right, if your mum was postmenopausal they'd be much less likely to consider you're at risk. On the plus side that's because it's true that you're not at risk to the same extent as if your mother had premenopausal breast cancer, but I can see that putting your mind at rest would be helpful. The only other thing to consider is that they are X rays, so the reason they're not offered routinely here from 40 is partly because having an extra dose of radiation every year is not so good. That's not the only reason of course, but it is one of them.

I've had yearly ones since 42 (45 now) when I had lumps and a biopsy, which turned out to be benign but scared the pants off me at the time.

Its true that if you're premenopausal, mammos may be tricky - dense breast tissue - so I've had ultrasounds done at the same time.
Many other countries start mammos at 40, including the USA and, I think, France.