I just finished reading your news letter about Armpit Lumps. I wanted to know if having a continuous swelling (over 10 months) would have the same cause as a lump? Also I wanted to know if you ever hear of a woman having swelling or lumps caused by retaining water due to a person's monthly cycle?
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7/16/09 6:30pm
Yes, you can definitely retain water, and see some swelling, during your monthly cycle. Often, breast cysts will increase in size right before your period, then go down again afterwards. Continuous sweling under your arm sounds like it might be a problem with lymph nodes that aren't funcitoning as well as they should. Have you seen a doctor about this? It's probably something you should look into, if you haven't already. It doesn't sound like a cancer symptom, but it would be nice to find out what's causing it, anyway. Good luck - PJH
7/19/09 6:22am
So. you haven't had a mammogram or a biopsy. Why did you get referred to a doctor for a biopsy, but he didn't do one, I wonder? When you say the ultrasound was clear, does that mean they didn't see anything? If you feel a lump but don't see it on an ultrasound, that would point to a cyst.
Your age (unless you're a teenager, and even then...) shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not you receive the tests that could figure out what this is. I'd see a breast specialist (unless you already have?). You need someone to tell you "You have fibrocystic change," or "You have a cyst that comes and goes with your period." I'm just not a big fan of "We don't know what it is, let's wait and see" when it's a lump in your breast you're talking about... PJH
7/19/09 2:52pm
No I haven't had a mammogram or biopsy. Yes the ultrasound was clear. Iam 27 and for that reason that doc said it's probably only a cyst. I don't really know why we didn't do the biopsy other than we were told that we could wait 3 to 6 months and watch for changes. The lump and swelling don't come and go with my period and I've told all the doctors that but I guess they think I've made a mistake. I found a woman's clinic in my area who do cervical and breast exams and just got into the program last month. Hopefully I have a mammogram Thursday if they let me and don't change it to another ultrasound. But because I am so young they don't like doing the mammogram and 3 other places have already said no only ultrasounds.
7/19/09 3:32pm
At your age, you're unlikely to have breast cancer, but quite likely to have fibrocystic change, which can result in lumps. Maybe that's why they want you to wait, why they don't seem concerned. Still, I hope they allow you to have a mammogram, as this is really the only way to see, immediately, if you're dealing with a possible cancer situation. It would be nice to put this all behind you! PJH
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By jl— Last Modified: 12/08/10, First Published: 07/16/09
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Yes I've seen many doctors. I found the swelling in late Oct. A month or so later I started having a rash like itch on my left breast I also found a small lump under my nipple. All of these things are in the left breast.I went to the doctor he did a ultrasound and said it was clear. I told him I still had the lump and swelling but he didn't do more. So in Feb./Mar. all was still the same so I went to another doc. He felt that maybe it was my duct so he put me on meds. It didn't clear up in 2 weeks so I went back and he refered me to another doc for a biopsy. That doc found one more lump but said we should just watch them for awhile because of my age it's probably only a cyst