Hi There

I've been struggling with itchy/burning/stinging in both arms and shoulders, its under the skin so there's nothing to see. This started about November last year and gradually got worse.  i had chemo therapy back in April 2023 and it finished in July,23, for Breast Cancer in the Lymph glands. I then had surgery at the end of August '23 (a left side Lymph clearance). Then end of October going into November i received 3 weeks of Radiotherapy on my left breast and collar bone.  Since June 2023 i have also been receiving Phesgo (Herceptin)administered into my thigh every 21 days, one of these sessions was postponed due to surgery, but then they were started back up in October '23.  I reported my itchy/burning effects to the nurses and was in the beginning advised to keep moisturise regularly and wear loose clothing. This i did but it made no difference.  I then had antihistamines and cream off my GP to treat the condition, but this failed too.  Over the past few months i have tried at least 5 different creams and kept moisturising but they too fail to cure the discomfort that the itching and burning sensation causes.  in the end my phesgo treatment was paused for 2 sessions to see if this helped, it didn't. i went back on my phesgo 3 weeks ago and am due my next one in 2 days. Recently the sensation seems to be even worse than before.  Scratching or rubbing the area does not relieve the itch, in fact doing this seems to make it worse and 5 seconds after scratching the itch it turns to a sharp stinging sensation.  The worse part of this is that it seems to get worse in the evening and at night and i have great difficulty sleeping, I started on Amitriptyline 2 months ago at 10mg every evening, this did nothing to help. My oncologist increased the dose to 25mg every evening 3 weeks ago and said give it a month to see if it works. So far it has not helped with the itching/burning and it doesn't help me sleep either.  I have to be exhausted before i get to fall asleep, and this is usually around 3 or 4 am.  Or if i am lucky to get to sleep before that it's only for about 2 hours then i'm up scratching again. She did say it could be increased again if need be. 

 In addition to this i have got Lymphedema in my arms and in my left breast which has also been very tender and uncomfortable as of late, my GP prescribed me antibiotics just 10 days ago as to cover an infection which showed up in my lung from a follow up xray (an xray taken 6 weeks previous showed an infection) and also a potential Lymph infection. There is a 4 month waiting list for the Lymphedema clinic, and i was referred back in December 2023. The thing is, because there is so much going on with my body' i really don't know what is the cause of this itching, i have read that it could be neuropathy caused by chemo, also it can be caused by the Phesgo, but in addition so can Lymphedema cause itching.

No one at this point has said what is causing it, as i don't think anyone really knows.  In the meantime i just want to know if there's anything else i can try to relieve my discomfort because apart from lack of sleep, it's driving me nuts!

I have also recently been given the option of starting Zometa treatment, however, i have decided after looking into this that i am not going ahead with it, as I don't think i can cope with any additional side effects at the moment even though they are potentially rare.