Hello Babs79, 

Welcome to our forum! First of all, stop googling if you can as it will only make you feel worse. Dr Google is well known to be unreliable and to be mostly good at making us panic. 

I can appreciate that it must be worrying for you if you don’t feel that your problems are being diagnosed properly. If you are still worried about this, you can if you want request to see yet another doctor just to give you peace of mind. You can find out more about this here. Going private is obviously also an option if you feel that it would really reassure you to have a mammogram but it may be rather expensive so perhaps you could first try to talk to another GP and see whether they think you could be referred to the breast clinic where they will be able to examine you further.

I hope you find the reassurance you need soon. I am sure you are in very good hands with your doctors and that they will be able to point you in the right direction. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thank you, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Hi Babs,

I had hefty breasts before I had a double mastectomy 9 years ago. I too used to get pains in my boobs and pain along my bra straps, when I was younger. Like you, I wore sturdy and supportive bras, but the straps still dug in due to the weight of my breasts. I was assured that any pain I had in my breasts was due to hormonal changes. I am not a doctor, but I suspect that yours may be the same?

We know our own bodies better than anyone else, so if you still feel unsure of what your GPs have told you, I agree with Lucie. If there is another doctor in your practice, it is worth getting a third opinion.

I am like you, in that I know nothing of my mother's family, as her mother died giving birth to her and, she was later adopted. However, my mum had breast cancer later in life and, I developed it 11 years after she had it. When I attended the breast clinic my consultant advised me that breast cancer didn't usually result in pain.

I found a lump in my breast when I was in the shower. This was removed by lumpectomy. Unfortunately, I found another lump in the same breast the following year, which resulted in a double mastectomy.

I hope that seeing another doctor can convince you that all is ok and help to put your mind to rest, However, don't forget to keep  a regular check for additional changes. Here's hoping that you never find any.

Consulting 'Dr Google' is never a good idea. Much of the information is out of date, poorly researched or aimed at the spectacular cases. This will only worry you further. Try your best to steer clear of him.

Do please let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you so much, I feel like a bit of a twit, but you've made me feel so much better.

I dont want to be that patient that's constantly looking for something to be wrong, but by the same token I dont want to regret not taking action, y'know.

I've started wearing a non-underwired bra to bed, and that's already made a difference, but nowhere near as much of a difference of having people to talk to.  So thank you xxx

Hi Babs,

I gave up on underwired bras long ago too. They're just not designed for people of my shape. Gamekeeper's idea of a bra fitting is a good idea. I'm glad to hear that you find wearing one to bed helps. I tried this but found that it meant that I didn't release the pressure on my shoulers, so gave up eventually.

I'm glad to hear that you're finding having people to talk to of some benefit,

I hope that things improve soon.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

I think you might be right (I'm slightly concerned that they'll be on my knees without an underwire, but not as concerned as I was after my consultation with Dr. Google).

Thank you x

Hi Babs,

You can get some good supportive bras without an underwire. The trouble is that not many of them look very sexy.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx