u/Miserable_Canary6662

He did a breast exam, didn’t feel anything or see anything alarming he didn’t call in a breast exam but wanted me to start birth control because I’m on cycle day 70

Original post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/doihavebreastcancer/s/Y0KYSX7CDT

I have a doctors appointment later today with my pcp to see her opinion, and to ask for prolactin blood test

Health anxiety made me anxious of ibc even though I have no symptoms just one sided nipple pain, and a little bit of light yellow discharge when i squeezed my nipple once it’s not spontaneous but I have no rash, swelling, heat, or orange peel and my obgyn also said he saw no signs of anything on my skin either

both my breast have been sore but today specifically my right nipple has felt more sore, i posted today about a tiny white flake on nipple, well I took a bath decided to squeeze my nipple just to check, and first a little clear liquid came out like maybe a drop, then after the next squeeze a small drop/dot of light yellow liquid came out not a lot, barely a drop but now I’m spiraling even more.

When I was trying to breastfeed my first born in 2021, doctors called my right breast the good breast and my left the slacker boob, my right breast has always been the bigger boob and now I’m really scared.

My period is really late too I’m cycle day 67. & I’m 29.

Hi period buddies, I’m currently spiraling about how my cycle is at 67 days. My last period was from March 4th - 8th bleeding normal the 4th & 5th then spotting the rest.

I have been having breast soreness since April 17th both boobies, been spiraling off and on about that because it’s scary.

Last time I spiraled like this was August / Nov when I had a 64 day cycle, along with random armpit & boob soreness for the first time and this time I’m having a longer cycle & the boob soreness has come back so I think it may be hormone related. I’m just super nervous it’s something really bad. I don’t feel any lumps when I check and I’m trying not to constantly check and make them more sore.

I spotted brown blood almost 2 weeks ago, and thought maybe it would finally be the start but no, spotted for a day or 2 barely with the brown this also happened the last time I had a longer cycle.

I’m 29 years old, and scared.

I’m not diagnosed officially with PCOS but in my ultrasound they did in December, they saw a cyst on both ovaries, and the little follicles.

I’ve been getting a lot of acne also which I usually don’t get, and more of those chin hairs .-.

I have a obgyn appointment Tuesday I’m just really scared it’s something bad.

Hi period buddies, I’m currently spiraling about how my cycle is at 67 days. My last period was from March 4th - 8th bleeding normal the 4th & 5th then spotting the rest.

I have been having breast soreness since April 17th both boobies, been spiraling off and on about that because it’s scary.

Last time I spiraled like this was August / Nov when I had a 64 day cycle, along with random armpit & boob soreness for the first time and this time I’m having a longer cycle & the boob soreness has come back so I think it may be hormone related. I’m just super nervous it’s something really bad. I don’t feel any lumps when I check and I’m trying not to constantly check and make them more sore.

I spotted brown blood almost 2 weeks ago, and thought maybe it would finally be the start but no, spotted for a day or 2 barely with the brown this also happened the last time I had a longer cycle.

I’m 29 years old, and scared.

I’m not diagnosed officially with PCOS but in my ultrasound they did in December, they saw a cyst on both ovaries, and the little follicles.

I’ve been getting a lot of acne also which I usually don’t get, and more of those chin hairs .-.

I have a obgyn appointment Tuesday I’m just really scared it’s something bad.

Is this normal?

Otherwise my nipples look the same, last week I noticed 2 little dry spots and picked them off, this week I looked and had one little dry flake right on the tip of my nipple, color, size, texture of the rest of my nipple & areola is completely fine.

And I mean, super itty bitty tiny little flake like the size of sand almost it’s my bigger boob

My “slacker boob” sometimes gets the same if I squeeze and look for it

I am on cycle day like 67? My period & ovulation this cycle is super messed up, so my hormones are wonky

I have a obgyn appointment Tuesday just to talk to them
About my hormones and concerns.

(I’m 29, have 2 kids, didn’t breast feed)

Just wanted to see if any other women get the same to ease my concerns / anxiety in the meantime

super small light pink little vein looking things on right breast i also have a couple on my left but more on my right which is my bigger boob.

More details in comments:

The test says < or = 11.9pg/ml is considered normal

Mine came back as <4.0

So mine is normal 🎉🥳

Time to put this als fear behind me

Thank you to this forum and everyone who has gave me advice through this dark hell hole

I do have really low ferritin and low b12 which could be a cause

Idk if this will even make sense but it seems like everytime I get a new bottle of the offbrand duloxetine certain side effects will come back, and as the month goes on they go away but then will come back again after I get a new bottle.

Same dosage, same brand, just certain side effects will come back every time I start a new bottle.

I don’t understand why but it’s been happening since I started in February.

For example, I’ll get headaches after the dose, more poops, and weird tongue sensations, heightened smell, teeth grinding, but then it’ll all go away within a week after starting the new bottle then come back a day or 2 after the next bottle🧐

I’m nervous as hell,
But I need to find out so my brain can stop wondering about ***

I’m praying that this comes out normal, and I’m asking for you guys to pray for good results for me also.

There’s a labcorp facility 30 minutes from where I live / where the hospital I’m going to is, so I’m hoping it won’t take too long to get the results back.

If it’s abnormal, Idk what I’d do, probably throw up, cry, freak out the worst have a panic attack ect

Its its normal I’m throwing a party for all of us

I’m only 29, mother of 2 beautiful babies I want this to go well so I can see them grow up. I’m so fucking nervous.

Nervous. I’m also scared. I know I won’t get the results immediately, but I’m scared that the number will be scary and then I’ll be scared until July when I get the emg
Or will they move the emg up if the number is elevated? Idk I’m hoping it’ll just be normal 😭

But I’m getting it along with a lot of other vitamin blood tests to get to see what’s causing my twitches

Itll be with labcorp how long do u think it’ll take to get the results ? And what if the number is higher than normal im scared that will make my spiral the worst it’s been so far

I had a neuro exam Wednesday everything was normal/perfect besides bilateral hoffmans
Neuro ordered blood work that I haven’t gone in to do yet, one of the blood work tests is the nfl tests

Do you guys think I should do the blood test.? I’m still full of health anxiety and I’m terrified of taking the test and it coming out high and I won’t have any answers on why because the nfl isn’t specific to als.

I have an mri next Saturday on my neck because the doctor thinks it’s my cervical spine causing most of my issues, if that comes clear and they don’t see anything as the cause for my neck pain, or the cause of the bilateral Hoffman sign, should I cave and do the nfl then?

My emg isnt scheduled until July 28th

(Age 29, female)

Is it a thing? How rare is it?
Since November (7 months) I’ve had off and on neck pain that came out of no where, then around January after stopping a 3 week course of lexapro I started to twitch body wide.

I have loss of cervical lordosis and passed a neuro exam 4 days ago

Here’s the exam so you can see:

Neurological
MENTAL STATUS: Alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Attention and concentration within normal limits. Speech without dysarthria, able to name and repeat without difficulty. Recent and remote memory within normal limits
CRANIAL NERVES: Visual fields intact. PERRL. EOMI. Facial sensation intact. Face symmetrical. Hearing grossly intact. Full shoulder shrug bilaterally. Tongue protrudes midline
SENSORY: Sensation is intact to pin throughout. Joint position perception intact. Negative Romberg.
MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous, hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.
REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout. Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman's
CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements.

My neck pain comes and goes i’tll happen for a week or 2 and then stop for a week or 2 then come back.
I have an mri next Saturday to check for anything in my cervical spine but last night I was on Reddit and read someone say neck / cervical onset is a thing and now I’m like “well fuck”

The neck pain also causes upper back pain as well,

I’m 29, and female for context

Worried about the bilateral Hoffman also and the neck

I went to my neurologist appointment on Thursday, and I passed everything (besides bilateral hoffmans) here’s the report real quick:

Neurological
MENTAL STATUS: Alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Attention and concentration within normal limits. Speech without dysarthria, able to name and repeat without difficulty. Recent and remote memory within normal limits

CRANIAL NERVES: Visual fields intact. PERRL. EOMI. Facial sensation intact. Face symmetrical. Hearing grossly intact. Full shoulder shrug bilaterally. Tongue protrudes midline

SENSORY: Sensation is intact to pin throughout. Joint position perception intact. Negative Romberg.

MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous, hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.

REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout. Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman's

CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements

Doctor said he doesn’t think I have ALS and that my issues can be from my loss of cervical lordosis so I have an MRI in a week to see if I have any compressed nerves or anything else going on in my cervical spine.

My health anxiety on the other hand still has its grips on me.

Why? You might ask. Well.
2 days before my exam my left leg calf / a little below my calf as well started to feel tight and hurt a little when I would walk. Almost feeling like I’m about to cramp but I never fully cramp, just this tight feeling I even feel feel it when I’m sitting, and now my knee on the same leg is starting to hurt a little also and I’m afraid it’s Als somehow even though literally 3 days ago I passed a neuro exam, besides having bilateral hoffmans, I didn’t have babinski sign in either feet and I had strength and normal reflexes everywhere 🥹* *

I would really appreciate hearing your bfs symptoms and if pre cramps in the calf / leg is one of them.

I’m not officially diagnosed with bfs but I’ve seen 2 neurons in 2 months and had full strength/ reflexes in march 26ths neuro exam, and still had full strength in april 29ths neuro exam, so it showed no sign of progression.

Days before the pain started I did a couple single calf raises 2 days in a row so the logical part of my brain thinks that can be why it’s sore and hurts a little but it’s been 5 days and now my knee is starting to ache also and my brain thinks worse case scenario 🥹 I also had this pain the day of the exam and it didn’t show or impact anything

Like to add that I’m 29 and female

I’m 29 female, mother of 2.

January 26th I quit lexapro cold turkey after being on it for 3 weeks (10mg) and the day after I started to twitch. Googled twitching thus started the last 96 days in this hell.

I twitch in my feet, legs, thighs, butt, and face, sometimes my neck but rarely my arms / hands but I’ll get jerks in my thumbs / index fingers while I’m laying down.

My primary care doctor did a clinical exam on me March 11th:

Neurological:

General: No focal deficit present.

Mental Status: She is alert and oriented to person, place, and time.

Comments: Alert, oriented x 3. EOMI, PERRLA. Cranial nerves intact: facial expressions (smile, raising eyebrows, shutting eyes, pursed lips) symmetric. Shoulder shrug str.5/5 bilaterally. Jaw is midline without deviation. Tongue protrudes at midline without fasciculations. Uvula rises at midline. Sensation to face in distribution of CN V1, V2, and V3 intact. Sensation to upper and lower extremities intact. Finger to nose, rapid rhythmic alternating movements are intact and smooth bilaterally. Patient ambulates unassisted without rigidity or ataxia. Romberg negative. Voice quality, comprehension, articulation, coherence assessed as appropriate. Bilateral shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees exhibit full range of motion and 5/5 strength. Grip strength 5/5 bilaterally.

then I saw my first neuro on March 26th:

Physical Exam

General Appearance: Well Developed; Well Nourished; Well Groomed; Appearing stated age; In no acute distress

HEENT: Atraumatic and normocephalic

Neck/Spine: No palpable deformities of the cervical / thoracic / lumbosacral spine

Cardiovascular: Regular rate and rhythm; No murmurs / rubs / gallops; No carotid bruits

Respiratory: Clear to auscultation bilaterally

Extremities: No clubbing / cyanosis / edema

Skin: No lesions

Cranial Nerves:

CN I (Olfactory): Not tested

CN II (Optic): No field cuts;No papilledema; Normal venous pulsations seen

CN III/IV/VI (Oculomotor/Trochlear/Abducens): Gaze is conjugate without preference; Full range of ocular motion is noted

CN V (Trigeminal): V1 to V3 have normal sensation; Masseters and pterygoids are strong bilaterally

CN VII (Facial): No facial asymmetries; No flattening of the nasolabial folds or forehead corrugations; Symmetric smile

CN VIII (Vestibulocochlear): Normal

CN IX (Glossopharyngeal): Normal

CN X (Vagus): Normal palatal elevation is noted; No dysarthria

CN XI (Accessory): Normal

CN XII (Hypoglossal): Normal

Neurological Exam:

Cerebellar: Finger-to-nose intact; No abnormal movements noted at rest or with action; Heel-to-shin intact

Gait: Trajectory is straight; Patient can toe and heel walk without difficulties

Plantar Reflex: Down going bilaterally

Sensory: Intact to light touch and vibration using a 128 Hz tuning fork; Pin prick in distal as well as proximal extremities

Tone: Normal tone is found throughout; Fine motor function is dexterous bilaterally

Muscles: No muscular atrophy or fasciculations seen

Strength: Both proximal and distal muscle groups are strong bilaterally

Reflexes:

Biceps: L: 2, R: 2

Brachioradialis: L: 2, R: 2

Triceps: L: 2, R: 2

Finger Flexor: L: Not Done, R: Not Done

Knee: L: 2, R: 2

Ankle: L: 2, R: 2

Snout/Suck: L: Not Done, R: Not Done

Hoffman: L: Not Done, R: Not Done

Jaw: L: Not Done, R: Not Done

BLOOD CK: 37

didnt like how fast that exam felt so I went to my 2nd neuro visit yesterday:

29 y.o. female presenting for muscle twitching. Case most consistent with fasciculations possibly in the setting of neck disease vs metabolic. MND lower in the differential since no other signs or symptoms. Has a history of straight cervical neck and bilateral hoffmans with spread of upper ext reflexes. Will order MRI neck. Will also order EMG given concerns for fasciculations, cervical disease and possible CT component. Will add neuropathy work up as well as fasciculation labs. Will plan a follow up virtually in 4 months. She verbalized understanding and agreed with the plan.

Neurological

MENTAL STATUS: Alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Attention and concentration within normal limits. Speech without dysarthria, able to name and repeat without difficulty. Recent and remote memory within normal limits

CRANIAL NERVES: Visual fields intact. PERRL. EOMI. Facial sensation intact. Face symmetrical. Hearing grossly intact. Full shoulder shrug bilaterally. Tongue protrudes midline

SENSORY: Sensation is intact to pin throughout. Joint position perception intact. Negative Romberg.

MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous, hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.

REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout. Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman's

CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements.

should this be enough for me to move on? I’m still very terrified of *** and the positive bilateral Hoffman sign

I also don’t know what the neuro meant by “ spread of upper ext reflexes” when all my reflexes were normal and 2+ worried about UMN now, but I feel like if it was UMN i would’ve had more signs in the clinical exams and my babinski would’ve been positive. I’m just so tired of living my life in fear. Based on my 3 exams, what do you guys think? Please be real with me, shake me through the screen wake me up, I’m ready to let this go but like I said the Hoffman thing has me terrified bc I read about it and it can be a sign of UMN damage, a sign of ***

Symptoms as of now are the twitching

My wrists and arms ache, upper back pain and neck pain,

A lot of face twitching, most twitching is lower body, but I do get some in my arms occasionally, most are in my face for the upper body, I still have 5/5 strength according to yesterdays exam.

I don’t quite understand umn / lmn stuff I’m kinda uneducated about a lot of it, and I think if I had UMN damage it would’ve showed more on the exam yesterday 😭

Here’s my whole neuro exam from today

Case most consistent with fasciculations possibly in the setting of neck disease vs metabolic. MND lower in the differential since no other signs or symptoms. Has a history of straight cervical neck and bilateral hoffmans with spread of upper ext reflexes. Will order MRI neck. Will also order EMG given concerns for fasciculations, cervical disease and possible CT component. Will add neuropathy work up as well as fasciculation labs. Will plan a follow up virtually in 4 months. She verbalized understanding and agreed with the plan.

General: NAD, well nourished

Eyes: no tearing, discharge, no erythema

ENT: moist mucous membranes of the oral cavity, nares patent

Neck: Supple, full range of motion

Cardiovascular: Warm and well perfused, pulses equal and symmetrical

Lungs: Normal work of breathing, normal chest wall excursions

Skin: No rash, lesions, or breakdown on exposed skin

Psychiatry: Mood and affect are appropriate

Abdomen: soft, non tender, non distended

Extremeties: No cyanosis, clubbing or edema.

Neurological

MENTAL STATUS: Alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Attention and concentration within normal limits. Speech without dysarthria, able to name and repeat without difficulty. Recent and remote memory within normal limits

CRANIAL NERVES: Visual fields intact. PERRL. EOMI. Facial sensation intact. Face symmetrical. Hearing grossly intact. Full shoulder shrug bilaterally. Tongue protrudes midline

SENSORY: Sensation is intact to pin throughout. Joint position perception intact. Negative Romberg.

MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous, hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.

REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout. Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman's

CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements.

I noticed just now that it mentions my upper reflexes are spread which I think means hyperflexia which now I’m even more scared bc of that and the positive bilateral hoffmans I’m really scared this is gunna end up being ***

“ Has a history of straight cervical neck and bilateral hoffmans with spread of upper ext reflexes”

Im spiraling so bad right now

This was from my neuro exam today

MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.

REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout.

Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman':

CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements.

I have an MRI in a week and I have to wait for the emg department to call me with a date for the emg

For the Hoffman my finger only moved a little bit on both hands they didn’t touch together (thumb and index) idk if this matters

I’m worried the bilateral hoffmans means ***

Also just noticed it says my upper reflexes are spread

This was from my neuro exam today

MOTOR: Normal bulk and tone. No pronator drift. 5/5 deltoid, biceps, triceps, interosseous hand grip bilaterally. 5/5 iliopsoas, knee extension/flexion, foot dorsi/plantarflexion bilaterally.

REFLEXES: Symmetric and 2+ throughout.

Toes down going bilaterally. Bilateral hoffman':

CEREBELLAR/COORDINATION/GAIT: Gait steady with normal arm swing and stride length. Heel to shin intact. Finger to nose intact. Normal rapid alternating movements.

I have an MRI in a week and I have to wait for the emg department to call me with a date for the emg

For the Hoffman my finger only moved a little bit on both hands they didn’t touch together (thumb and index) idk if this matters

I’m worried the bilateral hoffmans means ***

So my period is late, I’m not pregnant, my boobs are sore, it’s both boobs, they’ve been sore for 2 weeks, I’ve checked for lumps and don’t feel any hard lumps (I’m 29 years old) sometimes my left boob does hurt a little

More than the right but they both definitely are sore and again no lumps, no visible breast changes, dents, no discharge or anything.

This happened in November also, when I had another long cycle, I missed my period for sept & October and November my breasts started to get sore so I went to the obgyn and had 2 breast exams because my anxiety was so high due to me never really having breast pain as a part of my cycle, obgyn didn’t feel or see anything wrong, but I was still really anxious due to the pain and got an ultrasound done on the area of pain on the right breast and a spot on my left that I thought was a lump but ended up just being rib cartilage. This was just a couple months ago.

Its looking like I’m not gunna get a period this month, and my period last month was also earlier than expected by a week, so my cycles are VERY weird.

Last week I was spotting light brown blood, not a lot so I’m assuming I could’ve ovulated or attempted too.

My periods the last 5 months have been different also, I’ll bleed for 2 days, then the next 3/5 days I’ll spot the rest of my cycle my Flo used to be so much heavier I’d bleed for at least 3/4 days heavy flow and then my

Period would just be over I wouldn’t spot like I have been.

My question is does this all point to hormonal imbalances? I’m worried about my breast pain but again, no lumps, and I felt this months ago and it stopped and has come back again with a late / missed period / long cycle

If I’m remembering correctly around the time I had this breast pain the first time I also experienced the brown spotting for the first time also.

I do have a uterine fibroid, (it wasn’t big when I had my ultrasound) and I don’t have a PCOS diagnosis but I did have the follicles on my ovaries and a cyst on one of them during my ultrasound months ago but it wasn’t big enough to be a concern.

I have health anxiety so my brain is immediately worried about BC but I show no real signs of it but I’m still scared

(Positive hoffmans) This neurological exam was so much more thorough than my first one. This doctor was so nice and really did a good job. He checked everything,my reflexes were normal BESIDES my Hoffman I passed the babinski, I had normal strength everywhere even in my hands. He said he doesn’t think I have ALS but is still gunna schedule an EMG just for reassurance, and he scheduled an MRI to see if my neck is causing nerve compression because I have loss of cervical lordosis. He tried to tell me to look at me failing the Hoffman as a sign that my twitching may have another cause that isn’t ALS but my brain obviously is my worst enemy.

Now I’m super anxious about the Hoffman being abnormal, but it was abnormal on both hands not just one. And I don’t really get twitching on my hands as much as I do my legs and feet, I’ll get jerks in my thumb & index finger but not twitches.