Painful breast (3 years now) ultrasound shows nothing - advice

I'm stuck with a doctor that feels that because an ultrasound and mammogram didn't show anything its in my head. Can you guys provide any advice or suggestions?

History - I'm 37 now. I had a breast reduction at 27. All went well - reduced to a 38C but gained all my weight back and they grew back also I'm now at a 40D. A few years ago I noticed breast tenderness. Left breast outer to lower quadrant. I can feel lumps there. My breasts are not dense at all. It is very painful to press the area - the ultrasound and mammogram were very painful. And I'm achy for days after - if anything bangs it. Like one of my cats walking on bed and stepping on it. I never go braless - wearing supportive cotton bras 24x7.

I was on depo provera for 9 years. The painful breast showed up at about year 6 or 7. I went off of it a year ago. No improvement in the breast pain. It is not a cycle thing. Its there all of the time. Just one breast. The other feels fine. I can pinpoint a specific spot where it is most tender. If it was fibrocystic breast disease it is hormone related and I was on depo. And its only one breast not both.

My doctor doesn't seem to care that I don't have a reason for this soreness.

I went to a naturopath and today she recommended castor oil on a white flannel fabric with heat for 30 minutes a day.

I really want answers but I'm unsure how to approach my doctor or what I should research on my own to find out more. Something is nagging me that I need to be more assertive. Breast cancer doesn't hurt she says. So I don't think its cancer, but wondering if you guys can point me in the right direction?

Thank you.

Just four days ago I started feeling a sharp burning sensation on my right breast. It felt like a hot poker was piercing through my breast. The pain was so intense when it happened for the first time that it woke me up from a deep sleep. After sitting straight up on my bed and trying to make sense of what was happening to me, the pain began to subside after 15 - 20 seconds had passed. My initial thoughts were that I had probably pulled my breast tissue while turning in my sleep as I have a tendency to sleep on my stomach a lot. I am overweight and this position helps relieve some of my back pain, not to mention the fact that I snore less too as an added benefit. At any rate, I repositioned myself & went right back to sleep only to be awakened by the same pain a couple of hours later, realizing that once again I was on my stomach. I propped some pillows on my side to avoid turning & I did not feel any more pain until the next evening. This time I was awake & reading a magazine in bed, sitting propped up against my headboard when suddenly I felt the same sharp pain followed by a hot, burning sensation as if a sack of hot oil had busted inside my breast. I do have naturally large breast, so my first thought was that maybe I had been drinking too much caffeine lately. So, for the last couple of days I have stopped drinking coffee, dark sodas, etc. (including no chocolate) to see if this would help stop the pain. I remember my sister having a similar situation a few years back & her doctor told her that caffeine may sometimes trigger pain in breasts. The interesting thing is that after eliminating all caffeine products, the pain in my right breast has now spread to my left one & has gotten considerably stronger and more frequent. I was at work yesterday when it hit me all of a sudden. A female coworker who is a cancer survivor was right next to me when this happened & she told me that cancer in the breasts usually is painless unless it is in the final stages. I told her that I had a my first mammogram about a year and a half ago and the only thing they foung were some fat nodules/deposits, which my doctor said were common in heavy set women. Now, after reading the comments in this section, I am worried about IBC. I have never heard of this type of cancer, but then again I am only 42 and new to these types of problems since no women in my family has ever had cancer of any kind. Another thing that concerns me is that in February I came down with the flu, and after a week or so when I had just started to feel better, I came down with bronchitis, which later turned to pneumonia. After going through 3 rounds of antibiotics (10 days each) I finally started to feel a little better until this week when my breasts started to burn and hurt. Could the 2 events be related or are the flu/pneumonia and breast issues be two separate events? My doctor ordered a series of chest x-rays to see if my lungs are okay, but now I am wondering if I should also request that she sends me for a mammogram and/or ultrasounds of my breasts. Please advice...

Tufcookie

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has heard of BSGI. It seems that with such soreness in your breasts, it would be a better alternative for you. It doesn't compress nearly as bad as a mammogram and it's more accurate, especially in dense breasted women. You should google it and let your doctor know about it. They may not know much about it.