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Struggling with shortness of breath and lump in throat

Posted by srm @srm, Sep 3, 2021

I’m new here so still a little lost.
After two chemo sessions and 33 radiation treatments to my throat I am finding every day more of a struggle. Now 8 weeks post radiation I am feeling worse than ever. The sore lump is on the opposite side of my treated tumour.
I had my feeding tube removed 3 weeks post treatment but am still on liquids. I have now lost 50 pounds.
The lump in my throat makes it very difficult to swallow and my stressed breathing is just about putting me over the edge.
Has anyone else had breathing issues after treatment?

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madlydancing | @madlydancing | 1 day ago
In reply to @hrhwilliam "Radiation to the neck area can bruise the thyroid. When that happens, thyroid levels can fluctuate..." + (show)
Profile picture for William Olsen, Volunteer Mentor @hrhwilliam

Radiation to the neck area can bruise the thyroid. When that happens, thyroid levels can fluctuate and eventually end up either high or low. This results in primarily shortness of breath along with other issues such as appetite, constipation, overall weakness, lethargy.
A simple blood test for thyroid stimulation hormone or TSH along with thyroid levels of T3&4 will either rule out this as a major cause of shortness of breath or pinpoint this.
My thyroid went low/high/ about two months after being done with radiation. Felt like anemia or a mild heart attack. It then settled out as overactive or high thyroid. A thyroid uptake scan showed one enlarged or bruised wing of the thyroid. Options were to ablate the thyroid and live on artificial thyroid medication for life, or take a thyroid reduction medication and see if the thyroid heals itself.
Over many years the reduction medication worked and became a lower dose in small steps. After twenty four years, my thyroid levels got to the point where medication is no longer necessary.
The reason I went that route rather than the ablation road, which is far more common by the way, is because a patient can live without the reduction medication but not without the artificial thyroid medication, in case of natural or global disaster.
So, shortness of breath after radiation? Rule out the thyroid.

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@hrhwilliam thanks for this information. My husband has been suffering with shortness of breath after 13 sessions of radiation. He had to stop because he could not lie down. It has been over a year and he is still suffering from this. Will ask his dr to do a thyroid test.

REPLY
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ban1952 | @ban1952 | 1 day ago
In reply to @hrhwilliam "Radiation to the neck area can bruise the thyroid. When that happens, thyroid levels can fluctuate..." + (show)
Profile picture for William Olsen, Volunteer Mentor @hrhwilliam

Radiation to the neck area can bruise the thyroid. When that happens, thyroid levels can fluctuate and eventually end up either high or low. This results in primarily shortness of breath along with other issues such as appetite, constipation, overall weakness, lethargy.
A simple blood test for thyroid stimulation hormone or TSH along with thyroid levels of T3&4 will either rule out this as a major cause of shortness of breath or pinpoint this.
My thyroid went low/high/ about two months after being done with radiation. Felt like anemia or a mild heart attack. It then settled out as overactive or high thyroid. A thyroid uptake scan showed one enlarged or bruised wing of the thyroid. Options were to ablate the thyroid and live on artificial thyroid medication for life, or take a thyroid reduction medication and see if the thyroid heals itself.
Over many years the reduction medication worked and became a lower dose in small steps. After twenty four years, my thyroid levels got to the point where medication is no longer necessary.
The reason I went that route rather than the ablation road, which is far more common by the way, is because a patient can live without the reduction medication but not without the artificial thyroid medication, in case of natural or global disaster.
So, shortness of breath after radiation? Rule out the thyroid.

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@hrhwilliam so I had 33 radiation treatment done and going on 3 months still get mouth and throat pain lack of appetite should I ask for thyroid test

REPLY
1 reply
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Mentor
William Olsen, Volunteer Mentor | @hrhwilliam | 14 hours ago
In reply to @ban1952 "@hrhwilliam so I had 33 radiation treatment done and going on 3 months still get mouth..." + (show)
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@hrhwilliam so I had 33 radiation treatment done and going on 3 months still get mouth and throat pain lack of appetite should I ask for thyroid test

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@ban1952 It wouldn’t hurt to have your thyroid levels looked at at some point. However, throat pain and mouth sores three months out is rather common. And because of those issues we tend to not want to eat.
You can expect mouth and throat pain for possibly a couple of years. Things will heal but because of radiation, the healing takes a very long time.

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1 reply
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ban1952 | @ban1952 | 7 hours ago
In reply to @hrhwilliam "@ban1952 It wouldn’t hurt to have your thyroid levels looked at at some point. However, throat..." + (show)
Profile picture for William Olsen, Volunteer Mentor @hrhwilliam

@ban1952 It wouldn’t hurt to have your thyroid levels looked at at some point. However, throat pain and mouth sores three months out is rather common. And because of those issues we tend to not want to eat.
You can expect mouth and throat pain for possibly a couple of years. Things will heal but because of radiation, the healing takes a very long time.

Jump to this post

@hrhwilliam thanks this is tearing me up 😭

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