Underarm Pain/Lymph nodes

Hi,

I'm a 45 year old mother of 2 teenage boys. In January(2006), I began to notice a soreness, and full feeling under my right underarm. Can't feel any lumps, but it feels likes I have extra thicking of skin. Saw a Breast Specialist in January, sent me for Mammo, and ultrasound of right armpit all normal. Blood tests and CA-125 all normal. Breast Specialist wrote this off as hormonal, although it nevers goes away. It does seem to get somewhat worse before my period. I do have dense breasts.

I saw a second Breast Specialist in this month.(April 2006), as the soreness is still there. He did another ultrasound of the armpit, and reviewed my mammo films. He does seem a few enlarged lymph nodes, but said they are not abnormal in shape, and said they looked "clear". Told me to come back in July if problem persists.

My question is this week, my left underarm is starting to feel the way my right underarm has been feeling for 4 months. How could this be "hormonal", if it never goes away??  Are there any other tests that I should be doing?
My mom died at age 68 of uternine cancer, her sister died from breast cancer at 65. I also had Guillian-Barre disease 14 years ago. Other than Chronic hives, and a hemi-facial spasm, I am in good health.( I hope) I take Atarax for hives, and just began taking 25mg of Zoloft recently since this problem has me anxious and depressed.

I've very worried about this, and appreciate your answer. Thank you.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear LANJ:  As the opinion of two breast specialists has been that this is a benign finding, it stands to reason that there is nothing that looks suspicious for an cancer related problem.  Breast tissue will often become sore in the time preceding ones menstrual cycle (and you do mention that this is somewhat worse at this time).  It is possible, though, given your age of 45,  that you may be perimenopausal and that your hormones may be less "regular" than you realize.  During perimenopause, which may last from 2-10 years, hormones can fluctuate quite dramatically even when periods may appear "normal."  This is one possible explanation for a "hormone" related issue that may not "go away."  If this persists, and continues to concern you, a three month follow-up (in the absence of any major changes) seems reasonable.

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