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Bleeding from Nipple
Is bleeding from the nipple a sign of cancer? I am freaked out. I have always had nipple discharge, but now I get a bit of brown/red discharge from one duct of my left breast. I have no lumps. I am so scared. I have a doctors appointment next week.
Best Answer
It can be but certainly not always ..... I congratulate you for making a Dr.s appointment; many women who are "freaked out" don't you know. This could very likely be something involving the milk duct ... a Papilloma is one thing tht comes to mind. You don't state if the discharge is spontaneous or only present when the breast is squeezed; this would also make a difference. Please let us know what you find out when you see the Dr. and come back anytime with questions or concerns. Take care .....
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I have this new philosophy where I try not to stress until at least just before something. Stressing doesn't solve anything and can sometimes make the situation worse.
My advice would be to try and relax. Maybe spend some quality time with your family to take your mind off this. Anything that will distract you could be helpful.
Don't squeeze your breast. This won't help and could make things worse. It's probably a good sign that the blood isn't coming out spontaneously. Sometimes clothing rubbing against your breast can be enough to stimulate it to discharge.
Have you had your breast examined previously for the discharge? Just curious. Brown sounds like old blood where the red stuff sounds fresh.
I had a bloody nipple discharge which was spontaneous. I saw my doctor he did a breast exam and took a swab of the blood. He also ordered blood tests. I had a mammogram and an ultrasound. Microcalcifications were found on my mammogram and ?blood/ debris found with the ultrasound. I then saw a surgeon who refered me for a stereostatic biopsy. The result of this came back negative for cancer. I then had a ductogram. A radiologist placed a needle and fine tubing into my duct and injected saline I think it was. Maybe it was dye. I can't remember now it was a few years ago and a lot has happened in that time. I then had another mammogram which showed the duct well. The mammogram showed that I had several intraductal papillomas.
Because my nipple was bleeding I had my duct surgically removed. The results from this did come back saying that I had precancerous cells growing which then required further surgery and radiation.
I honestly wouldn't stress now because you don't know which way it will go. Stuff happens all the time which is unexpected. I would just take each moment as it comes and take this step by step. You have a doctors appointment and you won't know anymore til then. Even then you may not know a lot more as your doctor may need you to undergo more tests (mammogram, etc).
Just athought but are you able to get an earlier doctor's appointment? Could you say that you are having symptoms and are extremely anxious.
I was also just wondering if your high anxiety was caused by your over active thyroid.
I found a women-to-women webpage on nipple discharge informative. It went through possibilities for different color discharges.
I'm sorry you're so stressed. I hope my post has helped a little.