Side Effects
Side effects are problems that happen when your breast cancer treatment affects healthy tissues or organs. There are many different types of side effects, and whether they occur depends on a variety of factors. Some can be short-term, while others last longer. Many side effects are connected to specific medicines, regiments or therapies.
For many people, side effects are among the most distressing parts of breast cancer treatment. But today there are many ways to prevent and manage side effects. Talking openly with your providers can help you. In this section, we discuss different side effects, when and how likely they are to occur and the treatments connected to them. You will also learn ways to prevent side effects, if possible, and methods to manage or treat them. We also give you tips to describe side effects, as well as ways to start a conversation with your providers.
Learn more in this section about:
- Bone Loss
- Bone Pain
- Chemobrain
- Depression
and Anxiety
- Fear of Recurrence
- Hair Loss
- Hand-Foot Syndrome
- Heart Health
- Insomnia
and Fatigue
- Lymphedema
- Menopausal Symptoms
- Mouth Sores
- Nail and Skin Changes
- Nausea
and Vomiting
- Neuropathy
- Neutropenia
- Secondary Cancers
- Pain
- Sexual Side Effects
- Learn
- Understanding your diagnosis
- Types of Breast Cancer
- DCIS and LCIS
- Hormone Receptor-Positive
- HER2-Positive
- Triple-Negative
- Metastatic
- Finding out you have MBC
- Complementary and integrative medicine
- Metastatic Breast Cancer & Diet
- Exercise
- Intimacy and Sexuality
- How to support a loved one with MBC
- Talking With Family
- Building Your Community of Support
- Anxiety & Depression
- Navigating Finances
- Understanding Health Insurance
- Work/Life Balance
- How Breast Cancer Metastasizes
- What Makes Metastatic Breast Cancer Different
- Feelings of Loss
- Bone Metastases
- Brain Metastases
- Liver Metastases
- Lung Metastases
- Diagnosis and Testing
- Treatments and Research
- Side Effects
- Bone Health and MBC
- Bone Pain and MBC
- Chemobrain
- Hair Loss and MBC
- Hand-Foot Syndrome and MBC
- Heart Health and MBC
- Insomnia and Fatigue and MBC
- Menopausal Symptoms and MBC
- Mouth Sores and MBC
- Nail and Skin Changes and MBC
- Nausea and Vomiting and MBC
- Neuropathy and MBC
- Neutropenia and MBC
- Pain and MBC
- Sexual Side Effects
- Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer
- Inflammatory
- Lobular
- Diagnosis and Testing
- Treatments and Research
- Getting a Second Opinion
- Preparing for treatment
- Surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation Therapy
- Breast Reconstruction
- Targeted Therapy
- Hormonal Therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Clinical Trials
- Biosimilars
- Complementary Therapy
- Yoga and Breast Cancer
- Side Effects
- Anemia
- Bone Loss
- Bone Pain
- Chemobrain
- Depression and Anxiety
- Diarrhea
- Fear of Recurrence
- Hair Loss
- Hand-Foot Syndrome
- Heart Health
- High Cholesterol
- Insomnia and Fatigue
- Lymphedema
- Menopausal Symptoms
- Mouth Sores
- Nail and Skin Changes
- Nausea and Vomiting
- Neuropathy
- Neutropenia
- Pain
- Secondary Cancers
- Sexual Side Effects
- Weight Gain
- Weight Loss
- Living With Breast Cancer
- Body Image
- Bone Health Basics
- Diet, Nutrition and Exercise
- Emotional Health
- Fear of Recurrence
- Fertility and Breast Cancer
- Genetics and Family Risk
- Job and Financial Concerns
- Breast Cancer and the Workplace
- Telling Employers and Coworkers About Your Diagnosis
- Work Accommodations and Disability Benefits
- Managing hidden costs
- Getting Organized for Health Insurance
- Private, State and Federal Insurance
- Understanding your health insurance
- Dealing With a Claim Denial
- Other Ways to Get Insurance
- Financial Planning
- What is the ACA?
- Sex and Intimacy
- Birth Control and Breast Cancer
- Maintaining Sexual Life
- If You Feel Pain During Sex
- Sexual Side Effects
- Body Image and Sexuality
- Improving Sexual Health With Medical Approaches
- Improving Sexual Health With Self Care
- Talking With Your Partner About Sex and Intimacy
- Talking With Your Healthcare Team About Sex and Intimacy
- Signs of Recurrence
- Learning from Others
- Additional Resources
- Get Support
- How You Can Help
- News & Opinion