Ongoing extreme fatigue

Hi Denby. A feeling I remember well. I did 6 weeks of chemo and then 6 weeks of daily radiotherapy with no effects. It was weeks after treatment finished that fatigue kicked in. Difficult to explain what fatigue is. It is not like a hard day at work and coming home exhausted. I have always said fatigue is not the right word for it. I would wake up of a morning feeling bright and breezy. Then around lunchtime I would feel a wave coming over me as though someone had stuck a pin in me and let all the air out. I would curl up on the couch lifeless. The wife would keep asking if I was ok and I would lay there thinking to myself , "Please leave me alone".  Then early evening, I would feel the cloud lifting and I would be ok again. My oncologist said no  one actually understands fatigue, but the main theory is that the body shuts down allowing all available energy towards the healing process, similar to a coma. My GP prescribed ferrous sulphate tablets which helped (he said over the counter iron tablets are useless). They gave me a good appetite, but made my poo black which was a bit strange. Things eventually and gradually got better. Best wishes.

Not from chemo, but sounds like the feeling recovering from RC. That sudden drop in energy level, weak limbs & even an inability to think clearly. Would come on during the day at intervals or if done too much the day before, much of the following day. I looked on it as the signal to rest, not push oneself.

Keeping up a steady intake of nourishment (every couple of hours) & plenty of fluids definitely helped.

I get these waves of fatigue from BCG. My CNS said that a few of her patients have reported having fatigue. All the people I know with cancer of various types experience it. What you write, Teaswill, and Rily and Denby, I agree with. Odd, though, this week I only had it for the first two days; two days were fine, and two days I struggled to keep going.

Hi Denby, it might be worth asking the doctor to check out his B12 levels. My husband was incredibly tired last year but thought it was the lasting effects of radiotherapy. The blood test showed very low levels of B12 so he is now on 3 monthly injections and feels so much better

Luce X

Thank you. I will suggest this if it does not improve. I have just got back from taking him to A&E with a recurrence of cellulitis in his previously injured leg. He had this last year and it went untreated for a while due to a junior GP. At least today they got him on IV antibiotics quickly but it means staying in. I suspect this may have been brewing, which would explain fatigue perhaps.

Thanks, Denby

Hi Denby,Sorry to hear Mr D has cellulitis again.I hope the I.V antibiotics will help and he feels better soon.Love & best wishes.Jane xx

Sorry about Mr D being in hospital. I'm just off for my BCG. Will be thinking of him.

Best to you both.

Hi Denby, I reckon you are right, a infection can really knock the stuffing out of you. Hope Mr D feels better soon, and also hope you get 5 minutes to put your feet up and look after yourself. Nice cup of tea and a slice of cake? Sending love H x

Good luck with the BCG Gandalf, you must be half way through the induction doses by now I think? xx

When I had chemo for breast cancer I was so exhausted I would cry, & I'm not one to cry.  I often feel like it after I've had an op too, I can trot off in to another room all prepared to do something but I feel so overwhelmed that I have to go & sit down & I will sob uncontrollably.   It's not like any usual tiredness that I've ever experiences before, it's just so exhausting that it's painful to a ;point where even the sound of someone's voice it much too much. I'd get it checked out all the same, your body talks to you & let's you know if something's wrong.