Fatigue

Hi . 

I can only say what I have observed with my mum who had chemo over two years and what the consult told her . Chemo interacts with the entire body and all it’s mechanisms . According to one consultant and only time helps restore it . I would have said she needed to rest part of each day for about six months .

I think because she was not active during chemo it took a while to get her tolerance to activity back up . She started by building in a walk and increasing it . It took time but she did get back to normal function .

Do you have a cancer centre near by .

You could also ask your Gp about classes hear by to help .

Hopefully others will be along with practical advise and experience .

Take care,

Court 

I am not quite as far as you are from my treatment experiences, but I can definitely relate to what you are saying. After operation, convalescence, and a fortnight of chemo, I am about as exhausted as I have ever been in my life. That is saying a lot, given I have had chronic fatigue for almost thirty years. The general theory is that I am recovering from the severe anemia the chemo inflicted on me. However, there could be other causes, such as more thyroid issues for me. My GP is doing a comprehensive raft of testing, trying to pinpoint the problem. If it is anemia, I could be helped with iron pills, or thyroid problems could result in the increase of my medication. I would definitely suggest visiting your GP and asking about this. While Court is absolutely right that ultimately, your body needs to regain its normal function, which takes time and rest, that doesn't mean you can't be given a little help along the way, if you are dealing with something that can be boosted. Iron tablets, for anemia, for example. And it is always wise to talk to your GP when you feel something is really not right, whether or not you have had cancer treatments. That's what your GP is there for!

But, yes, it may simply be a case of time passing, and you slowly rebuilding your strength through a gentle exercise regime, slowly increasing what you are doing. Definitely talk to your cancer support people if you can. Even a very moderate course of physiotherapy might help you regain muscle definition and strength, which could assist you with beating fatigue. It's certainly on my own to do list!

I really hope you get through this soon. Fatigue can be very debilitating, and can interfere with life so very much. Fingers crossed your GP can help!

Robin.

Thanks Robin. Mine is a bit complicated. I currently have an open wound in my bum that doesn't wasn't to heal. After 2 month of having it tightly packed this turned out to be doing more harm than good and it was decided that it should only be packed with a couple of cm of packing.since then I've had no bleeding or leaking which is good.if it hasn't healed properly in 4 weeks the plastic surgeon may have to do an operation to close it.not looking forward to that.anyway I'm waffling.I still can't sit down 4 months after surgery as it feels like I'm sitting on a golf ball so maybe another opp might fix it.may be a coincidence that the fatigue seems to happen when my pain levels go up.I just sometimes wonder if some form of physio after the opp might have bin beneficial....thanks for listening..... Bru

No coincidence. Pain and fatigue are very closely linked, they each feed into the other. When we are in pain, it drains all our energy even if we are inactive, as just enduring it is tiring. It is perfectly understandable that your fatigue would go up when you are in considerable pain.

I really hope that tings improve for you soon!

R.

Thanks alot

Hi . As Robin says pain and fatigue are closely linked and when you throw a bit of anxiety about another potential operation into the mix then it’s natural to feel tired. It maybe that your sleep is not of the best quality - I find lying down in a nice warm dark bedroom seems to fill my head with thoughts sometimes. I notice you had chemoradiotherapy before your op and fatigue is a well know side effect of chemo.

Ive attached a link to a booklet about life after treatment which mentions fatigue, returning to work etc.

https://bowelcancerorguk.s3.amazonaws.com/Publications/Living%20well.pdf

You could also maybe ask your doctor to do a quick blood test to make sure you’re not low on anything which may be contributing?

Hope your bum heals on its own and things then start to improve quickly for you

Take care

Karen x

Thanks x