Hi , diagnosed in March, mastectomy April, lymph node dissection may, 8 lots of chemotherapy finished 5 weeks ago , currently in the midst of radiotherapy. When do side effects ease ?
Hi there, my radiotherapy ended about 5 weeks ago a NA my oncologist said she'd expect side effects for 6-8 weeks but sometimes they can go on for much longer. Best of luck x
I found radiotherapy side effects, like redness and soreness went within about 6 weeks, though the hardness stayed for months.
For chemo, they say a good year or so for your previous energy levels to come back. I'm 10 months on and still need to pace myself, although that could also be the medical menopause with zoladex and exemestane. They also give me aches and pains which are unlikely to stop until I stop taking the exemestane in 5 years' time.
I'd say my last cycle was the longest to get over. I had docetaxel and it probably took 5 or 6 weeks for my legs to feel normal as the muscles felt like jelly and I struggled to walk far without feeling out of breath. About the same for my taste to return to normal. But I was running again a few weeks after my operation.
It took a few months for a full head of hair - I noticed the biggest different between months 3 and 4, it was very slow growing up to then. It's only the last month or 2 where it has gone back to growing fast, along with my hand nails. They used to grow very fast before chemo.
My toe nails are barely growing at all and are still very damaged. They have a very long way to go.
I read that a good rule of thumb is to assume it's going to take 2 months for every month of active treatment to be back to 'normal'. From start of chemo to end of radiotherapy was 7 months for me so I probably have a way to go before I really feel like me.
But you improve over time so I was back to doing everything I loved about 3 or 4 weeks after my operation, so a couple of months after chemo.
It's a physical and mental recovery. I had been extremely positive throughout the whole thing and then a couple of months ago had a spell of low mood. Back to myself again now but be kind to yourself. You have been through a lot and it takes a long time to fully recover.
