Exhausted From Chemo

Hi,

It will get easier, I just finished my chemo 2 month ago and start to feel a bit better every day in the last week. I try to eat very healthy with lots of fruit and veg. 

Try to stay positive, what helped me a lot was organising little normal things, like going for a coffee with a friend or asked them to pop by for cuppa or a meal, if I felt not  save because of covid in a cafe house or restaurant.

Walking and Yoga, help me to a lot too. And be kind to you and your body. Your body went through so much, it just takes time to get everything back to normal.

I accepted that everything just takes a bit longer to do and I do more breaks in between to give my body and mind a break and rest. I have all day so why the rush, that is my motto. And tomorrow is another day to finish something. 

I always was rushing before my diagnoses and done 101 things in a day but thinking about it now, it was just stress and I did not enjoy lots of things as much as I would have if I gave myself a bit more time. 

I am sure you will get their, just be patient and try to enjoy the small wins and small things in life. 

I cross my fingers that your recovery will go better soon.

Claudia xx

Thank You Claudia, Yes I really hope I start to feel better once my Radiotherapy has been done. xx 

It does take time, I finished chemo on the 9th November and I still struggle with fatigue although it is gradually improving, you’re doing well with your walking and yoga, we will get back to better energy levels x

It's very early days. It can take a good year to recover your energy levels following chemo, though it does start to come back well after a couple of months. I seem to remember at around 6 weeks I was feeling more energised, but I also had the lumpectomy and rads after chemo so was still going through main treatment. 

I'm almost a year on from chemo and still have to pace myself but I've been back to doing everything that I love for a long time. My problem is that I have also been put into a medical menopause with aromatase inhibitor on top, so that causes fatigue too. I also don't sleep well due to night sweats which makes me tired, so it is difficult to separate out all this other stuff from chemo recovery.

But I do remember that it took me a good 6 weeks to start feeling anything like ok after my last cycle of chemo. I had 6 cycles, 3 EC and 3 docetaxel.

I had terrible intense hot and cold flashes with docetaxel - made worse by the sudden menopause. I could be freezing cold to the extent that I was shaking even when I had a hot water bottle and tonnes of blankets, to boiling hot the next minute, dripping with sweat and feeling very anxious and claustrophobic with it I had a few mini panic attacks with the intensity of the hot flashes. My body felt so out of control. There's not much you can do but give your body time. My hot flashes were every 10-20 mins 24/7 during chemo, with the cold in between. Not fun.

It does get better and they started to settle quite quickly (my perception of 'quick' has changed since going through cancer treatment - I mean weeks) once I stopped chemo.

I still get hot flashes and night sweats due to the menopause I am now in. Weirdly, just the last few weeks, the cold spells have come back too, though nothing like as intense. Maybe my body is changing again. My hot flashes can still be every 10 mins if I can't get cool (this seems to happen when I first try and sleep), but they are generally every 2 or 3 hours now, and they are not anything like as intense, which makes them easier to manage

I can't say whether you will ever feel like your old self as I'm only a year on. Are you having any other treatment, like hormonal? I'm on hormone treatment for 5 years so don't expect to feel like me again until then - though as I'm in my mid-40s, I will stay in menopause so I guess the old me is definitely gone.

It's not all bad, cancer has changed my outlook and I think that is a good thing. I make sure I do more things that make me happy and less things that make me unhappy (unfortunately, I have to work!)

Walking and yoga are perfect.

Hi Thanks for your reply, yes I have radiotherapy to go yet start on 24th for 10 sessions and I will start to take Letrozole that week as well, I have already been through the menopause so looks like I have to do it all again!!  I dont sleep too well either but its not surprising as your mind is always wondering once you have been diagnosed with Cancer!,  I will also have Herceptin Injections every three weeks because my cancer was Her2+ although my cancer was small at 9mm and removed with clear margins I am advised and recommended to have this, also a Bisphonate Injection every 6 months for 3 years, so like you say probably will never feel like my oldself again, but even managing to do stuff would be nice, at the moment I am just managing a dog walk daily and practice yoga most days with a class on a Friday.  Take Care and nice to hear from you.