Fatigue

Hello Meandm

I am sorry to see that you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are needing to have chemotherapy.

I had chemotherapy last year and found that fatigue was a big side effect for me. My side effects seemed to follow the same pattern each cycle but as the cycles progressed they definitely built up. By the time I got to cycle 4 I had very much what you are experiencing, no energy, sleeping on and off, weakness. Talking with others who were having chemo alongside me (I tended to see the same faces each cycle) fatigue seemed a common side effect. As you say- it is a tiredness that isn't relieved by sleeping more.

I just tried to go with the flow and rested as much as possible. I continued to have some fatigue after my chemotherapy finished and for some time after- although it did improve a lot a couple of months after my last cycle. I did speak to my doctor and also the chemo nurses who provided me with reassurance and advised me to listen to what my body was telling me. It needed rest to heal. At the time I was also taking some medication that I believe also made me more tired. Blood tests also showed I had low haemoglobin and low magnesium. I was given a blood transfusion and that helped a bit. 

One thing I found that helped was talking to people on the chemotherapy forum. Although this is not specifically for breast cancer, a lot of the advice and experiences were useful. I also found that the specific chemotherapy drugs I was on were used for different types on cancer so it did help to know how others were managing with side effects.

I will add a link in case this is something that you may be interested in.

Chemotherapy - Discussion Forum - Chemotherapy forum - Macmillan Online Community

I hope that this helps but "hitting like a ton of bricks" is a phrase that I would definitely used at the time! I am now 8 months post chemo and I still have to pace myself. If I overdo it one day the fatigue will hit the following day.

Good luck for the rest of your treatment

Jane