Radiotherapy side effects

Hi runandbecome. I had 19 sessions of RT, finished them 4 weeks ago today. The first sign I had of any real reaction was slight discolouration in the arm pit and the skin felt hot. That was at about session 10. By session 14 the armpit was very red, hot and sore. I spoke with BCN, who said it was totally normal to have skin reaction by this time and gave me cream to put on the affected skin. It was called Silvederm, and it's specifically for burns. Applied it 2x a day and hey presto the soreness and heat dissipated really quickly!

The day after my last session, I woke up to a nipple that had turned white and sore overnight, and the skin where the nipple joins the areola was red raw. Started using the cream, and after a week it cleared and has settled.

The tiredness aspect never really hit me until a week after treatment finished, and then I felt as if I'd been hit by a freight train! Mornings I was ok, but by lunchtime exhaustion came over me in a wave and the only thing I could do was go to bed and sleep. That's what I did for 10 consecutive days. I didn't fight it, and thought sleep was the best medicine!

As I say, I'm now 4 weeks post treatment and feel absolutely 100% back to my old self. I'm still using factor 50+ sun cream before leaving the house, but as I'm living in Spain it seems the sensible thing to do. 

Hope this helps?

Thank you that’s really helpful. So I can expect that the impact is still to come I think. And might have to manage my work diary such that I clock off early to go to bed! Good to hear you’re feeling well now! 

Hi, I've just had session 14 of 15 today, I didn't really notice much until towards session 10, skin was getting hot & pink, tiredness started, been pretty tired this week. I have been given flamigel to use on my skin which has helped. I am told that I will probably feel effects for a few weeks after the last treatment, so will see what happens.

Hope you get on ok. Best wishes x