Immunotherapy

Hi TracyR I am so sorry to hear about your mum. I can’t really offer any advice with this, I just wanted to send you my best wishes. Let’s hope the 2nd doctor is right and it is just side effects xx 

Hi Tracy

Immunotherapy can be VERY tiring. The body is not only dealing with cancer, quite enough in itself, it is also having to recruit the immune system in a way it hasn't been used before. Bit of a double-whammy, so feeling tired is only natural under the circumstances. The exhaustion can be mental as well as physical.

Back to double-whammy territory - exercise helps lots. Oh wow, so how do we exercise when we're too wiped out to just get along? This doesn't help at all... Well, start slow and build up gradually: like every time you walk upstairs go straight back down and go back up again. Stuff like that - keep adding more movement until it turns into exercise. When it feels hard, remember that exercise boosts the immune system, so there will be more benefit squeezed out of the immunotherapy. My oncologist told me to eat more protein too, to make more of those white blood cells that are doing the good work.

kind regards
Steve

Hi Tracy,

Hopefully your mum is feeling a little better by now. I too have immunotherapy and originally this was every 3 weeks and I felt tired almost immediately on returning home. I have since been out on a double dose of immunotherapy every 6 weeks and this makes me so tired for a day or two afterwards. I can’t really do anything other than rest or sleep but after a couple of days I’m absolutely fine again and return to the golf course for my regular exercise. 

Regards

Rob

Your reply has helped me not be so.scared of having this therapy I haven't started yet so very worried I have to make the decision in a weeks time to go ahead yours made me feel better about it thank you

Your very welcome Toasty. 

Joroni x

I have lung small cell cancer and in my spine diagnosed almost two years ago it was very bleak then had regular immunotherapy treatment and one targeted radiotherapy 

I'm still here pretty good with some side effects but nothing compared with my life saving treatment it's a miracle for me 

Best wishes 

hey Rob

my husband has oesophagael cancer on immunotherapy for 6 months now and very tired recently also anxious and confused 

Im interested in why the oncologist changed to double 6 weekly 

Do you get 2 weeks off

are you on the tablets too

My husband is 83 so of course he gets tired anyway & he has physio 2 x per week

best wishes for your recovery

xx

Hi Speyside1

The oncologist increased  the dosage to double the dose once he was happy with my response to the treatment. This just means I go for my treatment once every 6 weeks rather than once every 3 weeks so it’s just less visits to hospital really.

 I’m not on tablets or any other treatment.

Regards

Rob xx

Hi Jensan I hope you dont mind me messaging, but your story seemed similar to my mums. Did you just do immunotherapy? Or did you do chemotherapy? Had you done a PET scan as well?