Recovery Post radiotherapy treatment

He has had/is having 3 treatments all of which cause fatigue.

Suggest that he takes notice of this and sleeps when needed, but add gentle exercise, which will help.

The aim is to build up the exercise SLOWLY to combat the fatigue. It does work to control the fatigue,  but won't entirely eradicate it.

Talk to your team about the pain, and also the GP. Fighting of the pain will add to the fatigue, and make him downright miserable.

Finally talk to him about depression. I would be depressed after that level of treatment and in that pain, and that, again, includes fatigue as a symptom, as a withdrawal from the world that has turned on him.

Come back to us at any time.  We are with you.

Indeed we saw Oncologist this week. He was surprised at how unwell and exhausted he was. There is no chance of exercise. He does sleep a lot and is only mist comfortable lying down most of the day. He needs help with washing, dressing etc . Making it up and down the stairs once a day is enough. He hasn't left house in weeks other than the odd gp/hospital appt and that's a struggle as it all feels too much being in the car.

Blood tests and CT scan have been requested so we'll see if they show anything more. Pain relief meds have been doubled. 

Thank you for your reply.

Hi Selina19649c , my friend mstev2 is absolutely correct, all the treatments cause fatigue and we all react differently to them differently.  So in 2025 he had chemo (presumably 18 weeks) which can hit you badly, then 20 days of RT all while being on HT.  His body and mind are most likely still in shock so remember it is early days (I had the same back in 2018) and it was a year to forget.  Moving forward, is all about small steps of recovery.  Diet and exercise are key, but important not to think you can recover in a week.  Depending on his age and fitness at the start, gradually build up exercise, but listen to his body and don’t go mad.  It is strange suggesting exercise while fatigued but sadly it seems to be the only way out of the spiral.  As for pain management your team should be able to help, but if you are struggling, others on here can offer better advice.

 Selina19649c I have just read your reply to Steve and his fatigue seems extreme.  I stand by my view that doing something is better than nothing.  Short walks around the house, doing the stairs 4 times a day etc will all help.

Thanks for the feedback.  I would agree re exercise- we used to hill walk, he played golf etc. Now he struggles to walk from one room to the next as his blood pressure drops so low and has to hold on to furniture, door frames etc. All of which has been flagged up to medics. 

He was very unwell this week when he had OP appt which I had pushed to be brought forward so I was glad the oncologist saw him in that way. Really my husband wanted me to cancel the appt as it was all too much to travel to see anyone and yet that's the only way to get some focus on how he is in reality.  His PSa is high after RT but much higher than they would expect 

Agreed. There is no way atm he could do stairs 4 times a day. This has been the case for weeks/months now. 

I think we see if blood tests and scans show anything further and whether PSA starts to drop.  I know a small increase was expected after RT

 Selina19649c the BP issue doesn’t specifically sound to me like being PCa related, but perhaps triggered as a byproduct of HT or the painkillers.  Has he had an ECG recently (in the last few months)?  Did you explain to his team about BP problems, if not, maybe a chat to his cancer nurse specialist will prompt action.

Yes ECG shows some ectopics and has been referred to cardiology and on Bisoprolol. 

Yes all mentioned

 Interesting people mention nurse specialist- we've never been given/had contact. Our local hospice team for symptoms involved by phone, all know as does GP.... 

Glad he has had an ECG.  Beta blockers tend to lower BP, so maybe they are overdoing the regulation.  Worth making sure his cardio team are aware of the situation (assuming the low BP started after bisoprolol was started).

They are aware although frustratingly after 2 A&E admissions his referral was down graded from urgent to routine so still 6 more weeks to wait. GP aware too but he tends to say take hom to A&E. I'll not do that now after 3 visits in 2 months.  And no, low BP started before Bisoprolol! And it is the lowest dose. 

All a jigsaw puzzle.