Hi
The last few nights, I have had real trouble getting to sleep. I can’t seem to settle down in bed and am not getting to sleep until about 3 or 4 in the morning, and then I wake up about 4 hours later, feeling extremely tired!
I completed radiotherapy in June, I was wondering if anyone has had any similar problems. I don’t feel I am worried about anything, I’m not thinking about cancer recurrence or anything really. I was thinking it was a late effect from the radiotherapy but it maybe just me at the moment for some reason.
Thanks
Ange
Hi Ange19
I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble sleeping.
I still have some trouble sleeping on some nights but feel it is more to do with the after effects of the chemo than radiotherapy. I do feel there is some anxiety as well as it tends to be worse around check ups and also if I do too much.
My consultant said that late effects can be common with chemo and it just takes time for everything that has been done to recover. She also said that recovery can be very up and down but as long as you are generally improving over time, it is fine. Sometimes I sleep worse when I am fatigued strangely.
Radiotherapy would still be having an effect on your body for a few weeks after completion and tiredness is one thing that lingers with some people.
There's some advice here that is worth looking at but to be honest I am now 2 years post chemo and things are all beginning to settle more. I think also there is an accumulative effect of having the surgery followed by chemo and then straight into 5 weeks of radiotherapy. its no wonder our bodies take a battering! I know personally I had not recovered sufficiently from the chemo when I started radiotherapy.
Difficulty sleeping (insomnia) | Macmillan Cancer Support
It may be worth contacting your GP for some routine bloods if it continues. My bloods took a while to recover from the treatment and when my haemoglobin became very low- although I was fatigued all the time- I couldn't sleep at night.
Jane
Hi Jane
Thanks for your reply. It may be a mixture of everything, I thought the radiotherapy because it was the last treatment, but probably is the effects of the chemotherapy too, and I am going back to work next week, so don’t know if unconsciously that’s effecting me!
At the moment I am really tired, but I feel if I tried to go to sleep I wouldn’t and even though I am so tired when I go to bed I’m not sleeping. I will take a look at the Difficulty sleeping insert. Hopefully it won’t last, especially when I have to get up for work 
.
Thanks again
Ange
I think you are right- its probably a mixture of it all. My consultant said chemo can take a couple of years to get over and there can still be some late effects. With chemo being a whole body treatment whereas pelvic radiotherapy is a specific area- I would have thought the chemo would more likely affect sleeping. But that is just my experience. Radiotherapy and tummy effects can also take a while to recover from.
Are you ok with your eating and tummy after the radiotherapy? Just thinking that if you were still recovering then that could affect other areas such as sleep. Fatigue is common after treatment.
I wonder if the routine of going back to work will help.
I know what you mean about being so tired but then you go to bed and are still not sleeping. I still occasionally have a lie down in the pm and strangely then I can drop off fairly quickly.
I am nearly 2 years post treatment and it does all get better. To feel well enough to go back to work, you sound like you are actually doing really well- so well done
