Many people having radiotherapy feel tired (fatigued) a lot of the time or become tired very easily from doing everyday activities. This usually starts during treatment and can continue for several weeks or months after treatment finishes. It can help to: get plenty of rest.
The side effects of radiotherapy usually peak up to two weeks after treatment has finished. The effects of radiotherapy continue developing, and it may take a further couple of weeks to several months for you to feel normal, depending on the area of the body that has been treated.
Radiotherapy with the aim of curing cancer usually lasts between 1 to 7 weeks. For radiotherapy to relieve symptoms, you might have anything between a single treatment to 2 weeks of treatment. It might be longer than this. Your doctor will tell you how many treatments you'll have.
Typically, people have treatment sessions 5 times per week, Monday through Friday. This schedule usually continues for 3 to 9 weeks, depending on your personal treatment plan.
Fatigue usually builds up slowly during the course of treatment, particularly towards the end, and may last for some weeks or months after treatment finishes. Many people find that they cannot do as much as they normally would, but others are able to continue their usual activities.
The tiredness often reaches its maximum 1 to 2 weeks after the end of treatment. A small number of people are asleep for a lot of the day after a long course of radiotherapy to the brain. This called somnolence syndrome.
Many people who get radiation therapy have fatigue. Fatigue is feeling exhausted and worn out. It can happen all at once or come on slowly. People feel fatigue in different ways and you may feel more or less fatigue than someone else who is getting the same amount of radiation therapy to the same part of the body.
Traditional radiotherapy is most often given 5 days a week for between 4 to 7 weeks. But this can vary depending on your cancer. Your specialist will tell you how often you will need to have the treatment. You usually have 3 to 8 stereotactic radiotherapy treatments You have it 2 to 3 times a week.
Having fewer radiotherapy sessions can improve patients' quality of life—fewer treatment sessions may mean fewer unpleasant side effects, such as the skin irritation, loss of appetite, nausea and fatigue so often associated with cancer treatment.
More than 60% of NPC patients receiving curative-intent radiotherapy suffered from a weight loss greater than 5% during the treatment [8], [9].
The most common early side effects are fatigue (feeling tired) and skin changes. Other early side effects usually are related to the area being treated, such as hair loss and mouth problems when radiation treatment is given to this area.
Avoid raw vegetables and fruits, and other hard, dry foods such as chips or pretzels. It's also best to avoid salty, spicy or acidic foods if you are experiencing these symptoms. Your care team can recommend nutrient-based oral care solutions if you are experiencing mucositis or mouth sores caused by cancer treatment.
The total dose of external radiation therapy is usually divided into smaller doses called fractions. Most patients get radiation treatments daily, 5 days a week (Monday through Friday) for 5 to 8 weeks. Weekend rest breaks allow time for normal cells to recover.
In a few people, the tiredness can become very severe a few weeks after treatment has finished. You may also feel drowsy and irritable. This is a rare side effect and is sometimes called hypersomnia. It is extreme tiredness that can make you feel very drowsy and want to sleep a lot.
For whole-breast radiation, previous studies have shown that 3 weeks of treatment at slightly higher doses is as safe and effective as conventional whole-breast radiation over 5–6 weeks.
Does Radiation Oncology Have Fewer Side Effects Compared to Chemotherapy? Radiation oncology and chemotherapy are both effective cancer treatments; however, they are different in many ways. Radiation oncology is localized: it targets only the affected area of the body, and therefore, tends to have fewer side effects.
You might have 1 treatment or a number of treatments given over a few weeks. These treatments are sometimes known as fractions. This depends on the type of cancer. You are most likely to have a short course of a few treatments over a few days.
Courses of treatment
Most people have 5 treatments a week (one treatment a day from Monday to Friday), with a break at the weekend. However, in some cases treatment may be given more than once a day or over the weekend. The course of treatment usually lasts between 1 and 7 weeks.
“In fact, based on the literature reviewed, it appears that external-beam radiation therapy is a superior treatment in some cases. “When patients are treated with modern external-beam radiation therapy, the overall cure rate was 93.3% with a metastasis-free survival rate at 5 years of 96.9%.
Radiotherapy to the tummy (abdomen) area can make you feel and be sick. This may stop you from eating and may mean you begin to lose weight.
Side effects like sore mouth, dry mouth, problems swallowing and nausea and vomiting can cause loss of appetite.