Nearly everyone who has chemotherapy has some tiredness. It can be due to the direct effect of chemotherapy on the body. But anaemia may also cause tiredness. This is because chemotherapy can stop your bone marrow from making red blood cells for a while.
Tiredness (fatigue) is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. Many people having treatment feel tired a lot of the time or get tired very easily doing everyday tasks.
Though it is not always possible to predict how long someone will live, these are the common signs and symptoms that suggest a person with cancer may be entering the final weeks of life: Worsening weakness and exhaustion. A need to sleep much of the time, often spending most of the day in bed or resting.
Cancer fatigue usually lasts from 3-4 weeks after treatment stops, but can continue for up to 2-3 months.
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) usually gets better after treatment finishes, but for some people, it continues for months or years. Tell your doctors and nurses about your fatigue and how it affects your life. You may find it helpful to keep a fatigue diary.
You may experience fatigue if cancer treatment damages healthy cells in addition to the cancer cells. Or fatigue might happen as your body works to repair damage caused by treatment. Some treatment side effects — such as anemia, nausea, vomiting, pain, insomnia and changes in mood — also may cause fatigue.
In medical terms, the dying process is viewed as the body's systems closing down. Sleeping more – The dying person has less energy, and often they may spend most of the day sleeping or resting. Eating and drinking less – As the body slows down it uses less energy and the person doesn't need to eat or drink as much.
Around the third day following a chemotherapy treatment, some people may experience flu-like symptoms such as muscle aches and pains. If you experience these aches, you can take over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol or Advil. If necessary, contact your doctor for stronger medication.
A return to normalcy is typical, but it takes a while – usually six months or so. “All who have done chemo do finally get back to normal,” Patricia said. “Treatment for breast cancer can take a whole year, but six months after it ends, life comes back – incisions heal, hair grows back, chemo brain fog lifts.”
During cancer treatment, the need for sleep may increase some, as the body repairs itself. Most people need from 7-9 hours of sleep. The need for sleep does not decrease as we age, as popular myths proclaim. It is important for you to talk with your doctor about your sleep concerns.
Cancer cells (pictured) that break away from tumors to metastasize in other parts of the body spread more aggressively during sleep, The Scientist reports. Researchers monitored levels of these wayfaring cells, known as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in human breast cancer patients and mouse breast cancer models.
Cancer patients may underreport sleep problems; actigraphy data from a sample of lung cancer patients indicated that they slept, on average, 4.4 h per night, despite their self-reports averaging 5.8 h per night [2].
Chemotherapy can cause fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, bowel issues such as constipation or diarrhoea, hair loss, mouth sores, skin and nail problems. You may have trouble concentrating or remembering things. There can also be nerve and muscle effects and hearing changes. You will be at increased risk of infections.
The recommendations for cancer survivors are no different from those for anyone who wants improved health: Exercise, eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, get good sleep, reduce stress, avoid tobacco and limit the amount of alcohol you drink.
You might notice an improvement in cancer symptoms, such as less pain, reduced lymph node swelling, and improved energy levels. If you use topical chemotherapy on skin lesions, the area might feel irritated and look red and swollen for the first few weeks. These are all signs that chemotherapy is working.
Short, planned delays in chemotherapy for good-risk GCT patients (less than or equal to 7 days per cycle) appear to be acceptable since they may prevent serious toxicity in this curable patient population. Delays of longer than 7 days are strongly discouraged except in extraordinary life-threatening circumstances.
For most people the side effects were worst in the first few days after treatment, then they gradually felt better until the next treatment. Some said the effects were worse with each successive treatment. Most side effects don't persist and disappear within a few weeks after the end of treatment.
The effects of chemo are cumulative. They get worse with each cycle. My doctors warned me: Each infusion will get harder. Each cycle, expect to feel weaker.
Complex carbohydrates.
Instead, include fruits, whole grains, beans, milk, yogurt, and starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, peas), to get nourishing carbs with fiber and many other nutrients. A good guide is to include 1 carbohydrate food at snack times and 2 carbohydrate foods at each meal.
Although the overall prognosis may be poor based on cases with previous patients and older treatments, many patients with stage 4 cancer can live for years.
People often become more drowsy and sleep more towards the end of life. This is one of many signs that a person may have when they are in their last few days and hours of life, but not everyone will experience this.
Fatigue may develop as a symptom of blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, because these cancers start in the bone marrow, which produces red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body.