Tiredness

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childofthestars
childofthestars Member Posts: 251 Member
in Ovarian Cancer #1
As you ladies are probably aware I finished my treatment (18 weeks dense dose Taxol, every 3rd week Carbo) Dec 8 2010. I actually feel worse since finishing treatment than I did during it and certainly worse than I did before dx!
I am soooooo tired nearly all the time, I work 3 days a week, near my home so I don't have to travel on public transport and i work from 9-4 so not exactly a long day! I'm a medical sec. Has anyone else experienced this tiredness AFTER completing chemo?
Also
My joints ...... argghhhhh. I have posted this before but they are so uncomfortable especially my fingers/thumbs/hands, knees and collar bones/shoulder joints. I have taken various anti-inflammatory type medication, done pilates, walk but nothing seems to make any difference. Some days are better than others but there's no pattern as to why!!! What the.......?????
My diet is good, I drink plenty of water ..........
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Michelle x

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  • Lisa13Q
    Lisa13Q Member Posts: 677
    #2
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    Tiredness
    My mother has had 6 or 8 infusions of dense dose taxol and needs a break....she is so fatgued that she couldn't take her dishes into the kitchen last night. She's a little anemic but nothing close to how she's feeling...in fact, her counts are holding their own. the NP told us yesterday that the cumulative effects of taxol are rough....you are not alone....the good news was her CA-125 went from 134 to 104....But I do worry about her quality of life......
  • taiga
    taiga Member Posts: 75 Member
    #3
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    tiredness
    Michelle:
    I also completed chemo on December 8th: Day one IV Taxol, Day 2 IP Cisplatin and Day 8 IP Taxol. I was also getting Avastin and am now on Avastin maintenance until November (clinical trial GOG-0252). Within a few weeks of ending the chemo I started having terrible bilateral shoulder pain and neck pain and stiffness. I had a cortisone injection in one shoulder and it helped immensely. The neck pain and stiffness has continued. I had the expected neuropathy in my left foot, but now in the mornings I can hardly walk on it. The bottom of my foot feels sore and my ankle is very stiff. That goes away as I am up on it, but anytime I sit for very long, it starts up again. I am going to try acupunture for my neck. I am also pretty tired - not nearly as tired as during chemo. I am still working out, walking, do yoga, etc. but I'm with you - this day in day out stuff is getting old - I almost feel worse now than I did during chemo. I hope it goes away with time. I'm only 50 and WAS in great shape, now I feel like I'm a 100 years old.
  • kikz
    kikz Member Posts: 1,345 Member
    #4
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    taiga said:

    tiredness
    Michelle:
    I also completed chemo on December 8th: Day one IV Taxol, Day 2 IP Cisplatin and Day 8 IP Taxol. I was also getting Avastin and am now on Avastin maintenance until November (clinical trial GOG-0252). Within a few weeks of ending the chemo I started having terrible bilateral shoulder pain and neck pain and stiffness. I had a cortisone injection in one shoulder and it helped immensely. The neck pain and stiffness has continued. I had the expected neuropathy in my left foot, but now in the mornings I can hardly walk on it. The bottom of my foot feels sore and my ankle is very stiff. That goes away as I am up on it, but anytime I sit for very long, it starts up again. I am going to try acupunture for my neck. I am also pretty tired - not nearly as tired as during chemo. I am still working out, walking, do yoga, etc. but I'm with you - this day in day out stuff is getting old - I almost feel worse now than I did during chemo. I hope it goes away with time. I'm only 50 and WAS in great shape, now I feel like I'm a 100 years old.

    tiredness
    As I have posted before I finished taxol/cisplatin chemo on 9/16/2010. Initially I was more tired than I am now. I retired from my job so I am home which I'm sure makes a difference. I felt I could not work at my job any longer and be healthy and strong. I just turned 63 so I had been contemplating retirement anyway. I do have a lot of pain in my joints and it feels like in my muscles as well. When I get up from sitting, get in and out of the car or sit down on the toilet, it really hurts. I don't want to take any medication for it as long as I can tolerate the pain. My mom has rheumatoid arthritis and all the medication she has taken while not really helping that much has wreaked havoc on her liver. My oncologist suggested Aleve and also that I ;make an appointment with my primary as it may be arthritis. Come on doc! I suddenly have arthritis throughout my body. I had 11 round of chemo remember? Oh well, you gotta love 'em.

    Karen
  • childofthestars
    childofthestars Member Posts: 251 Member
    #5
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    kikz said:

    tiredness
    As I have posted before I finished taxol/cisplatin chemo on 9/16/2010. Initially I was more tired than I am now. I retired from my job so I am home which I'm sure makes a difference. I felt I could not work at my job any longer and be healthy and strong. I just turned 63 so I had been contemplating retirement anyway. I do have a lot of pain in my joints and it feels like in my muscles as well. When I get up from sitting, get in and out of the car or sit down on the toilet, it really hurts. I don't want to take any medication for it as long as I can tolerate the pain. My mom has rheumatoid arthritis and all the medication she has taken while not really helping that much has wreaked havoc on her liver. My oncologist suggested Aleve and also that I ;make an appointment with my primary as it may be arthritis. Come on doc! I suddenly have arthritis throughout my body. I had 11 round of chemo remember? Oh well, you gotta love 'em.

    Karen

    Thanks for your replies
    Thanks for your replies ladies.
    You've gotta laugh tho. I have heard over and over oncologists and prmary docs saying to their patients 'you have prabably got arthritis!!!' As Karen said 'arthritis in nearly evey joint - all of a sudden - nothing to do with chemo!' HELLO there are too many of us with similar conditions. I think that from the docs perspective they are just interested in trying to get rid/reduce the cancer and any side effects are collateral damage! Whilst I am glad to be alive I can't help wishing that 'quality of life' really needs to be a BIG consideration.
    I am 46 and feel like I have the body of a 96 year old.
    However I am here and its a beautiful day so...
    Michelle x
  • anicca
    anicca Member Posts: 334 Member
    #6
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    childofthestars said:

    Thanks for your replies
    Thanks for your replies ladies.
    You've gotta laugh tho. I have heard over and over oncologists and prmary docs saying to their patients 'you have prabably got arthritis!!!' As Karen said 'arthritis in nearly evey joint - all of a sudden - nothing to do with chemo!' HELLO there are too many of us with similar conditions. I think that from the docs perspective they are just interested in trying to get rid/reduce the cancer and any side effects are collateral damage! Whilst I am glad to be alive I can't help wishing that 'quality of life' really needs to be a BIG consideration.
    I am 46 and feel like I have the body of a 96 year old.
    However I am here and its a beautiful day so...
    Michelle x

    Hi Michelle! You put your
    Hi Michelle! You put your finger on it when you said "I am here and it's a beautiful day." As a friend's grandmother used to say "Every day above ground is a good day."

    I only had 6 rounds of carbo/taxol, and it was all I could do to work weekends, taking every other minute to recover. I have been fortunate not to have the joint pain that so many of us suffer with. My doctor's NP told me she thought I would "bounce back" after chemo. If feeling almost normal 6 months later is "bouncing back", then she's right :) You are not quite 4 months out, so give it more time. This is not a speedy process, but you will recover your get up and go.
  • hikergrl
    hikergrl Member Posts: 6
    #7
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    I Identify
    I feel your frustration! I have been cancer-free for 5 yrs and my doctor believed I have it beat, but still I fear whenever I feel symptoms or right before a CA-125 test. I was on Taxol and Carboplatin, once a month for 6 months. I also had an oophorectomy and then a complete hysterectomy before starting chemo. All the side effects came and went during and in-between treatments, but the fatigue remained, and grew worse w/each one. My oncologist told me that the fatigue was cumulative and he even skipped the last chemo treatment because the fatigue was so bad. He also didn't think I needed it. I worried that that decision wouldn't come back to bite me.

    My problem is, and has been, that since I had the chemo I haven't regained my normal energy. I used to hike a lot, shopped til I dropped, work out @ the gym several times/wk, run around doing things after work and start all over the next day. After cancer and chemo, my life has changed so much. I have tried to work and support myself (I've been single/divorced for 14 yrs) but I'm having a real hard time keeping up with working. I lost my house (sold it at the last minute possible before losing everything due to unemployment and walked away, after 10 yrs, w/only $6,000.) I used that to move to a larger area to find a job, and paid deposits and rent for 2 months on an apartment. After more months of unemployment and a couple of temp jobs, I lost my apartment and had to move into the spare bedroom of someone I knew from church. It turns out this person is loud, abrasive, dense and always there because he is on disability and doesn't work. I also, after all these changes, loss and stress, started a new job a month ago.

    Although I am so thankful that I finally found a good job, and I really like the people I work with, especially my boss, it is the most emotionally, physically and mentally demanding job I've ever had. I am working as a Family Service Counselor at a cemetary. I work w/pre-need purchases of cemetary property, markers, etc. but I also work w/families who have had a death and need to take care of arrangements. It is like being a doctor. Whenever the funeral home calls, I have to spring into action and take care of all kinds of forms, schedules, prices, make appts with the family, schedule the burial service, and so many other details. I love being able to help and comfort these families but my days are so unpredictable and chaotic that I rarely get to just sit and eat lunch, many days not even getting to eat anything but a snack all day. Most days I work more than 8 hrs and I usually have to work 6 days/wk.

    With the fatigue and lack of energy reserves, I keep "hitting a wall" that I can't go beyond. If I try to use willpower and push past the exhaustion, I end up getting sick. I just can't push that hard any more. Other "normal" people just don't understand and think I am pampering myself. It's so frustrating! I feel like a hamster running endlessly on a wheel and I am so weary. I want to get off but I can't because no-one else is going to pay my bills.

    Lately, I've been feeling tired, bloated, stomach in knots, tightness in my chest and exhaustion. I also have no place to call home where I can make sure I have peace and quiet. I have to put up with the noise and habits of this other person who owns the house I'm staying at. It's very small and nowhere to go to get away from his noise. I've been worried about the cancer returning, if it hasn't already from all the stress.

    I have to support myself, no-one else to lean on, but I don't know how to do it and still stay healthy.

    Anyone have any answers? I would love to hear them.
    Thanks!

    hikergrl

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