Radiation therapy fatigue

realitychick

I got my bi-lateral MRI results back and I consider myself very lucky that they were negative except for the original Stage 0 DCIS. My surgeon says it is High Grade so I will probably need the radiation treatments but nothing else. Can anybody tell me how bad the fatigue was with this? I am a single working person with no family in the area and really can't afford to take time off of my fairly high stress job, so if anyone can help me out with some answers I would appreciate it.

mwallace1325

Fatigue
I finished 33 rounds of radiation on Jan 15th. I was lucky and took off only the time for my appointments, which are really quick by the way. By the end of the day I was certainly ready to go home and nap, but I was able to work thru radiation. Good luck and hope all goes well for you.

laurissa

Hi chick
I'm on my 8th treatment and no effects so far. Good luck with yours.

realitychick

laurissa said:

Hi chick
I'm on my 8th treatment and no effects so far. Good luck with yours.

Thank you both!
It's nice to know that I may not be totally exhausted. I have been thinking about not having them at all. Still haven't met with the oncologist and my surgery is next month.

cindycflynn

So far, so good
I started my radiation on March 17th, and have had 19 of my 30 treatments as of today, and I've been able to work full-time. I haven't really felt any fatigue so far. My doctors did OK me to take additional B vitamins, which may be helping with my energy level. Check with your radiation oncologist to see if that would be OK for you to take as well. They just didn't want me to take any more than 200% RDA of anti-oxidant vitamins like A, C, D & E, but the B's were OK.

Especially since you won't need surgery or chemo, you should be able to withstand the radiation better, I would think.

Take care,
Cindy

cats_toy

good luck in your treatment realitychick
We all react differently, I went through my 35+ radiation treatments all the while working. Scheduled them for late afternoon so I could leave the office, go directly there then home.
Hope all goes well for you. Let us know how you do.
Cat

Rague

I had no 'bad' fatigue on
I had no 'bad' fatigue on rads. A couple of times I got 'tired' but a nap/rest took care of it. The longer I was on rads the better I felt as Taxol had really taken it's toll on me EXHAUSTION wise.

Tux

Rague said:

I had no 'bad' fatigue on
I had no 'bad' fatigue on rads. A couple of times I got 'tired' but a nap/rest took care of it. The longer I was on rads the better I felt as Taxol had really taken it's toll on me EXHAUSTION wise.

I too have a high-stress
I too have a high-stress strenuous job and had to miss no work for fatigue. All I did was work and go to rads, then go back to work, and then go home and rest. I worked through lunch hour & cut out all extra activities. I feared the worst, but it never came. I hope you can get through the treatments without missing your job.

MyTurnNow

Hi, Realitychick. You have
Hi, Realitychick. You have heard from several of our sisters that they didn't really notice too much fatigue. I have to also jump on that bandwagon and let you know that I finished rads Christmas Eve 2009 and also worked right on through treatments. I had 4 rounds of chemo before my rads treatment. I had my rads daily in the morning so I could still go to my exercise class after work. I continued to exercise throughout rads. I'll be the first to admit that some days were better than others but exercise also helped me mentally as well as physically. Good luck to you, you'll do great.

jnl

laurissa said:

Hi chick
I'm on my 8th treatment and no effects so far. Good luck with yours.

The fatigue hit me about 3
The fatigue hit me about 3 or 3 1/2 weeks into rads. I did try getting as much rest as I could and took naps if I needed. I don't work, so, I don't know if I could have handled it or not, it seems most do just fine. Good luck to you!


Leeza

Marlene_K

No fatigue
I just finished 28 rounds of radiation and can say that I really didn't get that tired. There is a possibility that I had just finished chemo and I will NEVER abuse the word 'fatigued' ever again. I know what that word truly means. I began feeling better from chemo about 3-4 weeks after my last treatment and progressively got better even through radiation. I started up my exercise routine about 2 weeks into radiation and my doctor said that does help with not feeling quite so tired. I'm a single mom and worked throughout all my treatments. With radiation, at times I would feel a little sluggish after dinner, but would lay down for about 15-20 minutes and then get up and was fine. I hope all goes well for you and that you don't experience any fatigue!

Hugs, Mar

Megan M

Marlene_K said:

No fatigue
I just finished 28 rounds of radiation and can say that I really didn't get that tired. There is a possibility that I had just finished chemo and I will NEVER abuse the word 'fatigued' ever again. I know what that word truly means. I began feeling better from chemo about 3-4 weeks after my last treatment and progressively got better even through radiation. I started up my exercise routine about 2 weeks into radiation and my doctor said that does help with not feeling quite so tired. I'm a single mom and worked throughout all my treatments. With radiation, at times I would feel a little sluggish after dinner, but would lay down for about 15-20 minutes and then get up and was fine. I hope all goes well for you and that you don't experience any fatigue!

Hugs, Mar

I got tired with rads, not
I got tired with rads, not exhausted, but very tired. I did exercise, which might sound strange, but, it really helped me. I hope everything goes alright for you!