Parked on by a truck

Doc_Hawk
Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Usually when I go in for pump disconnect (getting unjacked from the Matrix as I put it), it's a fight to stay awake on the way home, and then I can only doze for half an hour at best. Thursday, however, was a totally different story. First off, I found out my CEA had only dropped 2.4 points to 402. Two weeks before it had almost doubled from 216 to 404.4 so I was hoping for a significant drop this time. After I got home at about 6 PM, I slept until my alarm went off at 10 PM to take meds. I was up for a couple of hours, then back to sleep and was pretty much out of it all day Friday and Saturday. Probably would have slept all day yesterday also, but my dad had to take mom to the hospital thinking she was having a minor stroke. Turned out to be dehydration from Lasix.

I was also a bit concerned on Saturday that the pneumonia might be coming back, so a nurse came out to take vitals and listen to the lungs. Everything was ok, but she still wanted me to monitor my temp, oxygen percent and blood pressure. Today I'm back up to almost normal, just a bit of vision blurring, and ready to resume normal activity.

I do have a question here. We had a storm front move in late Thursday, so the barometric pressure was dropping during the end of treatment. This is the first time that I can recall when a low front has moved in at the end of chemo and my thought is that is what was causing the extreme fatigue. Has anyone else noticed increased fatigue due to weather? The only other variable which changed was that I started Ritalin to battle fatigue two days before starting chemo this week.

Comments

  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #2
    hi doc
    don't know if the low could cause the fatigue or not. I mean you certainly do feel low with low pressure and out of sorts. I even find that all my abdominal scars ache like the devil with the low pressure....feel like a regular little barometer...

    don't be hard on yourself my friend....sometimes we just need to sleep and sleep

    mags
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #3
    Dear Doc
    So sorry to hear that treatment hit so hard this week. Will be praying that the big drop in the CEA shows up on the next test.

    I don't have a chemo history to compare to, but I do feel that the weather changes can have a significant impact on how we feel. Every seasonal change, regardless of what the calendar says, I have sinus difficulties to the point where doc will give me an antibiotic prescription with refills just so I don't have to show up at his office 4 times a year. I seem to recover once the weather "stays put" without the major fluctuations of seasonal change. I also think that the weather being overcast and gloomy can lead to fatigue and just that icky feeling...and also impacts our emotional feelings.

    So glad that you are feeling better today...keep that trend going!

    Hugs,

    Marie who loves kitties
  • Momof2plusteentwins
    Momof2plusteentwins Member Posts: 509 Member
    #4
    Doc
    I feel the same way, disconnect day is pure exhaustion. Chemo just wipes me out. Thursday I went to bed at 6 pm and slept until 7 am - 13 hours of sleep and I was still exhausted. Fingers and toes tingling. Just feeling like pure crap. Today is the first day I feel sort of ok, 1 week after treatment. 5 more doses of poison to go. We can do it, right???
    Sandy :)
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #5
    Doc -

    Re:
    "The only other variable which changed was that I started Ritalin
    to battle fatigue     two days before starting chemo this week."

    I do believe you've answered your own question!

    Take care, my friend.

    John
  • janie1
    janie1 Member Posts: 753 Member
    #6
    Momof2plusteentwins said:

    Doc
    I feel the same way, disconnect day is pure exhaustion. Chemo just wipes me out. Thursday I went to bed at 6 pm and slept until 7 am - 13 hours of sleep and I was still exhausted. Fingers and toes tingling. Just feeling like pure crap. Today is the first day I feel sort of ok, 1 week after treatment. 5 more doses of poison to go. We can do it, right???
    Sandy :)

    Hi Doc
    Been thinking about you.
    Hope you get back totally on track here soon, and, the cea goes way down.
  • smokeyjoe
    smokeyjoe Member Posts: 1,425 Member
    #7
    John23 said:

    Doc -

    Re:
    "The only other variable which changed was that I started Ritalin
    to battle fatigue     two days before starting chemo this week."

    I do believe you've answered your own question!

    Take care, my friend.

    John

    It hit me Sunday
    It hit me Sunday too...weather...I don't know about that though, it's the heat that pulls me down usually, and it's been cool. Went to a fall cranberry festival and was feeling great out walking about in the fresh cool air, rain and all....Sunday, sheesh, could barely get up off the sofa...completely out of the ordinary for me.
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
    #8
    Just the normal fatigue from
    Just the normal fatigue from chemo. I did my Chemo from October through March. Several times during a storm low I was driving/riding home from chemo. Other then I was cold, I felt no difference.

    I am glad you are dong better!

    Best Always, mike

    PS Let us know how the ritalin works out.
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
    #9
    Just the normal fatigue from
    Just the normal fatigue from chemo. I did my Chemo from October through March. Several times during a storm low I was driving/riding home from chemo. Other then I was cold, I felt no difference.

    I am glad you are dong better!

    Best Always, mike

    PS Let us know how the ritalin works out.
  • Maxiecat
    Maxiecat Member Posts: 544 Member
    #10
    I am so sorry your CEA did
    I am so sorry your CEA did not drop further. I too have the fatigue on disconnect day. This last treatment I went grocery shopping right after disconnect...boy was I a lump on the sofa that evening. Plus my appetite was really low...I think I had water for dinner.

    Alex
  • k44454445
    k44454445 Member Posts: 494
    #11
    Doc
    i have been praying for you but now i will just pray harder! so sorry the cea did not change much. and sorry you are feeling so tired. i have no clue about the weather but for so many body functions the weather does have an impact. hang in there & i hope with each day you improve.
    hugs
    judy
  • Doc_Hawk
    Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
    #12
    k44454445 said:

    Doc
    i have been praying for you but now i will just pray harder! so sorry the cea did not change much. and sorry you are feeling so tired. i have no clue about the weather but for so many body functions the weather does have an impact. hang in there & i hope with each day you improve.
    hugs
    judy

    Thanks all
    After a week I'm finally getting back to normal. I don't remember much at all about this past weekend except for irrationally losing my temper over what was really nothing at all. I chalk that up to the fatigue. So far no reaction from the Ritalin, but it does take a couple of weeks for stuff like that to really start working.

    Hugs to all!

    Ray/Doc

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