I hate to complain

Options
LiseA
LiseA Member Posts: 266
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

But the fatigue is overwhelming at times.  I'll be four months post radiation on the 12th, and thought by now the fatigue wouldn't be as bad.  I do exercise (walk 3 miles) or go to the gym about 5 days per week to see if it would help.  I get a bit of a burst of energy after exercising, and then the plunge into a suffocating fatigue. 

Is this normal?  Or could my thyroid be the issue? Going for my annual physical next week so will mention this. 

Also, we are planning a transatlantic trip on December 20th, and I cannot imagine what that's going to do to me.  Hoping things improve in the next six weeks!

 

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,722 Member
    #2
    Options
    me too

    LiseA,

    I have been tired for 4 ½ years.  I am on thyroid meds and I guess it helps.  They watched my thyroid go downhill until I got on medication. Even though I am tired I still keep working and try to stay active.  If i stay busy I am not too bad, but when I slow down and rest I feel like I could fall asleep.

    I am going to an endocrinologist on Monday to try and get to the bottom of this.

    Feel better.

    Matt

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,030 Member
    #3
    Options
    Thyroid and Iron levels

    LiseA, 

    As Matt mentioned, the Thyroid is something all of us that have been thru Radiation must be aware of. My Radiation Oncologist told me that it wasn't a matter of "If" my Thyroid would fail, but a matter of "When" it would fail. I was lucky as my Thyroid did last roughly 5 yrs before my energy level fell off the table. I am like Matt and take a generic Syntroid to help me keep a better energy level. 

    My RO also stated that the Radiation treatments play havoc with our energy level for up to and maybe longer than 1 year. I know I had to push myself a lot during that 1st yr.

    Also, when I was home after Surgery, the visiting Nurse told me that I needed to watch my Iron level as well as the Thyroid level. So, get your Blood levels checked and make adjustments if needed. You will feel better when you do. 

    My Best to You and Everyone Here

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    edited November 2016 #4
    Options
    How is your diet?  Are you

    How is your diet?  Are you eating well?  Whole foods?  I know that sometimes we don't think that much about the foods we eat, but it can make a huge difference.

     

  • LiseA
    LiseA Member Posts: 266
    edited November 2016 #5
    Options
    Tonita, my appetite is great.

    Tonita, my appetite is great.  I eat very healthy foods, lots of fish, chicken breast, scallops, quinoa, every imaginable vegetable, fresh fruits. Everything organic. I even make my own almond milk, and have a daily smoothie with protein powder, fruit, chia seeds, kale and spinach.  I really should be more energetic with all these natural, fresh foods.  

  • RottiesMom
    RottiesMom Member Posts: 167
    #6
    Options
    I know...

    I am tired too!  I started working out again and I eat healthy.  I just don't have the same energy level I had before treatment.  I also am not sleeping as well.  I just figure it will take time.

    Joanne

     

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    edited November 2016 #7
    Options
    It DOES take time....

    I started feeling more normal after about a year out of treatment, but I'm still not like I used to be (course, age could be part of it, too...I can never tell if I'm aging naturally, or suffering from residual treatment effects!!)....Remind yourself that you didn't simply get over the flu, but a disease that took nuclear war heads to cure....it takes the body a long time to come back.

    Do get your thyroid checked....mine quit three months after treatment....your thyroid might be in the process of calling it quits. 

    p

  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #8
    Options
    Fatigue

    I have to say Jim's fatigue didn't really start until 6 months out.  He lost a lot of weight rapidly and was just exhausted.

  • RottiesMom
    RottiesMom Member Posts: 167
    edited November 2016 #9
    Options
    phrannie51 said:

    It DOES take time....

    I started feeling more normal after about a year out of treatment, but I'm still not like I used to be (course, age could be part of it, too...I can never tell if I'm aging naturally, or suffering from residual treatment effects!!)....Remind yourself that you didn't simply get over the flu, but a disease that took nuclear war heads to cure....it takes the body a long time to come back.

    Do get your thyroid checked....mine quit three months after treatment....your thyroid might be in the process of calling it quits. 

    p

    Thyroid

    Thanks Phrannie.  My thyroid will be checked when I see the doctor Dec 9 (that will be almost 4 months).  My first petscan is Nov 14 and I see the Rad oncologist on the 16th.

  • Grandmax4
    Grandmax4 Member Posts: 723
    edited November 2016 #10
    Options
    Time

    I have passed the 5 year mark, November 2, but, yes, sometimes even now I'm just exhausted. like Phrannie, it could be age, I'm now 70..YIKES~~but, I'm blaming it on being a charter member of the abi-normal club. Sounds like you are doing every thing right, so when you're tired , just lay that cancer surviving body down.  

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    edited November 2016 #11
    Options
    Hi Lise

     

    Yes very much so for some of us, and can take as much as a year or more before the tired feeling will go away. I was alright through my first treatment for NPC but not so on the second treatment. On the second treatment, I was tired most of the time. My doctor found that my Thyroid gland stopped working  so she got me on some Thyroid Meds that really helped a lot, but at times I still find I am not as strong and feeling good as I once was.

     

    Tim

     

  • LiseA
    LiseA Member Posts: 266
    edited November 2016 #12
    Options
    Seems that since surgery, I'm

    Seems that since surgery, I'm prediabetic.  Don't know if they plays a part in the fatigue. 

Discussion Boards