What is going on?

[bobbiw]

Oh boy last week was such a good week. I had energy and was even able to get some exercise in. But holy cow the past two days have been tough. I even had a hard time sitting on the lawn mower to mow the lawn I am just so danged tired! I am sure this is all part of it right? I am currently only doing Herceptin weekly and Tamoxifen daily. I really thought that once I was done with the Taxol my energy would just come soaring back! I do have a Muga scan on Tuesday am hoping that my heart is functioning as well as it had been.
Any thoughts folks? It is normal right? Ok so whatever normal is anymore I guess huh?
Bobbi

[heblaj01]

Bobbi,

I am not a doctor: so what follows may be a complete misunderstanding on my part of what I read in medical news especially when it applies to a perticular person as opposed to averages of many patients.

I am refering to the combination of Tamoxifen with Herceptin your are taking.
How did your onc explain why he chose Tamoxifen instead of an aromatase inhibitor (such as Arimidex,Femara,Aromasin...)?
My concern (perhaps misplaced in your particular case) is the potential of Tamoxifen (once cancer is resistant to it) to promote HER+ tumours.
See this previous post for more details:
http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23945

[bobbiw]

There was another article posted on this board on the same subject as well and I do plan on asking my onc about this. Thanks
Bobbi

[Sherryg683]

Sorry Bobbi, it doesn't work that way, I sure wish it did.. I have read and heard from friends that it sometimes takes a year or more to get your energy back. , still on Herceptin. Sometimes I have so much energy that I feel almost normal again, then I will hit bottom and feel like I can hardly get off the couch. I played tennis the other day and normally I could just keep going. I went home and crashed for 4 hours. It's going to take us a while to get back in gear...sherryg683

[Liz J.]

I have to agree with Sherry. I know that most of us will not have the energy levels pre breast cancer. Every now and then I do get a burst of energy and try to take advantage of it. (You know, like catching up on housework). Then I am exhausted for a few days. I actually feel guilty that I am not able to do things as I did before, but I know I shouldn't. I was never able to sit still before. I think I was hyperactive. Now I say to myself, I will have to do that tomorrow. The important things get done. (Atleast I hope so). We all just have to take it one day at a time and pray for the best. I know it is frustrating, but atleast we are here to complain about it. I am 9 months out of CAF, getting Herceptin every 3 weeks and Arimidex daily. 49 years old as of last week.

I believe you will feel stronger soon.

Sincerely,

Liz J.

[AlaskaAngel]

Hi bobbiw,

Age is a factor, and so is whether or not one was able to exercise consistently during treatment. It is hard not to take it personally, but treatment does affect each of us differently and is harder on some of us than others. So it can be harder for some to recover than others.

At 50 when I was diagnosed I was in great shape, and so I have been pretty upset that it has taken me 3 1/2 years to get back to feeling more "normal" and being able to exercise without stumbling through it. I STILL am not back to my pre-treatment weight, either, but continue to work at it one pound at a time. I think a lot of it is due to muscle damage from steroids given during chemo, too.

I did not exercise consistently during treatment. I worked full-time and some on top of that, and found that was all I could handle with CAF and rads, with the nausea and memory problems.

Work at it, but give yourself credit and a break too....

AlaskaAngel

[heblaj01]

Bobbi,

I forgot to mention in my previous reply one post by AlaskaAngel (http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/member.php?u=180) at

http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23846

which reports one possible cause of fatigue in cancer patients due to an immune response. There may be some future proven remedies to counteract this effect.

Some supplements such as omega-3 fish oil, CoQ10, vitamin D, L-glutamine etc..may provide some help. But each cancer case being different it is advisable to get the opinion of the caregiver before going on supplementation to avoid detrimental interactions with the main treatment regimen.