Radiation - Did anyone get tired?

[emmasmom]

One other question? I am in the midst of 33 radiation treatments. Did any of you get tired from them and when?

Thanks!

Lisa

[karenann]

I was so exhausted during rads that I thought there was something wrong with me. I think I expected to feel better since I had completed chemo. The thing you have to remember is that your body is still fighting. You'll feel better, I promise.

Karen

[Mgarr]

Definitive Yes. And 1/2 way thru my blood counts were still low. My radiation onc. assured me there are some women whose counts are still low at that point. You will start feeling better it just takes some time.

Mary

[SherryS]

I was tired off and on. Like Karenann, I expected that once I finished chemo I'd have more energy. I was told by one of my closest friends who is a pediatric oncology nurse that I would be very tired on rads. Thing is, we're all different and it hits at different times. I was more fatigued than tired. Some of that was having to get up so early every morning -- I was on the train downtown to the hospital by 7:01 every morning, getting up around 5:30 a.m. So by the middle of the afternoon I was tired. Then it just becomes a cumulative thing -- the early hours, keeping to a fairly "normal" day and the accumulation of the radiation in the body. I finished rads at the beginning of April and I'm still fatigued. Some days are much better than others -- I find the weather can drag me down, whatever other responsibilities I have in a given week and if I'm pushing myself too hard. It takes awhile for the body to repair itself and to my thinking, the fatigue is the body's way of saying "hello, you really did a number on me, and I'm still putting the pieces back together." There are days I call myself Humpty Dumpty...but my story has a happier ending than that egg!

[Sherryg683]

I have just finished #16 of 28 rads today. I was damned exhausted after the first treatment, now I just feel like a walking zomby most of the time. I didn't have a break after chemo, so I guess it's an accumulation. It's a miracle our bodies still work at all after all the poison and stuff we have had to endure. That shows how strong our bodies really are. On top of that I have had this sinus crap for over 6 weeks now. I walked into my Oncologist office today and demanded an MRI on my brain to be done soon, I want to make sure that these headaches are indeed sinus related. He's always done CT scans on me but I want and MRI. But to answer your question, yes...radiation can be more exhausting than chemo itself...sherryg683

[DeborahNC]

I thought I had the whole rads thing licked until about #23 of 33. After the treatment I leaned against a wall to talk with a rad-onc nurse and just kept sliding to the floor!

I became totally exhausted in such a sudden way it was frightening. It took months for me to recover my strength; much more than I was led to believe.

[Bev]

We all are different. I had a 3 wk break after chemo. I can't say that I was fatigued during radiation, but had been just prior. Except for kids I do have a low stress life and that may help. BB

[Tami]

I was exhausted and once radiation was over it still took 6 months before I felt my energy level improve noticably.

Hang in there -
Tami