Fatigue after radiation

I had 15 treatments. I still would try to walk, do stretches, but about 3 in the afternoon I was done. Somedays- do a little, rest,do a little…and somedays take a nap. My healing from radiation took over a month- even with olive skin type. Doctor had to call in a cream. It was also summer when I finished so Texas heat didn’t help and because I wasn’t healed I couldn’t/wouldn’t go in the pool. You’ll get through this stage. It may seem like forever but it shall pass. I did take up needlepointing and read more.

The fatigue was unlike anything I’d experienced before. Just lifting my arm seemed to be exhausting. It’s difficult, I know, but it will pass and you will regain your normal strength. Good luck!

I do remember vividly feeling like I was walking in a swimming pool, everything took ten times as much energy. I would just run up against a wall of fatigue every day by noon and go put my head on a table and take a nap. Then after I closed the store, I would go home and lay down for a nap before I could even eat or change my clothes. My husband says that my answer was, “I am too tired to even speak”.
Thing started to return to normal in a month or so but it really took a year after all the treatments to feel like I could truly trust my energy levels.
Did you have other treatments as well as radiation, like surgery or chemo, these things compound each other? Do you have some help to get through until you start regaining your stamina?

Hi
I had lumpectomy Dec 15/23 and sentinol node surgery feb 20/24
Saw my oncologist today so I start to tamoxifen 5 mg tomorrow.

I’m glad you mentioned that it took a year to feel you could trust your energy level again after radiation.

I had forty treatments. The dose was probably lower than what you got. They tell you you "might experience a little fatigue". HA! How about "a lot of fatigue"? When I first started radiation, I met women crying in the radiation waiting room, saying they were at the end of their treatment but didn't want to continue. I didn't understand until I got to about the last week. I woke up one morning and all I wanted to do was give up on radiation. I didn't think I could get dressed much less make it to the hospital. I had to get a friend to take me there. That last "lap" of radiation is terrible. Yes, I identify with autieoakley, "walking in a swimming pool"... Life after cancer treatment is so different it is hard for me to say when the fatigue wore off... I don't know how much is emotional and how much is chemo and radiation. I don't think they talk enough about long term effects of cancer treatment.

Hi
Does anyone after finishing radiation feel brain fog with fatigue? I seem to hit a wall everyday at 3:30 in the afternoon and then it just gets worse from there I am not quite one week done my
Thks

Absolutely- I was done by 3:00 probably everyday for maybe a month or so after. And every so often I still am just done and need a rest- I have notice lately if I get too warm/ hot I need to cool off and rest a bit. Temperature has really seemed to zap me.

Should have added- I finished June 2023 and had 15 treatments with a boost. Took my skin over a month to heal too. Doctor had to call in a cream. Which worked well. I still did my stretching and walked most days.

Listen to your body. Journal everything!

I would lay down for 15 minutes every rss treatment it helped. Just closed my eyes. Try it