Chemo finished…why do I feel like this?
Chemo finished…why do I feel like this? I finished chemo six weeks ago and I do think I coped reasoably well throughout, managing to keep life fairly normal and working on keeping myself as active as possible, walking on a regular basis for up to an hour. So when the day of my final chemo arrived I couldnt wait to start building myself up and start to feel something like normal. I honestly feel worse now than I did througout the chemo…absolutely knackered. I can barely walk for 10 minutes and my body feels so weak and achy. Has anyone else experienced this? I do wonder if I am expecting too much too soon. Sorry to moan on, but I do find it so frustrating!!
Hi Libby,
I know how you feel; I had my last chemo 4 weeks ago and wanted to get back to ‘normal’ straight away. I felt absolutely shattered.
Last Friday…3 weeks post chemo…I suddenly started to feel more like myself and since then have managed to do a bit more, but no where near my pre chemo self.
I think we have to accept that this is going to take a long time to get over and try not to do too much.
( I start rads next week so lets hope that doesn’t “set me back”
Take care and be patient
Sue
Hi Girls I found that by the end of rads I was really tired, I am now 2 weeks into *normal*, but feel anything but !! It’s hard to accept that we are not what we were pre treatment 
Higs
marge
xx
I think its trying get back to ‘normal’ too soon. It takes at least 6 months for the drugs to get out of your system, and then some.
Hi Libby I finished chemo last April, and a friend of mine had finished hers 2 years before, she told me that her oncologist told her that the body can take between 12 months and 2 years before it gets back to pre-chemo.
So go easy on yourself (hark!!) I still get the odd day when I know that I have done too much. Life feels so sweet after what we have been through and we are all eager to get back to ‘normal’ but what is normal now?
I do try to walk a little slower, and not to rush around as much…but we are women!!
Go easy on yourself and take one day at a time, if its a good day enjoy and if its not so good…well theres always tomorrow.
Love Debbie x
It takes time to recover. The drugs are still in the system for a very long time, and you just have to be patient. It took six months before my legs began to feel normal, and fatigue continued for longer. After all, if you have had a major operation, you don’t expect to be up and about immediately. The same applies with cancer treatments. Take it easy, eat sensibly, enjoy what you can, and look forward to the day when you really feel good.
It’s interesting what Debbie was told that it can take 1 to 2 years to recover. I am 18 months down the line from chemo and still get horribly tired. So Libby, 6 weeks is nothing at all! But we’ll get there in the end so hang on in.
Sue
Hi Libby Hi Libby.
Chemotherapy involves poisoning you to within an inch of your life. It works because normal cells are good at repairing themselves but cancer cells aren’t and so the cancer cells are destroyed.
After the last chemo session the effect continues for the next 4-6 weeks. So you are not post-chemo yet .
The last chemo is in many ways the hardest because you have had lots of previous chemo sessions and so you aren’t quite as physically resilient as you were after your first chemo. I think this is particularly noticeable in fit people. For the first three months of chemo I was still winning at badminton (against a very competitive friend who wouldn’t even give me a single extra point because of the BC). By the time the last session came I was exhaused and very relieved that the chemo was coming to an end.
It takes a while to recover from all this. Keep on with the walking - even if it is only 10 minutes. Have plenty of rest. Get other people to run around after you over Christmas. Try out a few parties (and have an escape plan in case you get tired). On the drinks front a biochemist friend of mine recommends Guiness to replace iron loss, my surgeon recommends Irn Bru because it is full of minerals but I recommend champagne because it tastes nice.
You’ll feel better soon.
Good luck,
Sue
Dear Libby and supersue Dear girls
I identify so much with your comment, Sue.
I have continues exercising all the way through 7 months of chemo and rads and have managed well with tennis and cycling. However had my final session 3 weeks ago and feel absolutely shattered! Still cycling but very slowly as I’m TIRED. My body is saying enough and so it is. I can feel that’ll take a few months (years?)for me to get my fitness back. I’ve just spent 4 days in hospital with a sore throat and non-existent cell count. Better now but now realise that they’ve probably been low for a while and contibuting to my exhaustion.
Let me recommend acupuncture and being kind and understanding to yourself. Get other people to run around, do a little exercise every day and rest when necessary.
Like Sue, I recommend champagne for its ‘pure’ properties!
love to all
Jenny X