Hi All, Has anyone had the higher dose radiotherapy over five days opposed to fifteen? I am due to start 21st August and would be interested to hear about skin reactions, fatigue etc during and post treatment. Many thanks.
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Welcome to the forum @hydranger1 . I haven’t had this personally but I know there are plenty of people on the forum who have . Hopefully someone will be along shortly to share their experiences . Best wishes Jill
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Hi, I had this. Later in the day, after my first session, I developed what I can describe as worsening sunburn. I was quite red the followng day when I went for my next session. The radiotherapist actually got the nursing team to assess. It was fine though and didnt get any worse. A few weeks after, I ended up with blisters. Everything did heal up fairly quickly. I had 3 sessions one week then 2 the week after. I think this is normal practice. Over the first three days, I got more and more tired. I felt quite nauseous over the weekend. Had a good rest and was raring to go on the monday.
Drink loads of water and keep moisturising.
Hope all goes well xx
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I was interested in this too. I haven’t had it yet - due to start on the 25th august. I’ll have five days in a row Monday to Friday.
I had my planning meeting last week where I was put into the machine, shown how to hold my breath for the required time and had my three tattoo marker dots put on.
Interested to hear others experiences. Good luck with it all. I hope I’m not being naive when I think it will be a walk in the park after 7 cycles of dose dense chemo 
.
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Hi, I believe this regime is standard practice now. It was brought it during Covid following a study which showed this was as affective as lower daily dose over 15 days. The five day course I believe is 27g compared with 40g over 15 days. I received the 5 day regime and it was fine. I felt I had a hot boob after the first day but after that my skin was fine. I took moisturiser to apply as soon as radiotherapy session had finished.
Hi, I had the five day course which started on a Thursday so had a break over the weekend and finished the following Wednesday. I had no reaction to it at all, my skin is good, if a little two toned, and I’ve had some tiredness which only kicked in about three weeks after finishing the radiotherapy, but is beginning to lessen now. I’ve been playing my sports and trying to keep as active as possible and drinking lots of water which I think has made it so easy. I hope you find it as straightforward as I did. All the best. xx
I had this in 2022. I had no issues at the time, although I had been warned that my large boob might have some reaction in the area where a bra wire would go due to skin touching skin. This also being where my scar was. About 5 or 6 weeks after treatment, the area became very red and went through a few cycles of peeling, rather like a bad sunburn. It resolved over 2 or 3 weeks. The boob is now harder to the touch than the other one but doesn’t give me any problems.
Thank you all for responding. It’s great to hear from others who have gone before !
Shade, you are correct, the regime is now being adopted as standard for specific type and stage of cancer based on the findings of the Fast-Forward Trial. My initial concern was that there was only five years worth of data on recurrence rates etc but this Trial has ten years worth of data ( presented at ESTRO May 2025). The key finding showed that one week was non inferior to the three week regime in terms of recurrence and long term side effects. Good news for BC ladies.
Fubc, good luck on the 25th! My days are 21st/22nd 25/26/27th.
Best wishes
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I finished my 5 day course two weeks ago. I had this on successive days,no break inbetween. I have had no redness or other skin reaction and no tiredness or fatigue to date. I moisturised 3 times a day leading up to radiotherapy and 4 times a day once treatment started. I may get some reaction and fatigue in the weeks to come but so far its been very easy.
Y
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By all accounts the moisturising and hydration are the important things. Will start the moisturising a few times a day in preparation.
Dreamer2, hopefully you will continue without any major side effects. It was explained that the shorter term symptoms peak at about two/three weeks.
Poorlyboob, good to hear your experience too. Just shows how our bodies can react differently.
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Oh yes hydranger1 i forgot to say about the hydration; 2ltrs of water a day. I drank directly before and after the treatment.
Best wishes to you
Yes another one here who had 5 days hyperfractionated rads and was absolutely bloody delighted to have it too. The actual sessions are over in 15 minutes but there was much hanging around due to broken down machines and I am very relieved I only had to do it five times.
I had no skin breakdown, went a nice tan shade which took 4-5 months to fade. I was hit with fatigue 3 months later which lasted a few weeks and was a trial. Absolutely hydrate and moisturise and you’ll be fine.
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Hi @hydranger1 I had this about four years ago and I moisturised the skin for a few days beforehand and immediately after the radiotherapy which in my case meant I didn’t suffer too much from any redness and no blisters. I also found that moisturiser that is allergen free or one containing aloe vera worked best. I did some breathing exercises to help with fatigue which worked for me as well as trying to do a walk around my local area where I started off with a set target and then tried to improve on that until I felt more my normal self. All the best x
I was a little pink after 5 days, the nipples taking the worst. It was the weeks that followed, I was moisturising as advised but developed round dots under the breast where skin made contact with skin. The diagnosis was that they were blisters, which had burst/emptied and it had turned into thrush. The moisture from the cream and the warm skin causing it. It was resolved with medicated cream and powder - but totally unexpected.
The fatigue is something else and still strikes me 6 months down the line. As with the previous posts, I’m sprite and energetic in the mornings then at times in the afternoon I feel like a zombie. Then come bed time, sleep is not forthcoming. It’s worth mentioning mine was ER+ so I’m on hormone tablets like many, that can contribute to side effects as well. So radiation may not be the only factor.
Best wishes x
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Hi, thank you for that information, it is reassuring.
Another one that had 5 days last year here. I had my treatments Monday to Friday and had a tiny bit of pinkness which soon went away, nothing else. I was told I might feel fatigued which would peak two weeks after treatment and right on cue, two weeks later, I had a weekend when I was absolutely shattered. I slept loads and not had any issues with tiredness since then.
Hope everything goes okay for you too. x
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Hi .i had the 5 days of radiotherapy and other than a little bit of skin sensitivity I was fine . I used moisturiser regularly after each session and kept it in the fridge . I didn’t get any fatigue or tiredness and went away on a weeks cycling trip 10 days after finishing and then cycled London to Amsterdam 5 weeks later. Everyone is different but this was my experience. Hope all goes well
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Not had the high dose but I will say get yourself a pot of organic aloe Vera and smother yourself in it after treatment. I used to wear an old tee shirt and honestly where I smothered myself it was wet but I didn’t burn or have any discomfort you can use this as many times as you need. X. Good luck 🩷
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I had it in July 2022 and had no skin problems, ensuring I moisturised as advised. Tiredness kicked about 4 weeks after my last session and lasted a few months. Early this year my breast became hard and painful in quite a few places. I thought it might lymphedema but after someone posted about fibrosis I realised it was that. They recommended the Australian Breast Physiotherapist, Jen Mackenzie’s self massage videos. Wow, what a difference they make. I noticed the difference in the first week. She shows you how to do the massage and that you only do it 3-5 minutes which appealed to me.
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Hi hydranger1
I had this, I had nothing skin wise but was a bit tired. I don’t know if the tiredness was due to the treatment, I think it was probably just because I was run down with everything going on
Just rest when you need to is my advice
Emma xx
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