Hi everyone
I have been falling asleep a lot recently (like going to bed in the middle of the day or falling asleep on the sofa in the evening at around 8pm) and I mentioned this to my chemo nurse (I am on herceptin which has few side effects for me).
She obviously didn’t like the sound of it,spoke to my consultant and now I am being referred for an early CT. I am currently NED but haven’t had a scan since November. I wasn’t particularly worried about being tired until the nurse picked up on it - has anyone had experience of ‘sleepiness’ being an indicator of increased cancer activity? I am hoping it’s just my increasing age (well,only 45) and the fact that I do a lot, working and horse riding and young child.
Hugs Justy x
Hiya, it could be down to different things anemia etc but i have to say that tiredness was mine main sympton before i was dx physical tiredness cant remember about the mental bit.
It could be your age too, we all think we can do all the normal stuff we are used to then you think that although still younf at 45 years you cant do things that you would when you were 25.
Its good you are getting it checked out. Do you yawn alot? thats one sign od anemia.
Hi I have always been like a whirlwind busy busy all the time even though I am 58. I get overcome with feelings of exhaustion around 4 pm no matter what I have been doing. It is overwhelming but if I can ride it out I seem to come round a bit and manage to stay up until nine when I go to bed watch try and fall asleep for about ten. I soon get tired if I do anything physical. This has gone on since finishing herceptin 8 months ago. I was more tired on herceptin but have never got back to how I was before. I do fall asleep in the afternoon if possible and I am fine then. Are you ok after an afternoon sleep. I wonder sometime if there is 'owt going on but it doesn’t seem to have gone any worse than it is. Before dx falling asleep in the afternoon was for old granny’s.(I am an old granny ha ha) Take care Eileen
Just to say also although I have said on previous posts that Herceptin gave me no side effects, the only thing that was noticeable was an increasing tiredness as I got near the end of the treatment xx Eileen
Don’t think I would worry too much about the tiredness, What you have to remember is that your body has been through an awful lot, Chemo took me to my losest point but feel a little better now I’m on Herceptin. I still want to sleep in the middle of the day and it is an overwhelming tiredness.
I can’t imagine going through this with a young child to care for and work AND hospital appointments then to add to that you will be mentaly exhausted with worrying. In my experience I still think I should be able to do all the things I did before, I try and then I’m worn out. I have been told that fatigue lasts for a few years after treatment for breast cancer so please stop worrying, it is good they are keeping a close eye on you but sometimes they alarm people with what they say.
Take care,
Liz x
I finished treatment in May 2007 and still get very sleepy at times especially around 4pm and a lot of tv does it too but I find a good book or lively conversation bucks me up.I too was given a figure of 3 years before you are fully over chemo.try not to worry.Love Valxx
Well i have to say I am practically comatose. I sometimes don’t get up till 11.00a.m and often i am really sleepy at suppertime. I have this overwhelming exhaustion that comes over me, sometimes i may only have been up an hour yet still i can easily fall asleep again.
My husband knows that if i leave him i will only be an hour away in any direction because that’s about as far as i can drive without having some kind of break.
I hope I am not butting in as I haven’t been on chemo so don’t know how it affects people, but I would guess that anything that destroys healthy cells and cancer cells must take a lot out of you. Your tiredness could be for many other reasons other than cancer. Has it come on suddenly and have you any other symptoms such as headaches etc - it could be a virus which would make you tired. Or anaemia or hypothyroidism which is common in women or even good old hormones going a bit potty. Do you sleep well during the night or do you wake up a lot? The trouble is that you will automatically associate it with a possiblity of cancer but it could be a hundred other things. Hope you get some answers soon.
Hi
Thought would add my bit. I am permanently tired nowadays. I do get worried about how tired I feel, and when I have treatment I start to fall asleep on the sofa now, and end up in bed by 9.30. This is really unlike me, but since i was dx in July 07 with bc and liver mets my life has changed.
I am only just 41, and have a 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son, and I do think that a lot of my tiredness is continuing the routines with them, school run and taking my little boy to play places. It is exhausting and I now stay in the couple of days after my herceptin.
I hope it is just treatment and nothing more sinister, and when I tell the chemo nurses or my onc, they dont really take that much notice.
Love
Dawn
xx
Hi everyone
Thanks very much for your comments. I was in a bit of a tizzy about it because my chemo nurse seemed to take it pretty seriously (as it is quite unlike me) but actually I have been a lot better over the past couple of days so I am hoping it is all a fuss about nothing. As some of you have commented, it is very easy to start believing that every small thing is a sign of cancer!
However my scan has now been brought forward, so I’ll let you know how I get on.
Justy xx
hi everyone
havent been here before, dx bc august 07 2 lumpectomys 25 rads and tamoxifen 5 years. thought everything was getting back to normal, just about coping with the effects of tamoxifen when i found ovarian cysts!yes i can feel it! had ultrasound etc CA125 ok, but now going for colposcopy tomorrow, absolutely terrified. do they do that cos they think its cancer or preventative, has anyone else been here?
Hi Justy
I hope your scan results are OK. I’m surprised in some ways that your consultant has recommended a scan because tiredness is such a usual side effect of cancer treatment for a while afterwards. (I never recovered my stamina two and a half years after treatment finished…and then got a recurrence so have been chemo tired since then.) Also because having cancer in the first place is pretty stressful, stress can lead to extra tiredness.
Tiredness is often associated with very late stage secondary cancer but the kind of tiredness you describe is just so common in people who’ve had chemotherapy/radiotherapy.
Good luck with the scan.
Jane
Hi Justy,
You don’t say how far through herceptin you are. I found I got increasingly tired towards the end, having felt really quite good at the half way stage. I think this is quite usual. There seems to be a cumulative effect that only really kicks in after six months or so.
Hi everyone, me again posting an update.
Well I have had a bit of a rollercoaster few days and it’s not over yet.
My CT scan ordered because of my sudden tiredness (well it was more like narcolepsy - falling asleep quite suddently in the day!)showed enlarged lymph nodes under my ‘other’ arm (lymph nodes in middle of chest and under left arm already all removed!!).
Then when I explained exact nature of my tiredness to onc I was rushed off for immediately brain scan, which was quite scary.
To cut a long story short they did find my brain,thankfully minus any sign of tumours.
And yesterday I had a needle biopsy of enlarged armpit gland. But, the radiologist gave me some hope as he said the gland was a very regular shape which would suggest it might not be cancer. I am trying not to pin too much hope on that in case he is wrong - but my experience of these people is that they tend not to say things like that unles they are fairly certain.
Also onc says cancer in a few armpit nodes wouldn’t be making me sleepy. I get my results Fri.
In the meantime I am off work and much less tired (there’s a surprise) and haven’t fallen asleep once. Please let it all be a storm in a teacup.
In answer to your question Roadrunner I have been on herceptin (second time round) for three and a half years. But docs don’t think it would be that making me sleepy.
Hugs all
Justy xx
Hi Justy
Hope you can forget about results etc for a few days - not easy at all I know. Keep busy and focus on what the onc has hinted at. Great news they found your brain and with no added bits as well ! Just stepping up to the great CT scan rollercoaster myself, so I do know how worrying things can be. Luckily mine is a ‘checkup’ scan but still as scary as hell! Keep us posted.
Nicky
As I’ve already mentioned on another post. There are some women with secondary cancer, in america who are given ritalin to combat this feeling of exhaustion. I mentioned this to my onc on my last visit and he is going to look into it. Maybe there is a chance that we can all benfit from this, if, of course there is something in it.