If you've been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, you may be heading towards Radiation or have completed Radiation. One of the most common side effects of Radiation is fatigue. However, I believe there is more than just the effect of Radiation that could be causing the fatigue.
Consider the fact that from the point of diagnosis, fatigue as a side effect can start. Immediately following diagnosis you are straight into appointments for scans, procedures and often surgery. Attending appointments means driving to appointments, sitting in waiting rooms, sitting or lying down for scans, sitting and talking to medical professionals then driving home. There is a considerable amount of physical downtime during this period. And with downtime, physical deconditioning starts.
Many people have a short rest following surgery and are then straight into Chemotherapy. As many of you will already be well aware, Chemotherapy is incredibly tiring. So unless you are maintaining regular exercise before and during Breast Cancer, it is highly likely you will be experiencing further physical deconditioning, which in turn impacts fatigue.
Fatigue is not only physical. Fatigue can be emotional and mental. And for most people diagnosed with Breast Cancer there is a lot of emotional and mental stress that occurs - again from the point of diagnosis. Consider all of the medical information you have to process so that you can be involved in treatment decision making processes - this is tiring in itself.
So the take home message is that fatigue experienced during Radiation, may not just be fatigue directly related to the treatment itself. For those diagnosed with Breast Cancer who undergo Surgery, Chemotherapy AND Radiation....consider the entire experience you have just been through. Most of my patients tell me how they 'crashed' after Radiation finished. They describe being tired, flat, unmotivated, sleeping a lot during the day, teary and emotional. The good news is - this appears to be common ground for a lot of people, and it should get better a few weeks after Radiation is complete.
However, if symptoms of fatigue, poor mental and physical health are persisting beyond a few weeks of completing treatment, that is the best time to connect with a Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist who can guide you through a tailored Exercise Program. Exercise has positive impacts of physical AND mental health. If your mental health is not recovering once treatment is completed, consider getting a referral to a Counsellor or Psychologist. So many of my patients have reported significant benefits from talking about their Breast Cancer experience to a good Counsellor or Psychologist, particularly when the Health Professional specialises in looking after people who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
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