How long does fatigue last after prostate radiation therapy

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Table of Contents Show

Causes Of Prostate Cancer Related Fatigue
Managing Your Fatigue
Tips for boosting or saving energy
Tiredness after brain radiotherapy
How long does it take to recover from radiation fatigue?
How long does it take to recover from prostate radiation treatment?
Does radiation fatigue ever go away?
How do I regain energy after radiation?

Prof June Corry, Radiation Oncologist, GenesisCare, St Vincent’s Hospital, VIC; Prof Bryan Burmeister, Senior Radiation Oncologist, GenesisCare Fraser Coast, Hervey Bay Hospital, and The University of Queensland, QLD; Sandra Donaldson, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; Jane Freeman, Accredited Practising Dietitian (Cancer specialist), Canutrition, NSW; Sinead Hanley, Consumer; David Jolly, Senior Medical Physicist, Icon Cancer Centre Richmond, VIC; Christine Kitto, Consumer; A/Prof Grace Kong, Nuclear Medicine Physician, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; A/Prof Sasha Senthi, Radiation Oncologist, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, VIC; John Spurr, Consumer; Chris Twyford, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Radiation Oncology, Cancer Rapid Assessment Unit and Outpatients, Canberra Hospital, ACT; Gabrielle Vigar, Nurse Unit Manager, Radiation Oncology/Cancer Outpatients, Cancer Program, Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA.

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Men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer may experience fatigue as a serious side effect of both their prostate cancer and its associated treatments. Physically speaking, being fatigued can leave your body feeling drained, lethargic and weak. It can also adversely affect your energy levels as well as your ability to maintain daily normal function. The specific reason(s) for cancer related fatigue is unknown. However when being treated for prostate cancer your body will undergo a number of physical changes and any one factor by itself or combined can contribute to prostate cancer fatigue.

The following prostate cancer treatments are commonly associated with the onset of prostate cancer fatigue.

Chemotherapy

Any type of chemotherapy can potentially cause fatigue in patients. However the side effect is more common with the drugs vincristine and cisplatin. Patients often feel fatigued after undergoing several weeks of chemotherapy but this usually varies from patient to patient. Fatigue can last for as little as a few days, or may even persist throughout the course of treatment.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy can cause fatigue that will gradually increase over time regardless of where the treatment site is located. Fatigue usually tends to last several weeks following treatment but can continue for several months to a year even after the treatment has concluded.

Combination therapy

Undergoing more than one prostate cancer treatment at the same time will increase your chances of developing fatigue.

Additional contributing factors to fatigue include:

Chronic or severe pain
Lack of sleep
Stress
Depression
Anemia
Poor nutrition

Managing Your Fatigue

The most effective method in dealing with fatigue is to ascertain and treat the underlying medical cause. The problem with this however is that often times fatigue may be from a combination of factors as opposed to just one. The following tips can help you with managing your prostate cancer fatigue.

Assessment

Maintain a journal to help you identify the exact time of day when you are either most fatigued or when you have the highest level of energy. Make note of what you feel may be contributing factors to your fatigue. In addition be alert to your personal warning signs of fatigue which may include: decreased energy levels, sleepiness, weakness or anxiety. This will help in evaluating your energy levels and effectively managing your fatigue. In addition you can also:

Maintain proper nutrition
Moderately exercise on a regular basis
Learn differents methods to manage stress
Balance your rest and work schedule

Following prostate cancer treatment be sure to mention any concerns you may have with your doctor regarding any fatigue you may experience. If you have any of the following difficulties you feel may be contributing to your fatigue make sure to contact your doctor immediately. These include:

Increased shortness of breath
Uncontrolled pain
Inability to control side effects from treatment
Uncontrollable anxiety or nervousness
Ongoing depression

You might feel tired during your radiotherapy treatment. This could be because:

of having cancer
your body is using energy to repair damage to healthy cells from the radiation
you're in pain
you're having to travel quite a way for your radiotherapy appointments
you're feeling anxious and stressed - this might affect the quality of your sleep at night

Radiotherapy side effects tend to get worse as you progress through your treatment. So you might not feel tired at the beginning of your course but might do towards the end and for a few weeks afterwards.

It's impossible to predict who will feel tired during treatment, some do and others don't.

Tips for boosting or saving energy

Taking shortcuts on some things or getting help from other people can help you to feel less tired.

Some research into treating tiredness (fatigue) shows that it is important to balance exercise with resting. The amount you do depends on how much you're used to exercising. Pick the time of day when you are feeling least tired.

If you're feeling very tired there are some things you can do to help depending on your circumstances:

Drink plenty of water.
Eat a balanced diet.
Have short naps if you need to.
If you're working, see if you can reduce your hours or work from home if possible.
Ask family and friends for help with things like shopping, housework, gardening, and collecting the children from school.
Don't forget to do things that you enjoy – this may take your mind off things a bit and make you feel more relaxed.
Speak to an occupational therapist or social worker if you have problems with your mobility.
Write a list of shopping and go when the supermarket is not busy or have food delivered.
Do household tasks sitting down, where possible.
Play games that you can do sitting or lying down, if you have children. For example, board games, reading books and drawing pictures.

Tiredness after brain radiotherapy

People having radiotherapy for brain tumours often feel tired. This can be worse if you're also taking steroids. The tiredness often reaches its maximum 1 to 2 weeks after the end of treatment.

A small number of people are asleep for a lot of the day after a long course of radiotherapy to the brain. This called somnolence syndrome.

How long does it take to recover from radiation fatigue?

Radiation therapy can cause cumulative fatigue (fatigue that increases over time). This can occur regardless of treatment site. Cancer fatigue usually lasts from 3-4 weeks after treatment stops, but can continue for up to 2-3 months.

How long does it take to recover from prostate radiation treatment?

After completing external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), urinary and bowel side effects may persist for two to six weeks, but they will improve over time. You may need to continue some medications. Some patients report continued, though lessening fatigue for several weeks after treatment.

Does radiation fatigue ever go away?

After radiation therapy begins, fatigue usually increases until mid-way through the course of treatments and then stays about the same until treatment ends. For many patients, fatigue improves after radiation therapy stops. However, in some patients, fatigue will last months or years after treatment ends.