Radiation - When Sunburn Side Effect and Fatigue Starts

PamCA

Hello everyone,

I will have my 5th rad today.  I am wondering at my point (how many rads) your skin starts to turn red and is painful?  Also, is it a good idea to put aloe vera or some sort of cream on before you start to have redness or do you wait until that starts to happen?  

Also, I am wondering when the fatigue starts and how long it is before it gets so it is hard to work?  I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Since I still have a lot of fatigue from having just finished chemo, I am planning to try to work just Saturday and Sunday.  (During chemo I felt so bad that I could only work 1 weekend out of 3 weekends.)

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Pam 

Elizabeth1889

PamCA, I used creams several times a day as soon as I started rads and my skin held up very well. I only a little redness and skin breakdown by the end of rads. Mostly, I used emu oil and Miaderm. Find out what creams your RO recommends and use them often. Regarding fatigue, everyone is different. I had four rounds of TC before I started rads and I was tired often, but not terribly so. The fatigue lasted several months after rads ended, but it lessened as time went on.

liefie

Hi Pam, I've had my 17th of 25 rads today, and I've been noticing some redness since yesterday. The two days off from rads over the weekend should give my skin some relief. I take the green Aloe Vera gel (non alcoholic) with me to rads, and put lots of it on immediately afterwards before I get dressed. It's not too pleasant, but it soothes and cools the skin. A few hours later I put it on again. During the rest of the day I put on Lubriderm Intensive twice, including before I go to bed, and I use it liberally. I don't feel more tired than usual - maybe that will still come, but side-effects are different for everybody. I don't believe I'll be as tired as I was after chemo ended. Hope this helps.

itsjustme10

I started getting really red somewhere around #22 of 25 treatments, so it wasn't that bad.  It did get worse for the 2 weeks after, but then rapidly improved.  I only used the Aquaphor the RO recommended.  It was greasy, but did its job.

For me, the fatigue was kind of there, but not a big deal - I still went to the gym almost every day, and that helped manage fatigue.  Even today, a couple of months after finishing rads, going to the gym is the best thing I can do for any residual fatigure.

Cindyl

I was pink on day one.  It just continued to get more intense as treatment went on. The first week I was very fatigued, but that got much better and didn't really return until the end.  My first blister appeared on day 27 or so, and by the end of that day the skin was pealing and raw and vicoden was my new best friend. I was healed up enough to resume wearing a sports bra about two weeks after treatment finished, and now, a month out, I feel pretty good.  I make it sound horrible, but really, it wasn't unbearable at all.