Immune system after chemo

new_direction

I would like to know how many have had problems with their immune system after chemo and for how long. I'm trying not to worry too much but I never used to get ill, now during the last 2 months I've had cystitis, gastroenteritis x 2 and the flu! I finished chemo around new years. On bad days my mind wanders because before I was diagnosed last year I was infected several times too...

Moderators

While you are waiting for more members to reply, you may want to check out the main breastcancer.org site on the immune system. 

We hope this helps!

The Mods

curveball

I caught a cold about three months after finishing chemotherapy, and it took me about twice as long as I expected to recover from it. When I mentioned this to a nurse later on, she said it could have been because of lingering immune depression from chemo. That surprised me. I felt so "back to normal" in other respects I thought any side effects would be over and done with by that time.

proudtospin

I did not have chemo, only....rads but 6 months after ending them, ended up with shingles!  delightful

my immune system had taken a beating and I am sure that is why I ended up with the nasty shingles!

new_direction

thanks for your answers. I feel a bit better now. It seems likely it's "just" because of chemo. I wonder how long it can take for the immune system to go back to normal.

proudtospin

suggestion, eat healthy, get lots of rest and do not be too hard on yourself in fact, do something nice for yourself...I personally recomend facial, manicure, pedicure and such!

rest and good eating will surely help you get to the other side!

BikerLee

At my annual physical, my primary care physician said I had to redo a bunch of vaccinations. I also MIGHT have had shingles - not totally sure because there was no fluid-filled blister to test....  The number ONE YEAR has been tossed around a lot in terms of how long until the immune system recovers to full strength again.

Anyway - I've now had the tetanus etc... vaccines... and will be getting a few others soon, including zoster.

Hope that helps.

new_direction

proudtospin good advice. I didnt feel good about taking antibiotics. I tried taking 5 grams of vitamin C orally - after 1 hour I felt better! I continued taking 5 grams every 3 hours yesterday. Woke up this night because cystitis symptoms had slightly returned. That was 8 hours after my last dosage of vitamin c. So I took 5 grams and went to sleep. Woke up feeling fine.

Renata

My white blood cell counts have never returned to normal and I'm five years out of treatment, it seems that chemotherapy is harder on some people's bone marrow than on others. I used to never catch a cold but after chemotherapy I've got down with the flu every winter. I've simply been told that some people's immune system is forever damaged from the chemotherapy and their white cells count never return to normal leaving them more exposed to all kind of infections. On the other hand I've responded really well to antibiotics and once I've overcome the flu I feel totally fine. I've been advised to get the flu shot from now on. I don't like to think of myself as part of the vulnerable population who need the shot (elderly, children and people with a weakened inmune system) but that's where I stand.

new_direction

Retrospectively I want to post in case someone comes by with the same problem, this could be helpful.

The week before I got cystitis (2 months ago) I had worked out much more than usual. It was actually too much and I was feeling very tired (exercise holiday) when I returned home. I have recently read about how the immune system is also affected by exercise. Too much can lower the immune system. I think this might be the explanation to my infection at the time.