Does your MO acknowledge chemo brain?

slv58

hi everyone. I'm just wondering if your MO agrees that you can experience chemo brain a year or more post tx? I have had difficulty with having a word on the tip of my tongue and not being able to remember it until hours later. This seemed to be worse during the last few weeks of chemo for about a year and is slowly improving. I am now 17 months PFC and I still don't feel 100% pre chemo, but better than 5 months ago. I had a brain MRI to rule out mets, but my MO says that she doesn't believe it's chemo related and yet everything I read is what I am experiencing. It's very frustrating because I had to see a neurologist-did poorly on a cognitive test and he is sending me for further testing but I am sure this is chemo related. I feel so over diagnosed! 

208sandy

SLV - I indeed did have chemo brain for almost two years but have started to think it is the AIs se's - I am not on any of them anymore as I couldn't tolerate them - are you on any (or Tamox)?  Some MOs don't acknowledge chemo brain (but they don't like to acknowledge any se's) and some do - my PCP is well aware of chemo brain so I complained to her (a lot!)

wrenn

My MO won't attribute anything negative to chemo including my neuropathy. Seems odd that I would develop it at age 67 right after chemo but not have it related.

It has been almost a year for me since chemo and I am only recently starting to feel a little more alert but I have also recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and the medication is no doubt making me less sloggy. My GP told me hypothyroidism can be a temporary side effect of chemo. I am not sure if I believe that but treating it sure made me smarter. :-)

I think it takes a very long time to overcome being poisoned.  My digestion is still not where it was.

I hope you continue to improve. All the best to you. 

WinningSoFar

In contrast, my MO seems to acknowledge all sorts of SE's.  Her statement:  Everything is due to the chemo.  I've never asked her about chemo brain as that is not something that I notice.  What was I saying?  [kidding].

slv58

thank you for replies, Wrenn, you were diagnosed (on my birthday) 7 months after me. I am triple neg as well! I feel that being slammed into menopause hasn't helped with memory issues either. Because my MO refuses to acknowledge chemo induced cognitive impairment, and because I did poorly on the cognitive test (verbal memory and counting backwards from 100 by 7's) I now have to go to a 'memory clinic'-which is a nice term for a dimentia/alzheimer asessment! Plus my drivers license is on the line. All this because I was having difficulty with finding the odd word. I feel helpless against all the specialists opinions when deep down I feel I'm being affected by chemo brain, but no one wants to admit it is possible.

I also experienced hypothyroidism that I thought was due to rads, but could be from chemo. I've been on meds for that since jan. and feel more energetic. Chemo-the gift that keeps giving!