Exhausted

Lindzanne

I'm wondering if I'm the only one that suddenly felt "sick" when they were diagnosed. Before I got my call two weeks ago. I was exercising regularly, eating well, had tons of energy, and feeling in better health than I had for a long time. Now I just feel exhausted and unmotivated. Is the the emotional stress and anxiety? It worries me because I haven't even started any treatmentsuggestions yet, when I REALLY will be tired. Has anyone else felt thus? Should I push myself to try to be at the same energy level I was before, for as long as I can? Will that shake me out of this anxiety and depression? There's probably no concrete answers, but I wondered if anyone could relate to this drop in energy when they were newly diagnosed. Thanks!

ceanna

Lindzanne, you don't say where you are in developing a treatment plan, but guessing it's not in place yet. Depending on your diagnosis and possible future meetings with your medical team, your reduced motivation just might be lack of some concrete plan for treatment. Once that plan is in place, and you begin treatment, you may find your energy and motivation back to "beat this thing!" Give yourself some time to recognize what is happening and get a plan in place. Write down questions as you think of them for your medical team. Best wishes.

Ropes-End

You just got shocking news. Depressed sounds about right. I think you need time to come to terms with your new circumstance. When I heard the word "carcinoma" in my doctor's office, nothing else was audible. I sat numb, dumb and deaf until I noticed she asked whether I had any questions and realized it wasn't the first time she asked the question. I am happy you found onto the forum earlier than I did. Please "push" to regain your mental and physical energy. I cannot tell you how your treatments will affect you. Everyone is unique. But, I do hope you retake control. That is what I am fighting for every day. It is a slow process. I keep reminding myself not to compare this to a root canal or broken limb. Yes, I still get to the point of tears many days. For me it is not useless to cry, it is what I need to do at that time. Afterwards, I look at where I am from where I have been and move ahead. There are wonderful things in life still. Seek out others dealing with the same issues. Somehow being told "I understand" is all I need some days. It took long for me to respect that nothing I was "feeling" was wrong. You can do a lot with feelings, even change them. Physical exercise always made me feel better when I got depressed. Exercises are part of my treatment plan to gain back energy, recoup from the surgery and alleviate the side effects of the chemo.  Hope you feel better.

anya214

Lindzanne,

I am feeling exactly the same....I actually slept 24 of the last 48 hours....and I wondered how in the world I would survive treatment. I am exercising, eating well, taking supplements, etc....but I'm so tired....I was sure the cancer had metatisized everywhere already! Everyone says to relax, it's just what your body needs, so I'm trying to go with that. I hope you get energy back soon.

Ropes-End

ceanna and anya214, did you notice we were up posting messages at the time most people are sleeping or heading to bed. That's because we had a focus. I think that is some form of energy. I applaud you both!

When I am down, I dislike when people give directives to me auch as 'cheer up", 'think positive thoughts",...I wonder if they think I am dumb and hadn't tried that. I know they are trying to help, but it doesn't, I feel less capable and criticized. So, I won't suggest that you change your feelings, just your focus.

When I am depressed, I play "sitting on a dock of a bay" loudly or remember it in my head if people are around. The lyric that intrigues me is, "sitting on the dock of a bay, wasting time." Then there is the catchy whistling. At fisrt you hear him complaining about all the hassle he is having and reclused himself for some alone time, right? But, he says wasting time. It is wasting time being immovable. Please move, do, and act energized until you feel the energy. Start a craft/project, paint the bathroom, plan a trip to Fiji, or somewhere else that doesn't rake 17 hours travel time. If nothing else you will have a sense of accomplishment a goal.

mustlovepoodles

I think your experience is probably a common one. I know it was for me. I did pretty well initially, but as time went on and I began to have one complication after another, I felt like retreating into my own little cocoon. I didn't want to get off the couch, couldn't concentrate on reading or watching TV, couldn't cook or do any housekeeping, felt nauseous, and began having daily diarrhea (I have IBS-D and stress REALLY sets if off). I kept sighing every few minutes. All my joints felt disconnected, like I had to mentally re-join them to stand up or walk. I went to see my psychiatrist, who immediately diagnosed me with PTSD. She put me on an antidepressant which helps both depression and anxiety, and a sleeping pill because I wasn't sleeping most nights. They have truly worked wonders for me.

And two weeks ago my Dh was diagnosed with a high grade, very aggressive prostate cancer. He is not a good candidate for radiation, so he will have to have surgery. The PTSD came back in full force and it has been hard to stay on top of it. I'm sighing again, feel nauseous, having loose, watery stools, want to sleep all the time but waking up several times a night. Hopefully, once we have a surgery date this will begin to level off. I do find that I am drinking more, which probably isn't a good thing with all these meds. But at least I'm not keeping the liquor in the house, so it's not easy to access unless I go out for it.

I wish you the best. If your symptoms have gone on for 2 weeks or more, I would suggest that you might be depressed. Who wouldn't be? Call your doctor and let him/her know what's going on. You may benefit from some short-term medication to help you cope.