Do brain cells ever come back??!!

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geewhiz
geewhiz Member Posts: 1,439
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

This chemo brain is no fun. I have been ignoring it. I played a very intense tennis competition today and lost track of the score, calling it wrong so many times. It was so embarrassing!! I lost after almost 4 hours of match play, and I really believe I had won it if I was able to know the score better!!! Geez!!!!

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  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited April 2011

    Mine's better than during chemo, but nowhere near where I was before treatment.  I've become the queen of the post-its.  No help during tennis, though, huh?

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  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited April 2011

    I hear you ladies. I "think" I'm better than during chemo, but some days, I am frustrated and bewildered. Now I think I know what stroke patients struggle with: I "know" the word I want to use, but it literally doesn't light up in my brain for a few seconds or even close to a minute. My poor kids are now used to filling in the blanks! I forget tons of stuff - and kimber, I can't even get my shit together to use post-its! I do write lists for the store or chores, and that helps.

    Yeah, it sucks. I feel like the docs make light of it. That pisses me off.

    So, in response to the question: I'm hoping that good sleep/nutrition/diet, and stimulating the brain through reading/puzzles etc will help.

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  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 6,503
    edited April 2011

    since going on AI's, I'm definitely better functioning that on AI's or doing chemo!!!!

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  • geewhiz
    geewhiz Member Posts: 1,439
    edited April 2011

    Good to hear guys, thanks! I need to buy stock in post it notes I guess.

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  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited April 2011

    Elmcity - I know just what you mean about missing words!  Now before chemo, I might have blanked out on a name of someone I didn't know well or the name of a flower, but now I blank out on very common words and the names of people I've known for years.  My onc acts like it's all in my head, too - very irritating.

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  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited April 2011

    kimber - why do the docs ignore it? i mean, they've TRAINED in this stuff, for God's sake. I love my onc - sweet, caring, brilliant-- but that is a tiny blip in the care. Diet/nutrition discussions don't get very far  either, but that's for another thread!

    i do find if i slow down my thinking and take a breath - that always helps me figure the word. frustrating, though, because i always thought at the speed of light - i guess most of us multitask constantly!

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  • Binney4
    Binney4 Member Posts: 8,609
    edited April 2011

    I'm ten years out, and for a long time I thought my brain was getting better, but then realized that what I was really doing was developing better strategies to remind me of the things I need to do and how to gracefully get out of situations that tax my mental powers.Smile The good news is, we really DO get good at figuring these things out. Geewhiz, I have no doubt you'll work out a way to keep track of the tennis score, now that you know you'll need to work at it. Relax and give yourself some room, and before you know it you'll be back on track.Cool

    When I talk to my oncologist about this he has the grace to nod somberly and say, "It's always my brightest patients who complain about that side effect!" Needless to say, he's a keeper.Kiss

    Be well!
    Binney

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  • clariceak
    clariceak Member Posts: 752
    edited April 2011

    I'm not sure if I can blame my decrease in cognitive ability solely on chemo brain.  Aren't many of these symptoms also associated with menopause? 

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  • Binney4
    Binney4 Member Posts: 8,609
    edited April 2011
    Yes, and lack of estrogen, which happens with tamoxifen or the AIs too. It's a triple-whammy, but we do find ways to work around it. A sense of humor helps a lot.
    Binney
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  • hymil
    hymil Member Posts: 826
    edited April 2011

    Fact is Geewhiz, that after nearly four hours, the best your opponent could do was confuse you into conceding defeat when in all likelihood you were winning all along! If she was able to beat you she should have got it over with much sooner.  Well done you!

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  • geewhiz
    geewhiz Member Posts: 1,439
    edited April 2011

    Hymil, you made me laugh out loud. Thank you all. Binney, you are right.. I am on Tamox, maybe that's trouble too. My onc just rolls her eyes a bit at me. It does seem they should address these issues more. It would be neat to have a "so you survived chemo....now what?" class at the cancer centers. It could cover side effect management, nutrition and exercise to to recover and prevent recurrence. Of course, Id be late....having forgotten the time perhaps!

    I would have responded sooner to all, but was wandering around the shopping mall parking lot trying to remember where the heck I left my car....

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  • momand2kids
    momand2kids Member Posts: 1,508
    edited April 2011

    ok

    here is how bad I find this--- aside from keeping daily lists, post it notes, emailing myself ---I was in a meeting the other day and my boss was speaking--I sent him an email in the middle of his speech to tell him about something I wanted (related to what he was talking about).  I told him afterwards, if I did not send it, it would have completely flown out of my head and I never would have remembered it....and I used to have the most fabulous memory.....sigh 

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited April 2011

    Chemo brain does get better with time.  During my first round with chemo, I couldn't read books due to poor concentration and forgot everything it seemed.  There was one time I went into the kitchen to make lunch, must have gotten distracted left the kitchen and moved on.  Several hours later I walked in the kitchen to find food on the counter, jars open and bread laying on a paper towel.  And..........it took me several minutes to figure out how it got there.  It was then that I realized it was getting bad.  My concentration and memory did start to get better after completing treatment, it just took a little time.

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  • kimber3006
    kimber3006 Member Posts: 586
    edited April 2011

    Binney, if my onc had a suggestion box, I'd drop in your onc's response to the issue!  Like Elmcity, this and diet/exercise are the 2 areas he could use a little more finesse dealing with - otherwise I think the world of him.

    Hymil, thanks for the laugh!

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  • LuvRVing
    LuvRVing Member Posts: 4,516
    edited April 2011

    There are ongoing clinical trials to assess chemo brain.  This one is actively recruiting participants:

     http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00708045

     And some others that may be finished:

    http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/summary/2005/chemobrain0605

    And an article:

    http://news.cancerconnect.com/chemo-brain/

    It's real...they know about it...and no oncologist should be rolling their eyes when you bring it up.

    Michelle

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  • JFV
    JFV Member Posts: 795
    edited May 2011
    Thanks for bringing up this topic !  I just had trouble remembering how to unlock the door to our car so I could get out of it.  I really hope I get my brain back soon !Laughing
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2011

    Sitting there watching tv realizing glass of water empty needing a fill-up, next thing i knew when reaching for the glass, it was full. Now that really scared me :(

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  • hymil
    hymil Member Posts: 826
    edited May 2011

    Well Luan, that does rather depend on your domestic situation: It could be your first gesture was noticed by a kind Significant Other who got up and filled the glass for you and in fact your concentration (on the TV) was so GOOD that you never noticed. Of course, if you live alone it's a bit different...

    Hey, maybe if you start with the glass half-empty and transform it to being half-full by that huge effort of will and positivity that we all know is so essential Sealed , once you master that it's just a matter of putting a bit less water in each day.....  and when you have got glasses of water filling themselves off pat, you can work up to petrol tanks?

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2011

    Hymil, no kind significant other as far as the eye can see... {


    Now, if i was'nt so parched up by Tamox that i could trade water for oil, i'd take all u sisters on a grand tour, but by the looks of things I'm gonna have to hold on real tight to those marbles of mine !



    edited to add: Hymil, hat off to ure fine wit, looking forward
    to reading many more of your posts



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  • ktn
    ktn Member Posts: 181
    edited May 2011

    During chemo one day I watched 3 Lifetime movies in a row as I rested on the couch. The next time we saw I saw the Onc my husband asked if I should be doing puzzles, books, etc to keep from losing brain cells! I could have shot him!!! My Onc laughed and said I could do whatever I felt like!     

    Things are better after chemo but sometimes I'll say something that comes out wrong- I'll say the wrong word or something that doesn't make sense. I write reminder notes alot too.  Sometimes I notice coworkers being forgetful and they haven't had chemo but they also are passed menopause!         

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited May 2011

    I used to have an extensive vocabulary, better than average. Now, I need a thesaurus to get through the day. I can think of something, can think of lots of things associated with it, and even synonyms but can't remember the exact term for it. Drives me crazy!

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  • geewhiz
    geewhiz Member Posts: 1,439
    edited May 2011

    I live in the suburbs....the land of minivans. Every other vehicle is a Honda Odyssey that looks EXACTLY like mine. I have now gotten tired of wandering up and down rows, trying to gain access to the wrong vehicle. When I was a kid, I used to have this bright orange flag that stuck way off the top of my bike. I need one of those suckers again!!

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  • Octobergirl
    Octobergirl Member Posts: 334
    edited May 2011

    I have been reading that some Oncs and GPs are prescribing short term Ritalin  for the cognitive deficits and fatigue which follows chemo and wonder if any of you gals have read or tried this?  I have had significant problems with memory, organization and fatigue.  I asked the clinic NP about Ritalin months ago but she said she pooh-poohed the question, suggested I might need a complete neuropsych eval. and sent an email to my Onc letting him know my question and her opinion.  Interestingly, I had asked him about Ritalin at an earlier appt. and he had agreed to try it after I recovered from appendix surgery. Following this and other treatment decision issues with the NP, I wrote my Onc specifying that all futures appts. be with him and all tx. decisions would be made between the two of us...sorry I've sidetracked re the NP experience but I am still majorly ticked with how much time and energy I've had to spend to try to straighten out her triangulating communication and overstepping.  I'm still interested in knowing more about trying Ritalin short-term to try to jump start the damaged brain cells and help with fatigue. 

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