How do I cope with post-chemo muscle fatigue

Hi Geosomin-I am 19 months post chemo, although I only finished my herceptin 8 months ago. Everyone is different, but I found strenuous exercise made the fatigue worse. The aching leg muscles last for a while, can't remember how long, but definitely many months and not weeks post chemo. You are really early days yet, so don't push yourself. I tried that a year post chemo, and I had the most enormous post chemo fatigue that lasted for weeks. Listen to your body. Try a little gentle exercise at first. Nothing close to your pre chemo exercise regime. Just try something gentle that gets you out to look at the lovely spring flowers. If it tires you out - throttle back a bit, and try again when you feel a bit stronger. Please don't try to get back to normal too quickly. I made that mistake, but won't do it again!!! I say "No" now if I am tired. It is not worth taking 1 step toward and then 3 steps back! You said you do not know what your body is telling you now, but I think you do. It is definitely telling you to slow down!!! I think I have finally turned a corner now I am a bit wiser, and my energy levels have started getting closer to normal. I think the extra weight has a lot to do with the steroids and lack of oestrogen. It takes ages to lose it, but it will start coming off. Good luck with your surgery and rads. Hang in there!!! Hope this helps answer your question. As I said - everyone is different, but things will get better-just more slowly than we all imagined!!

Here are the supplements I have been taking to help improve MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION. I started these at 4 weeks after my last infusion and have been using them for about 3 weeks now. I noticed improvement within just a couple of days of adding the d-ribose.

NOTE: I'm not a doctor or a health care professional of any sort, I'm just reporting some things that have been helpful to me. Definitely check with your doctor prior to taking any of these to make sure they are suitable for you -- especially the D-ribose, because it is a sugar. I took D-ribose for a couple of weeks only, and stopped taking it once I was feeling better.

Alpha Lipoic Acid -- 300 mg per dayI take Jarrow ALA Sustain, one 300 mg tablet per day. 

Co-Q-10 -- 300 mg per day
I take Jarrow Ubiquinol QH Absorb, two 100 mg capsules in the a.m. and one capsule in the p.m.

D-Ribose -- 20 grams per day (could go a little higher, to 30 grams, to start)
NOW brand is good and reasonably priced. Buy powder, not capsules. Mix this into a glass of water and drink it down. D-ribose is the sugar your mitochondria use to make energy.

NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) -- 600 mg per day
I take NOW brand, one 300 mg capsule in the a.m. and one in the p.m. NAC helps form glutathione, an antioxidant the body makes itself.

Resveratrol -- 200 mg per day
Take one 100 mg capsule in the a.m. and one in the p.m. This is an antioxidant that protects the mitochondria.

These are also helpful:

Magnesium --Make sure you're getting enough of this. Magnesium aspartate was recommended to me, but probably any easily absorbably version would be helpful.

Iron -- Make sure to get enough of this until your red blood cell counts are back up to normal, because mitochondria also need oxygen to produce energy. Get it from food. Some of the best sources are: chicken or beef liver, pumpkin seeds, lentil soup, spinach, and black-eyed peas.

Also make sure you are eating enough protein to build new tissue.

Do your lower-body workouts (running or walking) only every other day to start. On the days between, try doing some light weights for upper body, but don't do any leg or butt work or even walking. It can take 2-3 days to replenish energy supplies, so leg work every day will be counter productive.

If you are worried about losing muscle mass and therefore strength, you can try:

L-Glutamine -- This is an amino acid that is "anti-catabolic," meaning it helps keep muscle from being broken down during times of stress. It is also good for the intestines and immune system. Get powder, not tablets or capsules. Mix with water and drink it down. Under high stress conditions, the package recommends 3 to 5 grams, taken 3 or 4 times a day. I use MRM brand.

In reply to someone who posted about neuropathy:

I took the L-Glutamine powder throughout my chemo at the rate of  30 grams per day (10 grams, taken 3 times per day) and was spared any symptoms. I wonder if this stuff could possibly be of help in clearing your symptoms?

In reply to someone who asked about a cleanse or detox:

I am trying Garden of Life Perfect Food Alkalizer and Detoxifier (a powdered green food) and FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth (1 tablespoon per day -- I mix this with the green food in a glass of water and drink together). Be sure to use ONLY Food Grade diatomaceous earth (DE). These can mess with your stomach a little, so you may want to start with less than a full dose.

I would be interested to hear from others if you find these, or some other supplements, to be helpful for legs.

I've had a lot of improvement lately. My GP (after my premastectomy bloodwork) noticed my albumin was low and mentioned that that can cause edema and muscle cramping and suggested I increase my vitamin B and protein uptake to bring this back to normal after my chemo. He felt it would also help me heal up from surgery. It's been a few weeks of doing this along with lots of stretching and the cramps and weakness in my legs has reduced significantly and my water retention in finally gone. I've lost about 12 Lbs of water and feel a lot more human again. I can now walk long distances and go up stairs without pain. I still get some cramping and stiffness, but it is much more managable. My fatigue had faded considerably too. I feel like me again, even if I still have to take it easy.

Just a suggestion to you all out there-it sure helped me

SO glad to find this discussion. 2 weeks post final TC infusion and all this has hit. I had no idea it would get worse AFTER finishing chemo. So helpful to have this info!

let me tell you my story for those who need a bit of hope

I am 34, active, very lean and a busy mother of a two year old.  i had minimal side effects w chemo.  around cycle 5 i started having super stranger muscle aches and burning when i walked just 2 feet.  the pain would stop when i stopped and return as soon as i started walking.  i remember needing to rest 3-4 times just going from parking lot to dr office.  i was horrified.  really.  couldnt go grocery shopping.  i continued on exercise and mag supplements.  somehow 8 weeks post chemo ALL muscle aches dissapeared.  i mean ALL.  so i needed time to recover.  there is hope

i am on lupron and have started AI about 10 days ago and so far no side effects.  will see.  i try not to have much expectations and get dissapointed.

thank you all for posting. all thru and after chemo my ono's said/say taxoter, carboplatin, and Herceptin do not have side affects to eye, legs, fatige, etc. they said only tingle to fingers and hair. 2.5 years after last chemo for breast cancer 18 rounds I find harder I try to get strength back seems to instead go backwards to strength. I guess I thank you because the ono doctors are unaware of these issue (other docs are aware) and say not related to chemo, but sites like these give me hope and less alone. no idea why ono's are allowed to practice and be so ignorant of side effects and signs of toxisity. saw new ono second time in last six months, each time I meantion I have had to relearn breath, read, talk, walk, balance and neurologist helping me retrain self from chemo damage - each time he says he had no idea chemo issues that bad. heck, read my file ... ran 5k and smart techy to lost ability to not fall after chemo 1, gasping for air and slur speech by chemo 3, lost able read by 4, by chemo six legs not hold me ... no way I can list all issues just too many. during chemo I continued work out, on chemo 6 I could only pedal xercice bike for seconds. 2.5 years later it seems exercise eats muscle and cannot build any, especially on side port was (right). I know if I couch potaoe I have less fatige, but not type life I am. Why forums filled with our issues but doctors brush us off as it being symptoms of menopause, anxiety, etc. why ono's allowed to have license and not trained on toxicity symptoms and lowering dose? why they allowed to dose on BMI without factoring p450 or/and metabolism of drugs? Are ono's dentists that only took a week traing in chemo to be ono's? Everyday I learn the perm damage I got from chemo was preventable, but this ono still practices and MD Anderson just gave him and the facility there stamp of approval to be satellite center. Really, it is a cookie cutter chemo pump center that is uneducated or care about QOL, there too lazy to tweek dose perm ruins life. they do not care if you are younger than 62 there is no way to get health insurance and more important they not break brain and body from working at job. I just do not understand how ono's so cluless, nor why they allowed to dose without doing metabolism tests I begged them to do because of family history of needing kiddy doses on longer time lines. No joke, if my ono;s read this and all other forums they would tell you all that it is due to menopause. They never read after they get degree things like http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3176345/. . they also do not report all issues to big pharma or FDA, why no law our issues posted to global database so big pharma can stop saying isolated issue not related to chemo. Then you learn chemo only benefits 2-7% of BC patients and exposes the rest to long term health related issues and cancers and survived longer and better if not chemod at all. I feel like we are in the Wild west and big pharma bought the FDA and ruining our bodies for profit.

Hi everybody, I am so glad I found this thread and it's been going for a while! I have just finished 6 rounds of chemo (3 FEC and 3 Docetaxyl). It's been two weeks since I finished chemo and muscle fatigue is now settling in. I have been active though out chemo - walking every day and also working (I am a teacher) except for the worse days after chemo but it's getting quite hard to get through the day now. It's good to know that muscle fatigue and fatigue is quite common and I am not alone with this. I am keen to know of any supplements I could be taking to help repair the damage caused by chemotherapy that others have found successful. I hear acupuncture can help. Ha she anyone tried this with success?

this post is old but I thought I would share what is working for me and my experience to help someone out there. THANKS to everyone for sharing! This is a lifesaver and gave me confidence dealing with the oncologist. Continue to push them for answers - chances are they have not been through it and they don't know what they don't know.

I have soreness, stiffness, swelling after the 'TC' cocktail, 4th round

Swelling was worse in side with node removal. The onco did a Doppler to rule out blood clot but offered nothing more. I went to Walgreens and bought mod compression stockings up to knee (it's 90+ in Chicago these days) and wore this around the house for a couple of days. I also elevated the legs above the heart when I went to bed. Cleared up in a couple of days including other water weight.

Smoothly for water retention (cucs, celery, carrots and coconut water) for a few days

Drinks lots of water (and seriously just water) to flush fluids through. This helps with kidneys, etc

Added for stiffness, muscle issues:

Eat Whole Foods And lots of protein.

Real Bone broth is good- fluid, vitamins and minerals for joints muscles and lots of protein

Stay active! Even if it's going to the mall or walking the grocery store. Nothing crazy but keep moving. A body in motion stays in motion but don't over due it. Take the time your body needs to recover. It's been through quite a bit

Although it hurts, continue to stretch daily and if possible a couple times a day on those that hurt the most.

I am also taking the suggested d-ribose along with b complex vitamins, vit c, collegen from fish sources and probiotics called VSL3 -suggested label dose.

I am SLOWLY feeling better. The onco said it could take anywhere from 6-12 months to get back to prechemo activity. I'm hoping it is not that long. So frustrating to go this distance just to find there is so much left to rebuild.

Best to you