How long did it take you to get your energy back ?

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Deblc
Deblc Member Posts: 479
edited August 2015 in Life After Breast Cancer

I am one year post radiation and chemo, four months post Herceptin. Thought I was slowly getting my energy back, but in the past few weeks it seems I have been knocked down again. I have been more active, but now just walking makes me feel tired and short of breath again. I had shortness of breath from chemo/rads days and still do. (My echoes were all normal). I feel like I have to take a nap every day again. Is this normal recovery time? How long after treatment did it take for you to be able to do basic things again (housework, shopping)without feeling totally worn out?

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited July 2015

    it was about a year for me. Even now, if I have a full day, the next day I will want a nap.

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    Thanks for the response. Bumping to see if more people will respond

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  • SweetHope
    SweetHope Member Posts: 439
    edited July 2015

    Have you had your thyroid checked lately?

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited July 2015

    Yes. All ok, but I have wondered about doing again.

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    sweethope, no I haven't. I was wondering if it was just still side effects of treatment

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  • debiann
    debiann Member Posts: 1,200
    edited July 2015

    I finished herceptin in May and I also had a recon surgery that month. My energy level is still not back to normal. My muscle strength is weak. Some days I feel more energetic than others. The one thing I can't do anymore is push myself. Since tx, when I'm tired I'm done and need to rest.

    My last bloodwork was also so in May. MO said I was still on the anemic side, but he didn't want me starting iron supplements just yet.

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    thanks Debiann . I'm have been trying to push myself to do more, as I feel I should be more energetic now, and everyone keeps telling me I "need to get more exercise" and that's why I don't feel better. (Like, enough lolling on the couch!) I do feel worried that I still get tired after a short walk. I am also exhibiting MORE shortness of breath the more I do, and I feel it should be less! Like, when does this ever get better???!!!!

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  • placid44
    placid44 Member Posts: 497
    edited July 2015

    It definitelytook me longer than a year. I am two years out from chemo and radiation and I would say it has been in the last six months that I have felt better. I found that exercise was good for building up fitness to counteract the fatigue, but it doesn't stop the fatigue. I am getting to the point now where exercise doesn't wear me out. I still don't feel energetic, but I can do a full weekend

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    thanks Placid, I was beginning to worry that I wasn't recovering as I shoul

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    bumping this again, as I am hoping to get more responses

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  • ksusan
    ksusan Member Posts: 4,505
    edited July 2015

    When my partner was ill and needed a year of treatment, it took me about 2-3 years afterward to recover my energy--and that was only as a caregiver!

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  • debiann
    debiann Member Posts: 1,200
    edited July 2015

    Almost 10 months since finishing  and my muscles still feel so fatigued. I tried walking more and they only got sorer until I went for a therapeutic massage. He focused on my hips, legs and feet. Oh they feel so much better! Definitely doing that again.

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  • floaton
    floaton Member Posts: 181
    edited July 2015

    I'm still waiting to get mine back and my last chemo was 12/2013, and I didn't have herceptin. It is getting better, especially if I compare what I could do this time last year, but it is soooo frustrating. Some days I feel like I'm living in jello or something, it just takes that much more effort to do things. Getting sick knocks me out for way longer than it used to/should. I had bad shortness of breath develop a few months after chemo - normal echo here too - turns out chemo gave me asthma so I use an inhaler when I'm sick or my allergies are acting up, and occasionally for exercise. I can now exercise (low weights, no more than 20 minutes of cardio) a 2-3 times a week but have to be really careful not to overdo, or I pay for it the next few days. It's hard to explain to people because everyone says "well, you look better/good!"
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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    Thanks everyone for responding. I guess I am trying to find out what's "normal" or if I should start worrying if don't feel better within a certain time. Floaton, I find it frustrating when people tell me I need to exercise more to get my energy back (as if I'm malingering) when I get winded after just walking for a few minutes!

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  • floaton
    floaton Member Posts: 181
    edited July 2015

    deb, I hear you. The usual advice has not been working for me, and pushing myself always backfires. I'd sooo love to just be able to pick up and do a really hard workout!! What helped me a lot was a cancer rehab program where I got to work 1:1 with a trainer at a local hospital for 3 months.
    Is there anything like that around you?
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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited July 2015

    I have read that for ever how long you were 'in treatment', that it will take that same amount of time to get back 'to normal'. My personal experience would cause me to say to double that amount of time. As strange as it seems, exercise does help manage fatigue. Do you have a Livestrong or other exercise program tailored for cancer survivors in your area? Would PT or a personal trainer help you develop a program that could help you build up your strength slowly without it being to much? It can be hard to find that balance on your own.

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited July 2015

    Floaton and Ruth, no unfortunately nothing like that in my area. I would have to pay for a personal trainer myself....which maybe I will look into doing. I never thought of doingthat, thanks.

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  • ruthbru
    ruthbru Member Posts: 57,235
    edited July 2015

    Maybe your doctor could get your insurance to pay for a personal trainer to start you off (I know a guy who's insurance paid for one after he had heart surgery, so it might be worth asking about....or maybe a PT referal?).

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  • BeanBean
    BeanBean Member Posts: 32
    edited July 2015

    I am almost 15 months out from treatment (although still taking Tamoxifen). In the past two months I have been slowly increasing my activity level (toning with weights, walking, jogging) and I finally feel somewhat normal, exercising most days. Prior to the past two months, exercising on one day would wipe me out for the following two days. That was very frustrating and made me feel that I would never get to the point of doing something daily.

    And it's only been in the past month that scrubbing the bath tub hasn't worn me out. I distinctly remember in the spring that I wanted to find someone to clean my bathrooms because I just couldn't do it without having to rest after.

    I still take a nap on most afternoons (10 minutes or so) but that's because I seem to have developed insomnia now!

    Kathy


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  • Jazzygirl
    Jazzygirl Member Posts: 12,533
    edited August 2015

    It took me a good year to come back to as close to normal as before. I say that because I still have times I get more fatigued or able to do less because of the AIs I am taking. I had two surgeries (including an open abdominal and breast surgery) in the fall of 2012 and rads through the early part of 2013. I started the AIs in March and had a lot of adjustment to those through the end of the year. By the time I got to March of 2014, I started like I was really feeling more of myself again. I slowly added things back to my life as I went along until this year actually. It is a far slower process than one might ever imagine.

    Ruthbru is right about however long you are in treatment, that same amount of time to recover and double it. I have an MD friend who was not part of my medical team but helped me along the way. She said a year after you finish your last major treatment. Some women have a lot of fatigue problems with the AIs, so that may be part of the issue for you.

    Exercise definitely helps you to get your energy back, although sometimes you don't feel like it so start out easy and work you way up. I worked with a personal trainer for 8 months to get my fitness back. I now work out at the gym 3-5 times a week, do yoga classes, bike ride, walk, and swim. If you can do a bit more exercise each day and build up, it will help. Oh and I paid for the personal trainer out of my pocket, but it was worth every dime. Consider it an investment in yourself and your recovery.

    What I think is hard for women coming through bc treatment is no one helps you to know when you should feel better. That is why BCO is such an amazing place, we all help each other through by sharing our own experiences.

    Hoping you continue to feel better every day Deblc.


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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited August 2015

    Thanks Jazzygirl. So true that BCO really helps a lot to see what other peoples' experiences are like. So frustrating that "civilians" expect you to bounce right back after treatment, and have no understanding that u still feel like crap long afterwards

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