Chemo Brain
Comments
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anyone experiencing what is referred to as "chemo brain"? I had a few short term memory issues while I was going through chemo. Not too disturbing. But now that I am done with treatment and back at work I'm struggling to focus on group discussions. I'll ask questions that others sort of blow off as silly or not relevant. I'm having trouble processing things and multi-tasking makes me frustrated. That frustration (and maybe the hormonal impacts of tamoxifen) have caused me to have outbursts where I just get up and leave meetings because I can't follow what they are talking about and they blow off my questions.
Has anyone else experienced this side effect of cancer and its treatments? If so how did you deal with it in your daily life and it's affect on your work? I was highly-functional, able to multi-task and had a great memory before so this is really affecting me
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Good to know that it resolves eventually. I am one month post radiation and have trouble sometimes getting my words out. I know what I want to say but can't.
I used to be a multi/tasks wiz but can't always remember lunch dates I've made or meetings unless it's programmed in my phone with multiple alerts.
Thanks for sharing your story. I'm encouraged!
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I have to rely on post it notes at work and also struggle to get my words out even though I know exactly what I want to say. I ended chemo July 28...I think it has progressivly gotten worse. Hope it goes away soon.
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I made it a point to explain to my colleagues about my "disability"...: I. E. Chemo brain. It helps because I found that some of them share their notes with me after a meeting. Sometimes I can'ttunderstand their notes or mine and had to ask questions. I also found that the more I pushed, the more my memory began to improve. It got to the point where I only wrote key points and just watched the expressions of those who spoke, intently. This often helped with creating a good summary later.
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I had severe chemo brain for 2 years after chemo. Same as BosumBlues. It was so bad that at one point, after my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer (his mother, my grandma, died of it) I went and saw a neurologist and had a head CT scan to make sure that it was chemo brain not Alzheimer. It slowly got better, but I still have bouts now and then, and I'm 6 years post chemo.
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Mine has slowly gotten better but multitasking is still mostly impossible. I really miss doing that. I've learned not to push it and now concentrate on one thing at a time but trying to resume something after getting pulled away mentally is troublesome. Following a recipe is a real adventure while talking to someone.
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Hi, I completed chemo Taxotere, carboplating, herceptin & perjecta 2 years ago. I have struggled with memory issues. Monday I had a horrible experience.. I was driving and just hung the phone with my girlfriend and next thing I remember was like "waking up" and I was on a country road I would have never taking to get home, I was confused didn't know where I was, how I got there... nothing. Looked at the time at from the time I had talked with my girlfriend till the time I "woke up" it was 15 minutes, I had obviously been driving the whole time. I freaked out and honestly still freaked out. I called my oncologist and she is out and the soonest they could get me in with a nurse was Monday. I went to my general dr today and she is running test and mri as soon as insurance approves it. Im wondering if any one has experienced anything like this and could it be chemo brain.
Geri
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wow Geri! That is really scary! I hope you get some answers. I haven't had anything that extreme. I just really have trouble learning and understanding new things, multitasking and sometimes remembering words or names..
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- What are all symbols about? Sorry about chemo brain, I scare myself everyday with my inability to remember. When I think back to the week before lots of events are a blur. And forgetting something that I just did is terrifying. I am about to say something to my doc. The fear and big dislike of a head MRI are in the way. Very uncomfortable
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My "chemo-brain" diagnosis was what the onc used for my disability claim.
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One of the diagnoses used for my recent disability claim was Cancer Fatigue. It even has its own code. I've been off now for a week and a half and it simply feels like I'm on a "staycation".
My chemo brain has improved some over the years but I still have to put EVERYTHING into my calendar as soon as I know about it. If it's not in my calendar, it simply doesn't happen.
Cancer sucks.
JJ
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I'm feeling super overwhelmed with remembering everything since my daughter went back to school and activities and I've been back to work for a few months. I always put everything in the calendar anyway. But now I even have to put different take to prep for the events on the calendar too! I feel like I'm losing it... :
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Me, too, Wenrisa. I am taking vitamin B for the brain and going to therapy.....
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OH MY...I know it's fairly common, but it's really good to hear others struggling with the same problem you have. As weird as that sounds, I think you all can relate. You feel alone. People in your family try to help you get the words out. I feel like we are playing charades. I certainly hope mine goes away. With aging, having fibromyalgia and chemo brain....I'm surprised I don't have to wear a name tag with my name, address and phone number in case I get lost. ha ha
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i too went thru chemo brain i also went thru early menopause due to chemo stoped my periods so it was doublely bad 4 me not able to get my words out still happens sometime short term memory also But i consider my self Truly Blessed to be here and a 22yr Survivor. Gid Bless Us All.
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Post treatment, I've had some major cognitive issues and so I've done some research on "chemo brain."
One theory that makes a lot of sense to me is that it is NOT "CHEMO BRAIN."
Because chemotherapy drugs do not pass the blood-brain barrier, some researchers state that what we actually experience is PTSD.
Take a look at PTSD symptoms, and let me know what you think.
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I finished chemo treatment 03/31/15, I still get H & P every three weeks. Chemo brain has definately affecedt me also. Sometimes when I am talking the words just disappear from my brain, I know what I want to say but the words are gone. I have trouble focusing, concentrating and my short term memory seems to go haywire at times. It is frustrating when these happen. Good to read that others are experiencing the same symptoms. Sometimes I feel like maybe I am getting dementia, my Mom passed from it last summer. My social worker that I see when I see my onc. said that what I am experiencing is very common among women who have gone through chemo treatments. She said some people only have it for a short time and others have it long term. I find I need to make lists and that does help me with my memory.
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jcfree, I had the same thing going on after finishing chemo. I also vaguely remember reading that the cancer itself may cause some of these symptoms, because it hsas been in observed even in BC patients who did not receive chemo.
However, it eventually faded, and I tend to believe that it helps to fight it. I went back to studying a difficult language and I also played a lot of games (still do), like sudoku and candy crush. Solving puzzles helps rebuild the brain circuits. People may laugh at candy crush and similar games, but each level is a new puzzle needing a new strategy and that helps builds flexibility.
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Gypsy, I think PTSD plays a role for many of us. My husband died of cancer recently and being back in the same cancer ward again definitely triggered some PTSD for me
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Oh, Momine. I am so sorry. Sending youcourage.
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Momine, so sorry to hear of your husband's passing. No wonder you have PTSD, you have been through so much in such a short time period. Sending blessings to you.
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I have lost the memory of half my life. Have done some scary driving things. Left car "not in park" several times. I was intelligent and smart, never had confidence issue in my life, but am being severely humbled. I am worried about early alzheimers and am extremely nervous. My Dr. said it would dissappear in one year. It hasnt. I think its worse! I am having a Pet Scan Monday. I am 3 years out and completely my treatment (Double, Rad, Chemo) 3 years ago. I have a ton of bone pain (left arm, left hip, back). Thyroid and teeth were destroyed as a result of chemo. Lost 16 teeth. Now wear dentures after 10's of 1000's of dollars in dental work prior. Ugh!
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Yes, I have permanent chemo brain - neurotoxicity from taxotere and Cytoxan - I am pissed because there is no warning label for this - I would have made other choices if I knew this. I hired an attorney and filing the first lawsuit for this. My lawyer said if other people are interested, please contact me. It makes the case stronger if other people join and the pharmaceutical companies cant get away with this. Please email me at chemobrainlawsuit@gmail.com and spread the word.
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Stress and all the rest don't help, but chemotherapy does affect brain cell production; cognitive issues are not all caused by psychological trauma. It is frustrating that it was not seriously studied until less than 10 years ago since chemo has been used for over 50 years and patients have complained of this side effect for as long as treatment has existed. This article is from 2009 and discusses the affect on brain cell production from chemo agents that were not thought to pass the blood/brain barrier, yet they do in fact affect brain cell production. Unable to hot link it, so you will need to cut and paste. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/2713/ur-study-reveals-chemos-toxicity-to-brain-possible-treatment.aspxears.
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Sorry. Since link is not working, her is the text. It is taken from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/2713/ur-study-reveals-chemos-toxicity-to-brain-possible-treatment.aspx
Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the growth factor IGF-1.
Published early online in the journal Cancer Investigation, the University of Rochester Medical Center study is relevant to the legions of cancer survivors who experience a frustrating decline in cognitive function after chemotherapy treatment, known as chemo brain.
"It is not yet clear how our results can be generally applied to humans but we have taken a very significant step toward reproducing a debilitating condition and finding ways to treat it," said Robert Gross, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Neurology and of Pharmacology and Physiology at URMC and principal investigator of the study.
Chemo brain is a newly recognized condition. The URMC team found surprising data about how the four drugs impact the brain, Gross said, and they are the first to report that the experimental insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1, may be beneficial.
The study was funded by a Department of Defense grant to Gross and by the National Cancer Institute to co-investigator and lead author, Michelle Janelsins, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.
More than 11 million Americans are living today after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Many of them have endured chemotherapy and although the side effects during treatment are well known, the lingering neurological effects are more puzzling. Patients often report memory lapses, trouble concentrating, confusion, difficulty multi-tasking and slow thinking for weeks, months or years after treatment ends.
The URMC team hypothesized that cognitive problems might stem from chemo destroying the ability of brain cells to regenerate in the hippocampus, which is primarily involved in memory formation and mood. They sought a way to find the mechanisms at work and to manage the adverse effects on the brain before, during and after chemotherapy treatment.
Researchers also hypothesized that chemotherapy drugs known to cross the blood-brain barrier would be a bigger threat to brain cells than drugs that do not cross the blood-brain barrier. To test the hypothesis, they investigated the effects of routinely used doses of cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil, which do cross into the brain, against paclitaxel and doxorubicin, which do not.
Unexpectedly, all four drugs caused a significant breakdown in brain cell proliferation in the animal model. A statistical analysis of cell regeneration showed a 15.4 percent reduction in new brain cells following fluorouracil, a 30.5 percent reduction following cyclophosphamide, a 22.4 percent reduction following doxorubicin, and a 36 percent reduction following paclitaxel.
"It could be that all of the chemo drugs cross into the brain after all, or that they act via peripheral mechanisms, such as inflammation, that could open up the blood-brain barrier," Gross said.
"Neurogenesis can also be altered by stress, sleep deprivation and depression, all of which are common among cancer patients," added Janelsins. "More thorough studies are needed to understand the interplay of these factors and the long-term effects of chemotherapy on the brain."
Researchers conducted a second study of a single high dose of cyclophosphamide, a mainstay of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, because chemo brain is a frequent complaint of people receiving this drug. The single high dose resulted in a 40.9 percent reduction in newly divided brain cells, the study said.
In previous studies the experimental growth hormone IGF-1 had demonstrated that it could generally promote new brain cell development within the central nervous system. Thus, investigators chose to test its effect in the animal model.
They administered IGF-1 prior to and following a conventional cyclophosphamide multiple-dose regimen, and a single, high-dose of cyclophosphamide. The IGF-1 seemed to increase the number of new brain cells in both models, but was more effective in the high-dose model, the study concluded.
The research team plans to conduct additional studies which will allow them to further test the impact of IGF-1 and other related interventions on the molecular and behavioral consequences of chemotherapy.
A multidisciplinary group of scientists participated in the study. The research grew from discussions between URMC cancer investigators and experts in epilepsy, who also study damage to the hippocampus region and wondered about a connection to chemo-brain. In addition to Gross and Janelsins, collaborators included Wilmot Cancer Center faculty Joseph A. Roscoe, Ph.D., Gary R. Morrow, Ph.D., Charles E. Heckler, Ph.D., and Pascal Jean-Pierre, Ph.D.; Lisa A. Opanashuk, Ph.D., and Bryan D. Thompson, of the Department of Environmental Medicine; and Michel J. Berg, M.D., of the Department of Neurology
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Thanks for sharing!. I assume that growth factor is not available to us? I wonder what's similar.
I think one of my most dramatic memory loss incidents involved me at home trying to remember what kind of car I drive. I was determined to remember it on my own, but hours later I gave up and finally went out to read it off my car. For me it's Swiss-cheesy...not uniform impairment, but rather spots that just aren't there.
My friend and mentor through diagnosis and treatment was a freelance writer. Her experience was thatshe had no problem with technical/factual writing - such as instruction manuals - after chemo. It was the more nuanced, abstract, persuasive writing that seemed to elude her. I found that interesting.
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Ms. Latte, I could not find anything more on IGF-1 beyond a follow up study using mice that showed it helped somewhat in amping up brain cell production post chemo---could not find more on human studies specifically about chemo brain, though it is sometimes used with human brain injury cases.
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Ms. Latte... I did run across the study below when looking up stuff for a friend seeking info on dietary impact on cancer--not exactly what we were talking about, but very interesting nonetheless, and it discusses the role of insulin and IGF-1. It is a pretty dense read, but the gist I got was that insulin and IGF-1 can cause tumor cells to grow, so am guessing that is a problem in using it to help with chemo brain. However, it also describes how and insulin levels can be tweaked to aid in controlling cancer. http://www.nature.com/oncsis/journal/v5/n2/full/oncsis20162a.html
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Gracie~
My chemo brain has been very troubling, I found this article interesting and helpful.
Have you found anything newer than 2009?
I have a neurology evaluation at the Brigham in 2 weeks. I will let you know what I learn.
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Gracie, Thanks for the reply. I use two types of insulin for my diabetes...so I have concerns about that. If memory serves, cancer cells have something like 19 times the insulin receptors of normal cells, and they feed on sugar. I asked doctors about that but got only vague 'dunno' answers
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