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extreme fatigue after surgery/treatment

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Posted 4/5/2011 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
did anyone else experience beyond normal extreme fatigue 2-3 months out of surgery or treatment?

I am really exhausted each and every day. I'll wake up early in the morning and go back to sleep by 10AM if I have the option.

I never slept more than 4-5 hours per night so I am not attributing this continued pattern to my exhaustion.

Someone here mentioned post traumatic syndrome.

I feel stress and mild depression might have something to do with it.

My worst thought is that I have cancer all over my body. I know, highly unlikely but after learning of my PC that thought is always there.

I haven't been able to workout consistently enough to either blame the exhaustion on it or to verify if daily exercise can energize me as it used to just a few years ago.
Posted 4/5/2011 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi David, I had open prostate surgery in January 2010. It took 6 to 8 weeks before I felt as I did pre-surgery. But since the low-energy post surgery 6-8 weeks I am feeling better than I have in many years.
Posted 4/5/2011 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
davidg - i did, and still do, the results of 8 operations and 2 months of radiation in the past 2 years, plus as the results of earlier radiation and other ops for non pc cancers. i am officially dianosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, something i have to live with every day of my life since about year 2000. some days are better than others.
hopefully you will recover fully over time, most men do

david in sc
Posted 4/5/2011 4:57 PM (GMT 0)
interesting. I actually visited the chronic fatigue syndrome forum here at HW because I wondered. What si the connection between cancer/stress/surgery and CFS?
Posted 4/5/2011 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
my CFS has more to do with undergoing major radiation twice within 10 years, different parts of the body of course. The 70 gys I had in 2000, were old school wide beam radiation, and it was particually brutal, any kind of neck/throat/head radiation is very rough. at the time, my medical oncologist said i would be lucky if i could ever recovery 70% of my former energy level. that was pretty accurate estimate, and i was 11 years younger at the time. add the 11 years, another 72 gys of radiation and all the other stuff i have been through, my poor body is just plain maxed out on the stuff.

david
Posted 4/5/2011 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
It took me close to 6 months (according to my wife, I thought it was closer to 4 or 5) to get past the total exhaustion midday issue. I had no depression, no weight loss, no anything other than the extreme need for a nap because otherwise I might pass out. I would lie down, fall asleep within minutes, and be out an hour or 2. My mom had gall bladder surgery many years ago and her biggest complaint was the same 6 month exhaustion problem. I remembered that, and therefore was not concerned and never even asked the doc. I had open RP, so I don't know if Da Vinci, being less invasive, would have made a difference.
Posted 4/5/2011 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
davidg -- i'm not sure what beyond normal is but fatigue has been an issue for me the whole time.

ed

 

Posted 4/5/2011 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
I've noticed that I fatigue a lot easier. Before surgery I did a lot of heavy lifting at my job,currently unemployed. Today I used a post hole digger,dug 3 holes and installed 3 posts and I'm just wore out!. I was not like this after hernia surgery,also robotic.Back to full time work in 4 weeks!
I do use the elliptical machine at home and walk when weather permits. Could this be mental? Meeting with SRT Doc on Thursday.
Posted 4/6/2011 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
I had a lot of fatigue post surgery and for many months after. It was about a year after before I felt back to my normal energy level. I did not feel extreme fatigue, except in a week or so following surgery.
Posted 4/7/2011 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
I was never fatigued after two recent surgeries. I had bypass surgery in 2005 with 5 bypasses, then a RP open Surgery in 2008. Was back to work in 6 weeks after each one and totally amazed everyone that I work with, because I had so much energy.

However, I just finished up 39 sessions on IMRT and the last week really made me tired. I was taking a nap every day around noon and falling asleep early every night. It's been three weeks since it ended and I'm finally being able to watch TV until 10:00 PM now.

I would definitely vote for the radiation as being more difficult to deal with.

Posted 4/7/2011 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
I made a great full recovery from surgery. My energy has been fine before and after.

BUT... I am now doing SRT. 12 down, 26 to go.

I've been told to expect significant fatigue.

I teach and so far I've had good energy. I hope it holds out. After this week, 3 more weeks of classes, then Exams

Mel

Posted 4/7/2011 6:44 AM (GMT 0)
! saw my RT doc yesterday, and, among other things, I mentioned that I still feel tired.
He said that I am only 10 months on from my RT finishing (note his use of "only" here). He said they don't understand the mechanisms that cause this tiredness, but it is very common for people to have trouble dealing with tiredness for up to two years after RT finishes (though he said that there are also people who recover very quickly). Another factor he mentioned is the idea that you can no longer have any reserves of energy, but also the somewhat contradictory idea that taking more exercise that previously can help.

The type of thing I have noticed recently is that when I had a bad cold I felt twice as worse as I used to feel before treament, and that even after I was better it took at least a couple of weeks to recover.
I also feel like I encounter a "wall" sometimes, even if just doing soemthing like walking from the train station to the hospital (about a mile) but if I push myself I can get through it, and then find I can walk back to the station without much trouble after my appointment.

Alf
Posted 4/7/2011 9:55 AM (GMT 0)

fertree said...
It took me close to 6 months (according to my wife, I thought it was closer to 4 or 5) to get past the total exhaustion midday issue. I had no depression, no weight loss, no anything other than the extreme need for a nap

Ditto !

I would suggest that it was 9 mths. before I felt I could work the whole day without a Nanna-Nap ! tongue
..
.
Posted 4/7/2011 11:18 AM (GMT 0)
I used to lie down on the couch and tell my wife I was kegeling - with my eyes closed.
Now that I have the sling I need another excuse.
Posted 4/7/2011 12:05 PM (GMT 0)

"Yoga significantly reduces fatigue and improves sleep quality after cancer treatment" -- article by Dr Brian Lawenda, Integrative Oncology  (I thing Tony first provided this link).  LINK

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, exercise helps fight chronic fatigue and sleeplessness, as well as depression and other chronic illnesses...and has also been shown in studies to help (as a stress reducer, when combined with exercise and nutritional improvements) to slow or reverse the growth of prostate cancer in "low risk" patients.  This is, of course, one of the reasons that enables Active Surveillance patients to be successful...every good AS program includes some aspects of exercise, nutrition and stress reduction.


Posted 4/7/2011 12:20 PM (GMT 0)
exercise gives energy. going out for my first outdoor run with hills shortly.

It's getting over the hump while exercising which is hard. After the activity we feel great.

Yoga is good for mind and body. Was initially concerned with some of the stretching positions after surgery.

I just wish I could get 7 hours sleep a night. If I could, I'm sure most my fatigue would vanish. My not sleeping has more to do with managing two teams on two different continents and nothing to do with cancer.
Posted 4/7/2011 12:31 PM (GMT 0)
Davidg:

Have you tried ambien.

I use it sparingly (maybe 1-2 pills in a 3-month period). But I find it gives me a much deeper, healing sleep. I've used it when I'm sick and can't sleep.

Mel

Posted 4/7/2011 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
I've thought about it, Compiler. I just hate taking any kind of pill if I can avoid it.

I used to sleep a lot better when I worked out a lot. But I also wasn't online with India in the middle of the night back then.
Posted 4/7/2011 2:09 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on Ambien nightly for 11 full years now, its the only way I can even get 5-6 steady hours of sleep. I come from a family of insomniacs. 6 hours is a lot of sleep for me, an no, I rarely ever nap in the day. You got to do what you got to do to get the sleep you need
Posted 4/7/2011 2:19 PM (GMT 0)
owls and larks. I've been to doctors about it in the past.
Posted 4/7/2011 2:50 PM (GMT 0)
I'd say it has alot to do with the interrupted sleep at night. That wipes out your normal sleep cycle. Coupled with recent major surgery, and it WAS recent and major, I think you've got your cause. Go take a nap.
Posted 4/7/2011 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
It was at least 8mos befor I felt normal . I had penile pain most of that time and other annoyances, but 18mos post /op and feeling very fit. And I,m 68. You are young and a little high strung so you seem to take note of everything that is happening to you. Cant remember your'e stats but think they were pretty good. Again there is more positive in your recovery and experience than negative. Try to concentrate on that, be aware of the negative but dont live there. Take naps. At my age afull nights sleep may be a thing of the past. Benedryl is fairly no toxic, gets me sleepy at nite when I need something.
Posted 4/7/2011 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
I still get tired easily but not as bad as the first 2 months. I'd walk the dogs for 20 minutes and come back and fall asleep. Until about 3 weeks ago I needed to lie down at night around 9 PM or I felt I was going to collapse.
Posted 4/7/2011 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
This is a really good topic; thanks. I, too, get more "tired" than pre-op, but chocked it up to age and weight, but after 3 months am beginning to get some energy back, and don't "need" the nap at about 1 PM. Right or wrong, and because I didn't know the lack of energy was prostate removal driven, I've tried sucking it up, and making myself go to near exhaustion. It seems to have helped.

Again, thanks for this topic as it has answered some questions for me.
Posted 4/7/2011 10:45 PM (GMT 0)
I concur that this is an excellent topic. I did not realize at all that fatigue/exhaustion is a SE of PC surgery. But I guess it is after any surgery. But maybe more so in PC surgery?

I know the fatigue is listed as a major SE for those undergoing radiation.

Mel

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