Fatigue with early prostate cancer

I have been suffering from fatigue for the past six months even before my diagnoses of prostate cancer. As anyone suffer fatigue with early stage prostate cancer?


Kenadol


Age 49
DX 4/21/12, PSA 2.8, Biopsy 14 samples 7 positive for Prostate Cancer
3 were at 40% Gleason 6
1 was at 5% Gleason 6
1 was at 10 % Gleason 6
1 was at 80% Gleason 3 +4 90%/10%
1 was at 60% Gleason 3 +4 90%/10%

I think davidg has it about right.

I would add that you might want to get your vitamin D and testosterone levels checked. Low levels of either can leave you feeling fatigued.

They don't usually want to do testosterone therapy with prostate cancer patients, but I find that a couple thousand units of vitamin D and a daily walk help me ward off the lethargy.

I agree with Davidg, after my biopsy and positive PC result I suffered from depression that left me with very low energy levels.

Post Edited (The Water Guy) : 5/5/2012 4:27:36 PM (GMT-6)

Kenadol,

Echoing the prior post(s) about possible unrelated factors, I was diagnosed with low thyroid and borderline low T about 18 months prior to Pca diagnosis. Cannot describe how exhausted I was feeling all of a sudden. Woke up tired and didn't even want to go bike riding without a nap first. The thyroid med gp put me on had me fixed right up within weeks. Not trying to diagnose your case--just something you might ask your doc about.

Best wishes.

Bobbie

Kenadol,

Post surgery and looking back the two years pre-diagnosis, I was severely fatigued. Despite 8+ hours of sleep, I would wake up feeling like I never slept. After work (desk jockey), I would come home and fall asleep soon after I sat in the chair. I thought I was just getting old.

After surgery, my energy level has done a 180 and I feel like I did in my 20's/30's. I wake up very refreshed and have plenty of energy the whole day. Looking back I'm convinced PCa was slowly shortening my life. It also seems like my immune system has improved, probably since my body no longer needs to focus on battling the PCa.

It has been nine months and I'm still pulling zeros. I wish you the same experience I've had with treatmen, it if not better.

I'm sure all of us are the same you don't feel sick then out of the blue you are told you have cancer.

It  sure doesn't make you feel like running a marathon I never felt sick until I was told I had PC.

I then felt tired and old and not so invincible but the good news the more you educate yourself about

PC you understand it is not necessarily a death sentence and you get on with life and start to feel like

the old you.

Rodger.

InTheShop said...


I know it sounds strange but I knew, "something" was wrong before before the PCa DX.

Not strange at all. I also knew something was wrong prior to Dx, not so much from the fatigue, but from the perineul soreness, even before biopsy. I had the soreness for the better part of the time when my PSA spiked in August 2010 until surgery in August 2011. I told my wife that I knew something was wrong but not until the last PSA before the biopsy did my mind settle in on PCa. I almost expected the words PCa from the Uro, but was hoping for prostatitis.

I've been wondering the same thing. about 2 1/2 years ago, I started getting really fatigued. I went to my GP and had all the usual blood tests (no PSA though). He said my testosterone was slightly low and put me on monthly injections. It never really helped with my energy. Now I find out I have pc, and I'm wondering if that is why i've had such low energy. Like you, I knew something was wrong, just not what. Now that I've been diagnosed, due to depression, stress, anxiety, or maybe all of the above, I feel more fatigued than ever.

An interesting question.
Yes I'd reckon I had been tired for a while before I was diagnosed, but I put that down to feeling older, but I'd also had a busy year dealing with matters that needed sorting following the death of my mother.
But there must have been something at the back of my mind regarding not feeling 100% okay that made me go to my GP for that check-up, even if it was a sub-conscious feeling.

And I've definitely been more tired since, and put that down to not getting adequate sleep or perhaps I should say adequate uninterrupted sleep.
Alf

Post Edited (English Alf) : 5/7/2012 11:36:13 PM (GMT-6)

I appreciate all the feed back

Kenadol