head dropping fatigue

My husband (diagnosed stage 4; T2N2) is 3 months out of treatment (concurrent radiation and chemo).  He had a clean PET scan last week.  For the past 4 days he has been experiencing extreme fatigue - he is sleeping more throughout the day, and he can be sitting in the chair and just nod off anytime.  He feels "drugged". He doesn't sleep well at night, but this is not unusual.  Has anyone experienced this?  He is maintaining his weight with 2 meals a day supplemented with Ensure.  Following his doctor's advice he is no longer taking his blood pressure medicine.  We appreciate any insight. 

Thanks in advance - Mary 

Mary,

Sorry to hear that your husband is dealing with this, but I too went thru this and it will slowly improve. My Radiation Oncologist told me that we will battle fatigue for roughly 1 year after our last treatment. Mine was a bit longer then that.

With that said, there could be some other issues that are worth mentioning. First is the amount of daily Iron we take in, hopefully he is taking enough in with the Ensure. For men over 19, it is 8mg per day. The treatments cause us to become anemic.

Secondly, we need to keep an eye on our Thyriod levels (TSH) when we have bloodwork done. My Oncologist told me that my thyroid would more then likely fail in the future. It did, but it took 5 years and then my energy dropped off the table. I'm on med's now and the energy is back up.

A question for you on the blood pressure medicine. Did you husband stop taking the blood pressure medicines cold turkey? If so, that could be the problem with his lack of energy as well. I was told that if I ever were to get off of the blood pressure med's I would have to wean off of them...not stop suddenly.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

Hi Mary

I experienced extreme fatigue for some time after treatment.  In fact it took me approx 18 months post treatment to be able to feel emotionally, physically and mentally able to return to work again.  Then it took approx a year to get to where I am now and now I believe I feel better than before I was diagnosed with cancer.  I feel good!  It has taken some time to get here and a lot of hard work on all counts.  Your husband probably just needs to be gentle with himself at the moment and take time to heal.  :)

PopPop mentions some great points also in his reply.  

Take care to both of you.

Julie

I think the fatigue is pretty much a given so close to treatment.  I am 16 months out and still tire easily.  (Might be partly due to age, as I'm over 60 now.)  I well remember the drugged feeling.  Radiation definitely does that, especially the first year.  My doctors tell me it's normal. 

I lost my job too, but I substitute teach and volunteer at the food bank, and sometimes still need naps after a day or two of working.

Best of luck to you and your husband.  I know it's frustrating to still feel so poorly after treatment is done.

Susan