good morning all!
nearly 2 months post surgery and all my energy is gone away. i don't even have the strength to talk or get out of the bed. i haven't lose a lot of weight, this is in the normal range, but still i feel very weak almost exhausted. and all that liquid stuff that i get from the peg makes my stomach aching. i'll have to start chemo Tx in a while, but feeling like that i will not make it for sure. have any of you experience the same symptoms? do u take any kind of med or vitamins to help u? my Dr. gave mr Vit E but i don't know for what reason.
thanks

Sophia,

Get your blood work done and have them check your thyroid. Many of us, me included, suffered thyroid damage and will take thyroid meds for the rest of our life. It usually takes 5 to 6 months to show up though.

That said, I was also very weak for a long time before the thyroid problem was discovered and it's normal when you think about how much energy your body is expending to recover form everything you have been put through.

Either way, watch out for the thyroid.

just wanted to thank u, because due to your precious advice i found out that i do have serious thyroid problem & that i should start immediately meds. thanks again very much!

Your welcome. Even once you get your TSH levels under control you may still be weak and tired for a while due to your body's normal healing process so make sure you give it all the energy it needs. Check with your docs re vitamins.

you know each day i feel more & more exhausted, and every week i lose about 1kg. i take vit. E, green algae, protein powder with my milk, multivitamins each morning, but keep losing weight. any magical trick or sth else i should do that haven't thought of?
my Dr told me this morning that i shouldn't lose weight regarding the thyroid problem that i have. do you think that the disease is responsible for that? what else can i do? i can't eat anything from my mouth, i use only the peg, and all the things i have are liquid.

^^^ Hi Sophia,
the major side effect of Cancer treatment is fatigue and i know its bad cause i saw my dad goin thrugh it.but for us, atleast during treatment he was really strong and not bed ridden.
For fatigue, try to divert ur attention as much as possible, do things u like, watch funny movies, if possible try and meditate it really helps.
I know all this sounds very easy said then done but it helps .
Also David was rite on target with TSH.
we got to know about low TSH levels of my father only after he was admitted after treatment for low electrolyte levels in blood.
If possible do check the electrolyte levels also cause most of the times we just check the blood count during chemo.
Hope this helps !
And dont worry ! its just a phase u'll walk rite out of it !

Your lack of energy may also be from depression. You may want to talk to your doctor about that possibility.

Sophie,
Besides energy problems, if your TSH is low or high, it may cause you to lose or gain weight. Do you know what your TSH level was before you started radiation? They should have tested it. Try to get back to as close to that level as possible. This probably will require your dr to adjust the synthroid dosage several times. I get checked every 3 months. I started on 75, went to 88, then 100. Was great for several years and then started dropping weight. TSH had gone form my normal 2.5 to .25. Now I'm alternating every other day between 88 and 100. Now I'm gaining weight which I never do. I get checked again next week. Don't expect improvement overnight. It takes several weeks for the drug to adjust your TSH level, but it will come. Glad the problem was that simple. Now you should be able to look forward to feeling normal energy level again and maybe solve the weight problem also.

Take care,
Eileen