How to combat fatigue and low energy from Docetaxel treatments?

[Jdhanoa]

Hi all,

My dad is currently going through chemotherapy treatment for stage 4 prostate cancer (see bio for full details). He had his 3rd chemo treatment one week ago. He is feeling extremely tired and very low energy (I.e. he gets tired from even going on short 5 minute walks). Does anyone have any tips or tricks to combat this? Thank you

[Bret5]

I also had my Docetaxel chemo # 3 literally 4 days ago. This is part of my triple therapy. I have metastatic PC. Gleason 10. Diagnosed 8 months ago. Had RP but the cancer escaped. 64 years old. At City of Hope in Newnan Georgia. I just got back from playing golf today and shot a 76 so apparently I’m not seeing many side effects. I am more tired and I move more slowly. I try to stay well hydrated, eat the right foods, and get 8-9 hours of sleep per night. If I do one activity a day like cutting the grass, water aerobics, or golf, then I take it easy the rest of the day. Each time I’ve got Chemo, I pretty much do nothing for the first two days after. I figure this lets my body absorb and adapt. I was in pretty good shape before, average weight and no real health conditions. Best of luck in your challenge.

[swwags]

Yes, walk with him and have him commit to adding two additional minutes of walking per day. Eat right - fresh food, just stay away from the high fat foods that makes you feel all groggy, even if you aren't sick.

Sleep 8-9 hours. Take a nap if he has to,, but kept it light/short. Do simple chair exercises.

There are no secrets to working your way through chemo. It sucks, plain and simple. What he's feeling is normal for many.

[Bret5]

A couple of additional details that might help. To supplement my prior post. Just ideas to check out that work for me so far:

1. Be sure he is taking the prescribed daily steroid pill that goes with chemo.

2. Initially I had a hard time sleeping well so now I take one 25 mg tablet of Benadryl and one ibuprofen a half hour before bed.

3. I had dry mouth for awhile so I gargle twice per day with salt and baking soda in warm water then I rinse with Biotene.

4. I had some skin scaling at hands so I use a good quality hand cream a couple times per day.

5. I pray every morning and night and take one day at a time. I try and put regrets about how I got here aside and I also try not to worry about life expectancy. Every day with no pain is a good day.

6. Every morning I do exercises inside. Hand weights, crunches, kegels. Nothing heavy.

Again, best of luck to you.

[spencoid2 in reply to Bret5]

i am off chemo for now but am interested sleeping which i have not been able to do much for years now. i have tried all sorts of recommended and prescribes sleep aids and they ranged from doing nothing to having horrible side effects. i have never tried benedryl. it is really effective? i am also having whole body itching and thought about using it for that but was concerned about daytime drowsiness of which i have enough now,

should i try it at night and then decide about daytime? who knows i might be less drowsy if i can sleep better.

[Bret5 in reply to spencoid2]

Benadryl can act differently in some people but for most it causes drowsiness. My cancer advocate nurse at United Healthcare recommended it because it is non habit forming and it is inexpensive. Some people take melatonin but the issue there is that taking it as a supplement can cause your body to slow or stop producing it. With respect to antihistamines, many of them will cause drowsiness so daytime could be problematic.

[dhccpa in reply to Bret5]

And to clarify, you have not iced hands/feet/scalp, etc?

[Bret5 in reply to dhccpa]

I have not. But I know that some do. Almost a week past #3 infusion now so I’m just going to keep doing what’s been working and not add anything unless new SE occur.

[dhccpa in reply to Bret5]

Thanks

[London441]

Must get moving more if at all possible. Longer walks, plus any type of resistance training at all. Exercise is the prime fatigue killer, more effective than all other factors combined.

[Oldie68]

Once the chemo is over he will slowly regain his strength and stamina. I was also very fatigued during chemo. There is no way around it. I tried to walk as much as I could and did some tai-chi in the morning. Walking 30 min a day was helpful. Eating healthy diet, mostly plant based food with very little sugar and almost no alcohol was good for me. Remember, the chemo will be over and your dad will regain his physical and mental strength.