Managing the Fatigue of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a disease that can place a heavy burden on the minds and bodies of its victims. But even beyond the physical symptoms and emotional stress associated with a diagnosis of cancer and the disease’s subsequent development, the methods used to treat cancer can also put a great strain on those forced to battle against this potentially fatal condition. Breast cancer victims face an ordeal that tries their bodies, minds, and souls, and no matter how strong they are or seem to be the fact remains that the fight against breast cancer inevitably takes a huge toll.

One manifestation of this toll is fatigue. The most common side effect experienced by breast cancer victims, fatigue strikes nine out of ten women who are diagnosed with this disease. It is important to understand that fatigue in this context does not mean simply feeling tired. The kind of fatigue that tends to accompany cancers of all types, not just breast cancer, is a persistent, overwhelming feeling of lifelessness and low energy that can make it difficult to function or accomplish even basic tasks. Sleeping patterns are disrupted, and even though those suffering from this type of extreme fatigue may end up sleeping more, the extra sleep does nothing to reduce profound feelings of exhaustion. Concentrating and thinking also become increasingly difficult, which can make things especially hard for those women who choose to continue working. Motivation is drained along with energy resources, turning activities that once brought joy into daunting challenges that now may seem impossible.

Causes of Breast Cancer Fatigue
There is no question that a diagnosis of breast cancer is an adrenaline-inducing experience. Once a woman discovers she has breast cancer, this reality becomes the center of her life, forcing her to muster up all the determination and moxie she can find on a daily basis as her cancer treatment unfolds. This situation is intense, stress-inducing, and life-changing; and given the relentless nature of it all, it is not surprising that a pervasive sense of deep fatigue might ultimately develop as adrenaline eventually abates and the mind and body crash.

But exacerbating everything is the effect that breast cancer treatments have on the body. Chemotherapy in particular is more strongly implicated in the onset of fatigue than any other part of the normal breast cancer treatment regimen. Chemotherapy drugs are designed to target cancer cells, but they also cause damage to other cells of the body that are involved in crucial aspects of vital biological functioning. For example, bone marrow activity is negatively impacted by many chemotherapy drugs, which leads to sometimes significant reductions in the numbers of red blood cells, immune system cells, and platelets (blood clotting cells) that play important roles in the preservation of health and vitality. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, and anything that reduces their ability to do so will contribute to generalized feelings of listlessness and ennui in a body suddenly starved of this critically important element. When immune system functioning is compromised, illness and infection can invade more easily, leading to low states of energy and a loss of initiative and motivation.

Other types of breast cancer treatments can also lead to feelings of fatigue. Surgery, for example, is a physically traumatic event from which it takes time to recover, and some women who have lumpectomies or mastectomies performed find that their fatigue develops shortly after these procedures take place.  Radiation therapy can also affect red blood cell and immune cell counts, as well as taxing the body's biological systems in general. Hormone therapy reduces estrogen use in the body, and in pre-menopausal women this can cause symptoms that mimic those of menopause, including feelings of chronic and extreme fatigue.