Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I have the same issues, but it seems no one takes it too seriously. I'm told to exercise more. Jeez. I'm doing as much as I can. I finished chemo in February 2013 and immediately started on Letrozole. I don't feel like I ever recovered from chemo. Then there are the side effects of Letrozole. I seem to have all of them...lucky me. I finish that in February 2018, and I am so looking forward to getting off of them. The pain is often intolerable, but I am determined to finish this. I am so grateful for the advances in breast cancer treatments that have allowed me to survive this long. Hercepetin and perjeta are awesome drugs, but there seems to be little understanding or research of long term health issues in survivorship.
Before Cancer (BC), I was the energizer bunny. After chemo for stage 3c colon cancer from my colonoscopy at 50 with no symptoms, I was the tortoise. I was hit with Chemo Induced Peripheral Neuropathy after I finished my chemo, which felt like my body was short-circuited. I tried various doses of Neurotin but if it helped, it put me to sleep. So I lived in a state of exhaustion from not sleeping well. I discovered the free Livestrong program at The Community YMCA and on those 3 days, I slept from the 1 hr program. Eventually the tingling 24*7 faded to be replaced with numbness. I learned if I needed to be somewhere or do something that I needed to rest up for it. I was scared to death that if I received a job offer, I would not be able to survive the 40+ hour work week, let alone the commute. B vitamins did nothing, I was already on Vitamin D for osteopenia related to celiac disease. My Livestrong yoga teacher kept trying to convince me to try acupuncture but the idea of sticking a needle into me and leaving it there was not going to happen. I look away when they draw blood. Well fast forward 10 months, and I get a job where I can work from home 99% of the time except for this one week workshop. I was surviving working at home by drinking a pot of coffee a day and taking a 20 minute power nap after conference calls with India and Europe ended. I was scared because I did not know how I could attend a workshop without falling asleep or constantly yawning. I made the decision to try acupuncture and oh how I wish I had done it sooner. It really helped with the neuropathy and fatigue! I could crawl into the office and leave with a spring in my step. I continue with acupuncture to this day nearly 3 years later when I need a pick-me-up or offset scanxiety before my scans and oncologist visit.