Tiredness during and after chemotherapy for cancer is almost inevitable.

The degree of tiredness and the time it lasts for after treatment has finished varies a great deal from person to person. Also different types of chemotherapy cause different levels of fatigue.

To some extent age has an effect as well. Research has suggested that people under 40 will recover quite quickly from the effects of chemotherapy whereas for those over the age of forty recovery may take much longer. Indeed for some people there will always be some loss of energy following treatment. This usually takes the form of a loss of stamina rather than actual tiredness, so that day to day activities are not affected but when you try to do something particularly strenuous you might find that you were not able to do quite so much as you could before you had the chemotherapy.

The degree of tiredness is likely to be greater in people who have had radiotherapy in addition to chemotherapy.

Usually people notice a great improvement in their tiredness within three months of completing treatment and most people would be back to normal, at least for everyday activities, by about six months. But these are only average figures and your age and the precise type of treatment you have might mean that it could take a little longer for you to fully recover.

Sometimes other things can be the cause of the tiredness.

If you are feeling particularly low and miserable then you may have developed depression, which can make any tendency to tiredness much worse. Depression can usually be easily and effectively treated, so do mention it to your doctors and nurses if you think might be depressed.

Anaemia is another common cause of tiredness in this situation and the feeling of fatigue is often accompanied by other symptoms such as breathlessness and light-headedness. Anaemia has recently been shown to be a bigger cause of tiredness during chemotherapy than was previously thought. It has now been shown that even slight anaemia can cause considerable tiredness. This can easily be put right with a blood transfusion. In the past doctors usually only suggested a blood transfusion if anaemia was quite severe but transfusions are being increasingly used to treat milder anaemia, leading to a great improvement in symptoms.

So if your tiredness is continuing and is causing you problems and affecting your quality of life do mention this to the doctors and nurses when you go for a check-up (or if you don't have a check up in the near future ask for one). They will be able to tell you whether or not the symptoms you are experiencing are normal after the treatment you have had. They will also be able to make sure there is no other cause for the tiredness. Finally they will be able to give you advice on how to cope with the tiredness while life is getting back to normal.