Breast Cancer Treatment: What Side Effects Can You Expect?
Breast Cancer Treatment: What Side Effects Can You Expect?
This week’s blog post will be focusing on the topic of the side effects of breast cancer treatment. Different treatments for breast cancer will help you beat your disease in the long run, but unfortunately some of the main immediate problems that patients face are side effects of these treatments. Hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are some of the most common treatments, and while you're preparing for them, we want to best prepare you so that you are able to remain informed about the possible side effects that you may experience.
Hormonal Therapy
Hormonal therapy may include estrogen or progesterone inhibitor drugs. As a cause of the additional hormones in your body, which causes hormonal imbalance, you may experience:
1. Fatigue
2. Constipation, Diarrhoea, and/or Nauseousness
3. Abnormal menstrual cycles
4. Menopausal state
5. Hair loss and thinning
6. Weight loss
7. Bone thinning in pre-menopausal women taking tamoxifen
8. Mood swings
9. Change in libido
10. Breast swelling and sensitivity
11. Heightened blood clotting (visit your doctor who might prescribe blood thinning medications which will work with the other drugs)
12. Muscle spasms and joint pain
Understanding that it is not a given that you will, by compulsion experience all of these side effects. Some patients go through one or two, while some are affected by more. You may also experience none! If at all you are facing any of these side effects, do not take any medications without consulting your doctor. Your doctor is aware of all the medications that you are taking and hence will be able to prescribe drugs which will not have adverse side effects when taken with the other drugs.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy targets rapidly growing and dividing cells. Unfortunately, these drugs are rarely target specific, hence a lot of other body cells may also be destroyed as a result. Chemotherapy is a very vigorous treatment, which has the following possible side effects:
1. Fatigue
2. Digestive issues
3. Fertility issues: Developing egg cells may get destroyed by chemotherapy
4. Hair loss and hair thinning: Hair cells are rapidly dividing cells that are targeted by the chemotherapy drugs
(a) To combat this you can undergo scalp cooling therapy along with chemotherapy
5. Brittle nails and heightened nail breakage: Just like hair cells, skin cells, nails are also affected as they are also rapidly dividing cells
6. Abnormal menstruation cycles in premenopausal women
7. Menopausal symptoms including:
(a) Loss of sex drive
(b) Weight gain
(c) Hormonal imbalance
8. Weakened immune system due to a loss of white blood cells as a result of the chemotherapy drugs.
If you are undergoing chemotherapy, talk to your doctor about possible treatments to reduce any side effects you are experiencing, and talk about possible preventative treatment plans that will be compatible with your chemotherapy one.
Radiation Therapy
1. Skin cells might get damaged, causing rashes or red patches
2. Skin irritation
3. Tiredness and fatigue, muscle pain
4. Swelling and sensitivity of the breasts. (Keep in constant touch with your doctor to make sure that your body is not reacting adversely to the radiation)
Maintaining a proper diet and exercise regimen is extremely necessary to combat the side-effects. Make sure to look out for any changes in your body so that you will realise if the radiation is having any unexpected effects on you. Regular check ups with your doctor is important so that you are aware of any possible problems and are able to catch them early. Another important factor also is that you do not constantly switch doctors and stay with one that you trust, as when you do so that doctor knows your case specifically and understands your body as another doctor may not be aware of any different aspects of your case. After all, every singly body is unique in its own way and there is always a chance it may react unpredictably.
Sources Consulted:
1. Fatigue
2. Constipation, Diarrhoea, and/or Nauseousness
3. Abnormal menstrual cycles
4. Menopausal state
5. Hair loss and thinning
6. Weight loss
7. Bone thinning in pre-menopausal women taking tamoxifen
8. Mood swings
9. Change in libido
10. Breast swelling and sensitivity
11. Heightened blood clotting (visit your doctor who might prescribe blood thinning medications which will work with the other drugs)
12. Muscle spasms and joint pain
Understanding that it is not a given that you will, by compulsion experience all of these side effects. Some patients go through one or two, while some are affected by more. You may also experience none! If at all you are facing any of these side effects, do not take any medications without consulting your doctor. Your doctor is aware of all the medications that you are taking and hence will be able to prescribe drugs which will not have adverse side effects when taken with the other drugs.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy targets rapidly growing and dividing cells. Unfortunately, these drugs are rarely target specific, hence a lot of other body cells may also be destroyed as a result. Chemotherapy is a very vigorous treatment, which has the following possible side effects:
1. Fatigue
2. Digestive issues
3. Fertility issues: Developing egg cells may get destroyed by chemotherapy
4. Hair loss and hair thinning: Hair cells are rapidly dividing cells that are targeted by the chemotherapy drugs
(a) To combat this you can undergo scalp cooling therapy along with chemotherapy
5. Brittle nails and heightened nail breakage: Just like hair cells, skin cells, nails are also affected as they are also rapidly dividing cells
6. Abnormal menstruation cycles in premenopausal women
7. Menopausal symptoms including:
(a) Loss of sex drive
(b) Weight gain
(c) Hormonal imbalance
8. Weakened immune system due to a loss of white blood cells as a result of the chemotherapy drugs.
If you are undergoing chemotherapy, talk to your doctor about possible treatments to reduce any side effects you are experiencing, and talk about possible preventative treatment plans that will be compatible with your chemotherapy one.
Radiation Therapy
1. Skin cells might get damaged, causing rashes or red patches
2. Skin irritation
3. Tiredness and fatigue, muscle pain
4. Swelling and sensitivity of the breasts. (Keep in constant touch with your doctor to make sure that your body is not reacting adversely to the radiation)
Maintaining a proper diet and exercise regimen is extremely necessary to combat the side-effects. Make sure to look out for any changes in your body so that you will realise if the radiation is having any unexpected effects on you. Regular check ups with your doctor is important so that you are aware of any possible problems and are able to catch them early. Another important factor also is that you do not constantly switch doctors and stay with one that you trust, as when you do so that doctor knows your case specifically and understands your body as another doctor may not be aware of any different aspects of your case. After all, every singly body is unique in its own way and there is always a chance it may react unpredictably.
Sources Consulted:
Side effects of hormone therapy | Cancer Research UK Cancerresearchuk.org. (2019). Side effects of hormone therapy | Cancer Research UK. [online] Available at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/hormone-therapy/side-effects-women [Accessed 13 Feb. 2019].
Side effects of hormonal therapy - Canadian Cancer Society www.cancer.ca. (2019). Side effects of hormonal therapy - Canadian Cancer Society. [online] Available at: http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/diagnosis-and-treatment/chemotherapy-and-other-drug-therapies/hormonal-therapy/side-effects-of-hormonal-therapy/?region=on [Accessed 13 Feb. 2019].
Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects | Breastcancer.org Breastcancer.org. (2019). Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects | Breastcancer.org. [online] Available at: https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/chemotherapy/side_effects [Accessed 13 Feb. 2019]
Chemotherapy side effects Breast Cancer Care. (2018). Chemotherapy side effects. [online] Available at: https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/information-support/facing-breast-cancer/going-through-breast-cancer-treatment/side-effects/side-effects-chemotherapy [Accessed 13 Feb. 2019].
Radiotherapy side effects and recovery | Breast Cancer CareBreast Cancer Care. (2015). Radiotherapy side effects and recovery | Breast Cancer Care. [online] Available at: https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/information-support/facing-breast-cancer/going-through-breast-cancer-treatment/side-effects-radiotherapy [Accessed 13 Feb. 2019].
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