Cancer symptoms become more severe as the disease progresses, but many patients ignore them until they become unbearable. Unfortunately, failure to report symptoms early significantly worsens the cancer prognosis. Most patients diagnosed at an advanced stage reportedly report the same debilitating symptoms.
The American Cancer Society explains:
“This fatigue can affect you physically, mentally and emotionally.”
Cancer patients afflicted with this condition often report an ongoing feeling of extreme fatigue that is relieved by rest.
“Almost everyone with advanced cancer has this symptom,” adds Health Body.
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If advanced cancer is diagnosed, it is unlikely to be effectively cured or controlled by treatment.
This is because the tumor has invaded nearby tissues, lymph nodes, and other distant parts of the body.
Treatment may be given to shrink the tumor, but doctors may decide that the risks of treatment outweigh the benefits.
It should be noted that patients with advanced cancer are more likely to experience fatigue than those with early stage cancer.
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A major cause of fatigue in cancer patients is disturbances in the body’s hormone levels, which are common in diseases such as breast and prostate cancer.
As the number of cancer cells in the body increases, fatigue may cause people to eat less and be less active.
Cancer Research UK added:
“Cytokines are a group of proteins in the body that play an important role in strengthening the immune system. They can cause fatigue.”
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Reports published in medical journals BMC Primary Care characterized the type of fatigue in terminal cancer patients as ‘unbearable weakness’.
The report states that “weakness was the more frequent intolerable symptom” seen in 57% of patients receiving palliative care.
The Cleveland Clinic describes it as “numbing” because cancer fatigue can come on suddenly.
Health adds:
“Most of the time I’m physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.”
The American Cancer Society adds that patients often describe fatigue as “lethargic, exhausting, or washed out.”
In addition to weakness, patients often complain of “unbearable pain,” according to a BMC Primary Care report.
Pain in end-stage patients is often characterized as chronic because it tends to last longer than pain caused by other problems.
In cancer patients, pain often leads to several other complications, such as:
- get annoyed
- have trouble falling asleep
- loss of appetite
- Poor concentration.
