Patients with advanced cancer report the same 'unbearable' symptom

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Almost all cancer patients with advanced cancer report the same, in their words, “unbearable” symptom – a feeling of constant and severe fatigue.

Oncologists explain this as the inability to do things at your usual pace. Typically, this is due to the fact that the tumor has invaded nearby tissues, lymph nodes, and other parts of the body.

Patients with advanced cancer are more likely to experience fatigue than those in the early stages of the disease. As the number of cancer cells increases in the body, fatigue can lead to a decrease in appetite and decreased activity.

The main cause of fatigue in cancer patients is hormonal imbalance, which is especially common in breast and prostate cancer.

Some types of cancer produce cytokines, a group of proteins that play an important role in strengthening the immune system. This can also cause fatigue.

A report published in the medical journal BMC Primary Care describes the type of fatigue experienced by patients with terminal cancer as “unbearable, debilitating weakness.” It occurs in 57 percent of patients receiving palliative care, which is not a cure but rather a quality of life (which can be maintained in each individual case).

The Cleveland Clinic describes cancer fatigue as “paralyzing” because it can come on suddenly. And neither long sleep nor rest helps here.

According to such patients, most of the time they feel physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted.

The first symptoms of cancer, with the appearance of which it is necessary to consult a doctor:

• Sudden unmotivated weight loss.
• Elevated temperature and fever.
• Fatigue and weakness.
• Bone pain.
• Change in the quality and color of the skin.
• Change in the size, color, thickness, shape of moles.
• Occurrence of wounds or ulcers that do not respond to therapy.
• Bladder dysfunction.
• Various bowel disorders (constipation, diarrhea, pain during bowel movements).
• Persistent headache.
• Unusual discharge, bleeding.
• Persistent cough, sore throat, hoarseness, as well as problems with swallowing and indigestion.