Fatigue
Fatigue is extreme tiredness. It is a common symptom for people with pancreatic cancer. It may be caused by the cancer, its symptoms or your treatment. It can be constant or start and stop and may not be improved by resting.
If you are fatigued your treating team may want do some blood tests to check there is not a treatable cause for your fatigue.
Managing fatigue will impact on how you feel. Some ideas that might help are:
- Prioritise things you want to get done
- Pace yourself, you might find you can do more at certain times in the day
- Accept offers of help and ask for help if you need it. Gather My Crew helps organise daily tasks by emailing your friends and inviting them to help out
- Its fine to say no to calls and visitors – if you don’t feel up to it.
It’s okay to not be okay all the time.
A good thing you can do for your energy levels and to combat fatigue is to exercise. Massage, relaxation and meditation can also help with fatigue.
It’s important to do things that restore you. A relaxing bath, listening to music or sitting in the sunshine.
This resource What is fatigue (pdf) may be useful information for you.
Your specialist nurse or doctor can refer you to an OT (Occupational Therapist) to help you out with your fatigue.
Some people find using a fatigue diary helpful. There are also phone Apps available that help you track your levels of fatigue and work out what times of the day are best for you to be active.