Cancer Brain, Chemo Brain, Lupron Brain … it’s all a FOG!!
Are YOU reading this post and already forgot what it’s about? Don’t laugh … I have that T-shirt! I know what it’s like when you can’t recall what you had for breakfast – literally …. but I also figured how to combat Lupron brain, chemo brain, or more generally cancer brain … and here are a few tips. Don’t worry – I’ll keep it short otherwise I know I’ll lose you!
One of our participants on last night’s PCa HiRisk/Recurrent/Advanced Virtual Support group wondered if he was alone suffering from Lupron Brain; listen to the recording here. And one good trick with our recordings …. you can use the handy-dandy transcript search function to find the relevant part of the recording.
This side effect hits most folks undergoing any form of systemic cancer treatment – not just chemotherapy but hormone therapy and immunotherapy too. And because it impacts us in every aspect of our waking lives, we are very much aware of its omniscient presence. It’s hard to walk and chew gum when you’re moderating a virtual call; so when another participant e-mailed me for the link I had posted in the chat window, I reviewed my exhaustive bank of URL’s collected over the past 12 years and found the following links. in addition to sending them to this gent, I thought they would be helpful to many, so here they are:
- Chemo Brain: It is Real
- Cognitive Training Helps ‘Chemo Brain’ in Cancer Survivors
- A genetic reason for cognitive impairment among men on ADT? | THE “NEW” PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK
- Cognitive Function and Hormone Therapy in Advanced Prostate Cancer – Interview with Alicia Morgans
- Memory Problems Due to ‘Cancer Brain’ and Not ‘Chemo Brain’?
- Strength Training Boosts Memory in a Single Session
Going through this list could challenge a few of you, but try ….. it’s good for the grey matter. Note some of these links may require you to sign on to Medscape – it’s free and worthwhile.
At the risk of oversimplification, three (3) main contributors common to most forms of systemic cancer treatment are prime suspects for coddling your brain:
- Sleep deprivation ….. for those on ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) those pesky hot flashes wake you up multiple times a night beyond those occasions you recall
- Depression …… well cancer can do that, for both social and physiological reasons
- Stress ….. well most of us don’t need cancer for that, but scanxiety and marker test results don’t help any, right?
For me personally, I found ‘brain exercise’ to be very helpful. I wanted to stretch my memory, so in my case played online card games making me recall what had been played. I have other friends who have done crosswords, played sudoku, had online trivia competitions with their partners/caregivers etc etc. Give it a couple of weeks, but it works – believe me from personal experience.
Sorry if this turned out to be a longer post than intended …. but if you got through it, you are already rehabbing your brain fog!
