Reviewed: December 2006

Fatigue, is a subjective, unpleasant symptom which incorporates total body feeling ranging from tiredness to exhaustion creating an unrelenting overall condition which interferes with individual's ability to function. It is a feeling of weariness, tiredness, or lack of energy that varies in degree, frequency, and duration.

About Cancer Fatigue

While everyone knows what it feels like to be occasionally exhausted, people with cancer who suffer from fatigue -- resulting from the disease itself or its treatment -- often suffer from a debilitating exhaustion that can last days, weeks or months. It is often reported as the most common symptom that individuals with cancer experience.

Cancer-related fatigue is difficult to describe and it is very complex.
Often patients do not tell their nurse or doctor about how tired they are because they incorrectly believe that fatigue is an untreatable side effect of cancer or cancer treatment
Cancer fatigue, often described by patients as a total lack of energy, is a near universal problem among cancer patients.

Cancer-related fatigue can be caused by:

• The disease
• Medical problems related to the disease or treatment, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, breathing problems, diarrhea, fever, infection, nausea/ vomiting, pain, or anemia
• Treatments for the disease (for cancer patients, fatigue may be caused by radiation or chemotherapy)
• Other medication such as those for pain
• Immobility
• Sleep disturbance
• Depression and anxiety
• Poor appetite or nutrition
• Too much rest

Acute vs Chronic Fatigue

Everyone has experienced normal fatigue, which improves with rest, however there is a difference between the fatigue patients feel after a long day and the fatigue patients may experience while undergoing treatment for cancer.Chronic fatigue associated with a disease or treatment of a disease does not improve with rest and can seriously affect a person's ability to function and his/her quality of life. Fatigue can impact quality of life in many different ways -- physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.

Acute Fatigue:

• Symptoms begin quickly
• Symptoms are intense
• Short duration, less than 7 days
• Relieved by a rest or a good night's sleep
• Usually related to excessive physical activity, lack of exercise, poor diet, dehydration, increase in activity, or other environmental factor.

Chronic Fatigue:

• Symptoms are unusual, excessive and constant
• Long duration, two weeks or more
• Can interfere with normal life activities
• Symptoms do not get better with rest

The BC Cancer Agency maintains a database on commonly used unconventional therapies available to cancer patients.