Im coming back for some much needed advice from my favorite girls!!  Im almost 4 mos post chemo and 8 weeks post bilat mast with recons, going back to work on March 16th, and for the past week or so ive been really dizzy, starting to freak me out!! Should i be worried?  And im wondering who to contact, primary care or Oncologist at this point.

Also when do they usually do a full body scan post chemo?  Is it 6 mos post?

As im sure we all do im probably blowing this out of proportion, but ive been dizzy everyday and its making me nervous, anyone else have this problem??

Hope to hear from you all soon!!  Thank you so much

Hugs  Gina 

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You certainly should see either your primary care dr or your oncologist about your dizziness.  It could be caused by so many different things, some connected to your chemo, others like an inner ear issue that may have nothing at all to do with your chemo.  Regardless of the cause, you need to have it resolved before you return to work.

 

"Blowing things out of proportion" is our job now  .  We just can't count on our old judgement to know what to take seriously.  The old fear of being thought a hypochondriac has to go out the window.  To my surprise, my doctors never treat my concerns casually.  They treat each malady with respect.

 

You know it could be that your dizziness is coming from anxiety over going back to work.  You've been in another world for several months and had experiences that may have left you feeling strange about stepping back into your former setting.  Maybe you're afraid you won't be able to live up to the expectations.  I was on leave for about 9 months and was absolutely shaking my first day back.  I felt like a different person than before and not sure at all that my brain would function the same way.

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Do see one of your doctors - the one you feel most comfortable with - and let the dr check out possible causes and give you something to treat the dizziness.

 

You'll be going back to work on my birthday --- that should bring you good luck !     

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Jessie




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Thank you so much for the quick replies!  Maybe it is the going back to work thing, and i do have chronic anxiety issues, panic attacks and i think thru all of this ive done pretty well, so maybe now its just all hitting me! And its sooo true that now every ache and pain is scary, how can it not be for us?!  And i am due for my period in a few days Mary so could be a factor also, but i will call my Onc today, i guess it cant hurt.  Im also not sleeping the way i used to, i wake up 3x at least during the night!! Its horrible.

And Mary im not on Facebook yet, been meaning to sign up, i will soon, my mom is on and loves it so i will check it out and let you know.

Ladies thank you again and as always keep the info coming!!

XOXO Gina

 

I agree with Jessie...there's a million of reasons for dizziness.  Some could be related to lingering side effects of chemo, some may just be caused by natural changes in your body.  Anemia, hypoglycemia, dehydration are some that I could think of.  Also, the dizziness may be exacerbated by anxiety as you're getting anxious about the cause of the dizziness (I don't know if this makes sense but I said it anyway).

 

I had bouts of dizziness a few years back.  At one time my heart rate came down so low (44 bpm) I ended up in emergency room.  I learned later that I did have a period of erratic heart rate (I never know what caused it).  Naturally I got nervous about it as it was happening, and that nervousness caused the heart rate to go even lower.

 

I would suggest you see your primary, maybe he can prescribe an anti-anxiety.  Hopefully taking it for a short period of time can help.

 

In addition to that, you can mention you wanted to get a full body scan.  Dizziness is usually not related to recurrence or anything.  But a scan may just give you the peace of mind you need so that you can go back to work peacefully.

 

Big hugs..

 

There are a million reasons for dizziness, and they have to rule out many before they get a correct dx. Vertigo is one, and if you are not sleeping. There is no "fix" for vertigo, except to go to a "vestibular Rehabilitaion therapist". I went to one after 6 weeks of not being able to do anything....could not drive, and it was pretty much debilitating, and he corrected it through certain exercises.  I found him through a physical therapy center. Not many are trained for that.

 

Here is a link for that, and I sure hope you find what is causing it. Scary isn't it?

 

Hugs,

Nancy

 

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