Chronic Fatigue & Melatonin

Fatigue….. it is such a vague word I feel, for what a person actually goes through especially on chemotherapy. It is quite a trivial word, doesn’t quite cover it at all and sounds like ‘I am just a bit more tired than normal’.

Chemo fatigue is not something that you can just sleep off and get up refreshed! I have slept for about 9.5hrs every night this week and almost 14 hours today, along with an afternoon nap!!! If only, someone would pay me to sleep, a sleep study, a mattress study, a pillow study…. I’d do any of them!!!

I did manage to grab me some sunshine in the afternoon and do a good but slower walk ….. only to come back to find Mr Postman had dropped my invite to my next chemo session on Tuesday!!! GIVEEEE MEEEE STRENNNGGTHHHH !!!!!

I’ve not been too bad so far this time round!!! I actually think that all my hollistic research and treatments are working for me! But don’t like to speak too soon. On one hand I am pleased with my progress and how I am coping as time goes on but each day is different so never any point getting too excited with anything!

I’ve had my mojo slapped right out of me on several occassions so a bit happy but in my own quiet corner!

Having an extra week between cycles has given me a new outlook and I have been as close to ‘normal Sal’ as possibly can be! This has not happened since November so actually feels great.

So another new recent discovery. I have taken sleeping tabs on and off for about 5 years to aid sleep, more so when I am awaiting results or around MRI’s and scans as that is just the most stressful time of it all and can really turn your brain inside out at night time. Sleep tabs generally act as a hypnotic in the brain to calm the nerves and works as a sedative to aid sleep and stop all those worries and crazy thinking, leaving you utterly wrecked by the next day.

So Melatonin!!! A more natural way to help sleep! Melatonin is a natural hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain that regulates the sleep/wake cycle.

https://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/supplements/known/melatonin

There have been studies in Melatonin and the effect on reducing metastasis in certain cancers. Showed promising results with gene expression in early studies. This was around 2012, promising results and then nothing!! It does make you think….. but I am a scientist and also have a good business mind. I don’t agree with any of it but if a cure for a certain cancer was found or showed promising results, who would conduct the big clinical trial…. which big pharma would put millions and millions of pounds into a drug that you can buy off the shelf! It would never benefit them, would it ever happen? A consultant would never use a product unless there was strong evidence from a big enough clinical trial was conducted…. so a bit of a catch 22 situation here……

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503661/

People are always ready to get angry with the big pharma companies but without going into one, its all quite tricky and treatment has come a long way with some amazing drugs.

Anyway, I also discovered that Melatonin is banned for sale in the UK!!! I am not yet sure why…. I’ll get to the bottom of it if I can stay awake for a bit longer!! It does work as it is available on prescription for certain criteria….. mmmmmm!!!

I didn’t know this then but for some reason, I bought Melatonin along with a number of natural vitamins from an organic health food store in USA at Christmas when I was over. It is not illegal to bring it into the UK but in USA it is just more readily available, cheaper, bigger bottles, higher strengths, purer….. all of it. I was there, I made the effort to bring back and now I am sleeping nicely, more naturally, off the harsh chemical sleeping tabs and who knows if it attacking my cancer at the same time! I’ll certainly give it a go!!

So with all this, intermittent fasting and my crazy mad woman juicing, I seem to be pretty much off all the meds I was prescribed and I have a mighty collection!!! I think that is really something!! Quite proud of myself really and will continue to share as much as I can.

@HardKaur14

I went to a really posh spa last weekend and picked up my flip flops from home…… it took me about 4 hours and a lot of swapping them over to realise I’d actually picked up 2 left feet !!!!

Think it might be time for bed now !!!