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What can be done for extreme fatigue and weakness

Lans
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My father has stage 4 renal cell carcinoma metastasised to the liver (excessive load) and lungs (not as bad as liver). He was first put in Votrient in August for 3 months but disappointingly it did not work. We are now waiting for Infinitor to be provided as the next line of treatment. He's been off the Votrient for 2 weeks and is experiencing extreme fatigue. He struggles to stand more than a few minutes or to walk 50 metres. A recent blood test showed he was not anaemic. 

Is there anything that can help reduce the crippling fatigue and give some strength and energy back? He is also in extreme pain in the liver area and taking daily pain meds.

Is going on to Infinitor likely to improve this? Can anyone who is or has taken Infinitor share their experience/ side effects/ outcomes.

Thanks

  • Hello, and thank you for posting, I am so sorry to hear about your father's situation.

    Unfortunately, fatigue is a very common side effect of cancer. Particularly when there is a lot of disease in the liver. We do have information on managing and treating fatigue on our website if helpful.

    I am sorry to hear that as well as fatigue that your dad is struggling with pain. I hope your father is known to a palliative care team, who are symptom management specialists, as they may be able to tweak his medications to improve his quality of life. Do contact his doctor if you do not think he has had this referral.

    It may be helpful to move your post to the 'living with' section of the forum. Then others who have had Afinitor will be able to give you their experience although everyone is of course very different.

    Kidney Cancer UK also has this information on Afinitor if useful.

    Take care and do look after yourself at this time, I hope you have some support.

    Please feel free to get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5 pm, Monday to Friday.

    Sarah.

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