Living with fatigue

Fatigue means feeling very tired or exhausted all or most of the time. Macmillan states that 90 per cent of people with a cancer diagnosis will experience fatigue, which can be caused by the cancer and its treatment. Fatigue affects everyone different, and can differ for individuals day to day.

Fatigue can present itself as difficulty concentrating, feeling weak with no energy, and can cause difficulty sleeping amongst many other things.

It can affect every aspect of your life, but there are things you can do to better manage your fatigue.

Planning your day – keeping a fatigue diary can help you better understand your fatigue, and how different activities affect your fatigue levels. Write down when you are feeling good and the times you are not feeling as good. This will help you better plan your days/weeks to make sure you are able to do things you want to do.

Pacing yourself – make sure you have planned your activity well and have paced yourself. Avoid rushing - keep a moderate, sustainable pace. Stop and rest before becoming tired. Plan rests as part of your daily routine. Alternate active and quiet tasks throughout the day.

Prioritising activities – what activity needs to be done, or which activities do you want to do? Prioritise these, and leave the less important activities for another time or for someone else. It is important to delegate or dump activities if possible. It is not a problem to pass responsibility on.

Macmillan has good practical ideas for managing different aspects of daily life, and also provides a fatigue diary you can print.