If you're having long-term effects from chemo, talk to your doctor to get tips on how to manage them. The higher the dose of chemo, the more likely it is to have an impact. Many women who have chemo go through menopause at an earlier age than usual.įor both men and women, chemotherapy's effect on fertility depends on a number of things, including the type of drugs you used and the dose. You may stop having regular menstrual cycles after treatment. If you're a woman, chemotherapy can damage your eggs and harm your ovaries. If chemo kills the immature stem cells in your testicles that become new sperm, you may become infertile, which means you can't have children. Since healthy sperm cells divide quickly, chemo can also damage them. FertilityĬhemotherapy can affect your ability to have children, whether you're a man or woman.įor guys, the reason has to do with the way chemo drugs target fast-growing cancer cells. Talk to your doctor for suggestions on how to raise your energy level. You may find that even when you get enough rest, you still feel sluggish. But some people still feel extremely tired after treatment ends. You probably remember the fatigue that hit you while you were getting chemo. Work with a dietitian or nutritionist and add strength training exercises to your workout routine to help you shed some pounds. You may find that the weight stays on even when your treatment ends.įor instance, some drugs that treat breast cancer can cause you to lose muscle and gain fat, which makes it much more difficult to get the weight off. Some types of chemo can make you put on extra pounds. This can prevent new hair from growing, and you may become permanently bald. In rare cases, such as after years of strong chemotherapy, your hair follicles could shut down. Over time, as the effects of the chemo on your hair follicles wear off, your hair will probably go back to the way it was before treatment. Its texture, shape, and color may be different. But it's possible that at first it may not look like it used to. If you lose some or all of your hair after chemo, it will typically start to grow back in a month or two. If your doctor plans to give you a medication that could affect your heart, they may ask you to get tests that monitor how well your ticker works. Problems with your heart rhythm ( arrhythmia).Weakening of the heart muscle ( cardiomyopathy).Chemotherapy may also increase your odds of having heart problems, such as: HeartĬertain chemo drugs can damage cells in your heart. It seems more likely to happen if you had higher doses of chemotherapy. You may also forget things easily or have trouble doing more than one thing at a time.ĭoctors aren't sure of the exact cause of chemo brain. If you feel a little foggy when your treatment is done, you might have a touch of " chemo brain." You may notice that you find it hard to concentrate or remember names and dates. Your doctor can suggest ways to manage your symptoms.
Watch out for signs of chemo's long-term changes, and let your doctor know how you feel. But others can linger for months or years or may never completely go away. Some side effects of chemotherapy only happen while you're having treatment and disappear quickly after it's over.
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