Chemobrain – I can’t remember what I forgot

One of the little known side effects of cancer treatment is a condition known as chemobrain. This is a sort of fogginess which comes over many cancer patients after chemo, and can include short and long-term memory loss, forgetfulness, confusion, and even emotional issues or mood swings. ‘Chemobrain’ is a serious condition for those who experience it, and although most of the effects wear off over time, it is something that friends, family members, and caretakers for cancer patients need to be aware of. As cancer patients, we call it chemobrain, but really it is memory and cognitive issues with multiple causes including chemotherapy drugs, pain or other medications, emotional and physical trauma, hormonal changes, and sleep issues.

For most cancer patients, chemobrain can leave you feeling depressed or anxious. For me, I felt depressed as I had a lot of trouble remembering names and people. Friends would come by and tell me stories about other friends, and I would not have any recollection at all who they were talking about. I would see people I knew, and not be able to remember their names or sometimes even how I knew them. Even today, almost a year after my stem cell transplant, I am reluctant to go out in my home town due to the embarrassment of forgetting people’s names.

For many cancer patients, chemobrain can make work and home life difficult. Often patients find that although they are physically recovered, mentally they are unable to return to work. Patients report that they find it difficult to find words to express themselves, that they are less creative, have difficulty multitasking, and take longer to complete tasks. Plus, there is the almost constant cycle of being in the middle of something and then. . . “Wait, what was I just about to do?”

Luckily, many of the effects do wear off over time. Chemodrugs are flushed from the body, neurons heal and repair, we decrease our meds, start sleeping better, and heal emotionally. For some this can happen quickly, for others it may take much longer, and emotional trauma can require professional help.

So as a friend or family member of a cancer patient what can you do? Well, the first thing is to recognize that this is a real problem. I found that when I started to open up to people about my troubles with memory and cognitive issues many would laugh it off, or say things like “that’s just getting older,” or “well in that case I must have chemobrain too.” This made me reluctant to discuss it, and thus it took me longer to look into how to address it. Next, understand that they may need a bit more time with things than they used to, or may not be up to some of the same mental tasks at work, or demands at home. Multi-tasking can become quite stressful, and if you recognize them getting angry or upset try to help them slow down and take it easy.

There are other ways that patients can help themselves to recover from chemobrain and other metal effects of cancer treatment, including:

• Getting plenty of exercise and eating a well-rounded diet
• Walking in the outdoors
• Doing crosswords, logic puzzles, reading, or playing so called ‘brain game’ apps
• Meditation and mindfulness practices
• Relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, massage, yoga, float tanks, or even just a warm bath
• Professional physiological or emotional therapy