Side Effects

This page contains general side effects regarding cancer treatments. Source: American Cancer Society “treatments and side effects”.

Chemo Brain [1]

The symptoms of chemo brain:

  • Forgetting things that they usually have no trouble recalling (memory lapses)
  • Trouble concentrating (they can’t focus on what they’re doing, have a short attention span, may “space out”)
  • Trouble remembering details like names, dates, and sometimes larger events
  • Trouble multi-tasking, like answering the phone while cooking, without losing track of one task (they’re less able to do more than one thing at a time)
  • Taking longer to finish things (disorganized, slower thinking and processing)
  • Trouble remembering common words (unable to find the right words to finish a sentence)

Causes:

  • The cancer itself
  • Other drugs used as part of treatment, such as steroids, anti-nausea, or pain medicines
  • Surgery and the drugs used during surgery (anesthesia)
  • Low blood counts
  • Sleep problems
  • Infection
  • Tiredness (fatigue)
  • Hormone changes or hormone treatments
  • Other illnesses, such as diabetes or high blood pressure
  • Nutritional deficiencies
  • Patient age
  • Depression
  • Stress, anxiety, worry, or other emotional pressure

Clinical Depression [2]

Confusion [3]