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Young Adults with CML

Hello,

I am 22 years old and was diagnosed 2 months ago. I started on Dasatanib 100mg daily. They will test my BCR-ABL again in April, as well as another bone marrow biopsy to see how things are looking. I am currently in my last semester of nursing school, with a busy schedule including working as well as clinicals and studying. I was curious to maybe hear from any other young adults also diagnosed with CML. I was feeling normal when first starting the Dasatanib, but the past week or so, I have experienced immense fatigue. It feels like a brain fog comes over me, at times it is hard to keep my eyes open. I always get at least 8 hours of sleep, practice yoga, and eat relatively healthy. How have others coped with the fatigue while keeping up a busy schedule? Even coffee doesn't seem to help haha. 

Thanks!

Gillian

Hi Gillian,

Two months is no time at all. When you start taking the medication for CML, it starts to break down all sorts of things in your body - some doctors give medication like allopurinol to help with the effects of excess urea in your system, but the point I am making is that your body is stil doing its best to get back to normal. Fatigue isn’t unexpected.

You sound pretty clued up, so I guess you can also appreciate that it’s a big toll on your mind as well which can of course impact on your physical feeling.

My advice would be to not push yourself too hard. Keep doing your yoga and eat well but don’t push yourself and listen to your body when it tells you to rest. And above all ... keep taking your medication every day!

David.

Thank you David! Yeah I'm just going to forge ahead and try to take extra good care of my body and mind. I sure appreciate the online community we have here, it has been helpful.