Chemo feels like getting dementia pls reassure me

[lisalisa]

I’m half way through a 6 cycle chemo regime . Each cycle has been different but what worries me is that I sort of sit with a blanket in my lap staring into space , thinking of nothing , hands clasped for hours at an end not doing anything . I used to run my own law office and take care of a busy household but am now content to dit staring into space for hours and hours . I worry that on top of everything I’m getting senile .
can anyone reassure ?
I have breast cancer in case that helps with relating .

Yes surgery, and possibly radiotherapy, to come. Ongoing immunotherapy, and sux-monthly bone infusions. It's a lot, of course I'm emotional! I've just cried all the way through Gavin and Stacey the Finale ...

Not me, my mother.

But treatment is brutal.

@SparklyBrickViper - Sorry - I got confused

@lisalisa - Sorry you are going through this - there are some good posts/advice in this thread - Chemo knocked the stuffing out of me as well.
Keep resting - keep yourself hydrated - it is very difficult.

I had six rounds of chemo (EC) six years ago. I definitely got chemo brain fog but it had lifted significantly now although sometimes I struggle to find a word. I was also very tearful on the 4/5 day after chemo as I was coming down after the days of steroids. It was like having horrendous pmt! Are you writing all of the side effects down? It helped me when keeping a diary to see the patterns and understand the cycles of each session so I knew I wasn't going crazy!

Best wishes for the rest if your treatment.

I’m also going through chemo (10 out of 16 cycles down!). The struggle for words is real as is the shitness of the whole situation which I just somehow need to process. This too will pass. I need my brain for work after this or I’ll run out of money! I can only believe that all will be well somehow.

Yes I was very emotional (though not depressed) and serious brain fog/stupor. Was horrible and weird. Just didn't feel anything like myself for a week afterwards each time. Several years on and I struggle to find words sometimes but otherwise my brain is fine. It went back to normal(ish) shortly after I finished having chemo.

@lisalisa how are you feeling today?

The brain fog and utter paralysis of the executive function . . . oh, very much par for the course. I well remember the day I had been sitting on the sofa thinking "I'd like a cup of tea" and an hour later had not moved. And if you've been knocked kicking and screaming, earlier than you'd expected, into chemical menopause, the brain fog and emotional vulnerability are even worse. I'm an academic; I thought I'd never be fit to work again at one point! But I promise you that my brain came back.