It amazes me that they have only recently discovered that certain chemotherapy drugs really DO cause chemo brain and it's not just, as many doctors have believed for years, related to stress, anxiety, and depression than can accompany breast cancer.
Recently two of the the chemo drugs I was given (5-fluorouracil and doxorubicin) were studied for their effects on the brain and scientists have determined that chemo causes measurable damage to the brain, some of it permanent, though much of the damage recovers over time ... up to 20 years later! What I mostly take from that is ... YIPPEE ... they found enough women to study who have lived 20 years after breast cancer!
The estrogen blocking drugs that many women take after their chemo and/or radiation can compound the brain damage for the duration, which is typically another 5 years. Apparently improvements can be expected within a year of being off the estrogen blocking drugs.
If you want to know the latest about research into chemo brain, this is a good overview.
I have to say that I feel a noticeable improvement in my brain function since I started taking "Greens" just last Friday. It's amazing to me, partly because it's so sudden. I can organize my thoughts and plan so much easier. I don't notice any difference in my memory but in my "executive functions" I do. I feel smarter. YEAH!! (Let me live with my delusions, okay?)
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