Nurse practitioner Lauren Engel emphasizes that maintaining or starting an exercise routine is one of the most effective ways to manage treatment-related fatigue, preserve strength, and improve overall well-being during prostate cancer treatment.
Lauren Engel:
I think the biggest thing is fatigue, because any of these treatments can cause fatigue and sometimes it can be cumulative, so I always tell my patients to watch out for that, and the biggest recommendation I have is an exercise routine. If people are exercising at the beginning, I want them to continue that even if they have to go slower or not as fast, or any modifications they have to do are fine, but I just want them to keep that up.
If they're not exercising now, I tell them it's a really good time to start. Something slow, walking, some really light free weights, stretching, chair yoga, anything like that I think is going to help. It's also going to help the potential for any bone density issues that might come up with the low testosterone, and so I recommend some strength-based exercises in regards to bone density. Calcium, vitamin D supplement are the other things that I recommend for that.
The exercise thing is an important thing, and so sometimes I'll give people even a script for physical therapy for just weakness or frailness, and that can sometimes kickstart people. They have a couple of sessions of physical therapy. They can learn what exercises to do to help focus on some of their weaker areas, whether that be the legs or the core, and so that can sometimes be helpful.