hi
I am 5 doses down of paclitaxal / carboplatin with 7 doses to go. I have started to get numbness and pain in both feet (one worse than the other). Chemo nurses not concerned as yet. Any suggestions for relief? On the up side in 7 weeks chemo will be finished and I move on to the next phase of treatment bilateral mastectomy, ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
jodie ??
Hi all.
Thank you for your suggestions. Seeing oncologist next week. Being a theatre nurse I'm on my feet a lot, l certainly do not want ongoing or lasting neuropathy.
Jodie
Hi Jodie
I got peripheral neuropathy quite badly, particularly in my feet, so worth doing anything you can to minimize the impact. Iced water is often recommended but my oncologist also recommended (rather late in the piece) Vitamin B. May have been entirely coincidental, but the symptoms stopped developing almost straight away (I had a lot of pain in my toes and was starting to get quite worried about affecting my walking) and I started a slow recovery. Check of course with your oncologist but Vitamin B may be unlikely to have any negative effect, and is simply to take daily.
Very high heels will never be part of my wardrobe again, but otherwise my feet are fine, so keep your chin up!
Good luck.
I ran into serious reaction to paclitaxal straight after my second dose. I know a friend who is 2 years post her journey with severe nerve damage to this day and she warned me to speak up if I was concerned. I immediately rang to consult with my oncologist. My side effects were burning and the most excruciating itching that felt like I was being bitten by a gazillion fire ants! I cried hysterically and the only relief was to scratch and rub my hands and feet untill I almost drew blood. I just got so frightened and refused to continue because I thought if it was this bad after only 2 doses? so they stopped it immediately. I went back to my first lot of chemo and used that for the remainder of the period as my oncologist reconed it would be just as effective.
I am 5 yrs finished paclitaxal and have still got peripheral neuropathy. I have learned to live with it even though it can be quite painful and uncomfortable. My oncologist has said the likeliness of it going now is minimal.
I was due for 12 sessions of Taxol and started getting peripheral neuropathy in about week 7. I spoke to the nurses and to the breast care nurse, they just said to keep an eye on it. However, I was getting concerned, so I rescheduled my onc appt to be before the 10th treatment instead of just after it. She stopped the treatment right then and I only did 9 of the 12. I was delighted!
Now, five months later the numbness has eased but it is still present. There is no clear benchmark about peripheral neuropathy, and the damage can be permanent. So, speak up and keep speaking up. Perhaps you could take the approach that you are likely to have your current numbness for months or even years.
