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Smiley_Ky's avatar
Smiley_Ky
Member
10 years ago

Numbness of bottom lip and chin

I want to know if there are any ladies out there who have had trouble with numbness in their chin and bottom lip with chemo? Known as peripheral neuropathy it began a couple of months ago, very mildly but within the past week my chin and lip are tight and very uncomfortable. It affects how I eat; I bite my lip causing bleeding and lumps and I get self conscious when I talk - It feels like I have a rock on my face.

Usually numbness side effects are in the fingers and feet but for some strange reason it's effecting my face. I was on Eribulin but I've asked to stop that for the meantime and my Oncologist has no idea what to do about it. Can anyone help me please?

7 Replies

  • I took one mega B a day but check with your oncologist. The best anyone could tell me was that it may help, but if it doesn't do any harm it's worth a shot. My symptoms got no worse and started slowly to improve. May have been coincidental- but I am still taking it!

  • I do have Berocca about 3 times a week, do you think that is good enough as a Vitamin B?

  • Keep going back and checking with Drs as a swollen lip with some numbness can be allergy related. If you start coughing or feel tight in the throat go to the Emergency Department and get it checked. Sometimes we put everything down to chemo but it may not be. Hope all is wrll...sounds most unpleasant.  I've had issues with lip swelling and it took me ages figuring out which drug was causing it...it was aspirin but it would come on hours after taking it. Kath 

  • And sorry about all the typos. 

    My touch screen is a tad too sensitive ... I wish we could go back and edit our own commments once posted...

    Jel.

  • I have notnstarted my chemo yet but I suffer from neuralgias and my understanding is that chemo does a similar thing.

    Part of my having several types of neuralgias has had me experience similar symptoms to those you describe so Inwould not be surprised Chemo would do the same.

    I have periods when the inside of my mouth and my gums will be super. Tender, swolen and at times nub or tingly. Part of having them swell up is that I will bite huge chunks of the inner lip at times or even of the inner cheek. You think it impossible yet it happens.

    What also happens somettimes is that my throat gets inflamed, I get heavy duty dental /toot pain even my throat gets inflamed and sometimes the nodes on top of my throat/neck just under the lower jaw hurt like hell.

    Other times the swelling will affevt my ear and I will get a sesnation that there is something inside my ear pushing down on the ear cannal and I feel the need to show things into the ear to clean it out. But regardless of how it feels the earcanal is clean and wide open - been to doctors and specialists while it was happening and all looks perfect - feels like crap but what I am feeling is my nerve sending false signals...

    Again, have not started chemo but my nerves are crazy without chemo so if chemo does affevt nerves there is no reason to assume it can do to you what my crazy nerves do off their own accord. We are all different and you just might have more sensitive nerves than most others so they are being a tad too responsive.

    If this is affecting your mouth and jaw I would strongly suggest you do what I do when experiencing neuralgia in those areas - make sure you rinse your mouth with, as well as gargle, salty water twice daily (1tsp of salt to 1 cup of water) as it will help treat any beginings of infection which is easy to get when you nick yourself with your teeth like that. Half the time you will not even realise you had bitten yourself until it is too late. Also inflamed nerves there can cause ulcers which are easily infevted. Also helps keep inflamation of the gums and throat down.

    Wishing you all the best :)

  • Hi

    That sounds most unpleasant, my peripheral neuropathy was in my fingers and to a greater extent, my toes and feet. The only thing that seemed to make any difference (apart from  when I finished chemo!) was Vitamin B. May be worth trying?

    Best of luck

  • I have finished chemo and start Radiothreapy on the 18 May. I have numb toes and a few numb fingers. Sorry I have  not heard of numbness in the chin or lower lip. But from posts I've read everyone is different.  I can only suggest to talk to your oncologist about it.  When my toes and fingers started going numb my oncologist reduced the chemo by a tiny amount 8 per cent!  Hard to tell if it worked although the numbness has not got worse.

    Hope you can find an answer and take care. 

    Anne-Marie.