Peripheral Neuropathy

The not so lovely side effect of treatment. Not everyone gets it. Mine improved over time but am still left with numb fingertips and fingernails are brittle. As for the feet toes still feel funny numb and part of 1 foot. Though originally I could hardly stand the way they felt. A bit like that strange feeling as if had been sitting on them and stood up to walk. 

That has settled to specific numb areas 

Most important thing I have to do is check my feet that I haven’t got any blisters or broken areas of skin. Also I try to make sure my shoes fit properly bit like when kids get fitted for shoes not tight and not too big. 

If your walking is affected its important to take care on uneven surfaces though i am naughty I’m supposed to where enclosed shoes 👞 but i like my thongs  🩴 and slip on sandals.  High heal shoes are a thing of the past as well.  There is some nice choices of shoes out there these days. I’ve taken a liking to sketchers
everything depends on your severity of neuropathy my Oncologist sent me to a physio to get some help with walking properly and if needed my GP was to organise a podiatrist. So far I have been lucky and I keep an eye on things. Activity is important keep the blood flowing. Oh and be careful trimming the nails only made that mistake once. 

 @@cranky_granny describes pins and needles  - which was the same for me plus sometimes quite strong zaps like electric shocks. At one point my feet looked very white almost blanched, and I wondered if it was due to poor circulation. 

Around 10 months into active treatment I started to have aches in my ankles and feet at night. Panadol osteo seemed to help me sleep and manage the pain.Lyrica targets nerve pain but I never tried it.
The slide on fluffy slippers were kindest - I avoided anything that made them hot.  

I also had numbness in my finger tips and redness on my hands - I wore latex gloves when cooking, and when the nails were loosening I had to cover them with bandaids to stop them catching until they fell off. 

The fingernails grew back slowly, once I stopped the taxane chemo. 

Interestingly the neuropathy has improved quite a bit; I think it’s yoga that helped. I had to pause yoga for a few weeks recently to recover from surgery and I noticed the stiffness and pain creeping up. 

I choose to wear slides in summer.  It’s winter here now, so I wear suede Birkenstock lace ups - they’re super comfortable instead of sneakers.  I can wear flat shoes like ballet slipper style and leather boots, as long as the leather is soft and the toe box doesn’t press down on my toe nails. 

I can do around 7-10,000 steps per day and not be too sore. 

I hope your neuropathy doesn’t go this far, it seems everyone is different. But there are some ladies on this forum who have been living with it for a while and they might jump in with their stories. 

I saw this article about a surgeon who overcame her neuropathy when my neuropathy was at its worst and it helped me feel encouraged and that if I took on some active rehabilitation I could look forward to some improvement.
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102554760
Sending you lots of good vibes 🌻🌸🌼 for your treatment, healing and recovery! 

For anyone in Sydney who experiencing neuropathy and completetd chemo between one and 6 mths ago who may be interested in helping with a trial in Randwick .

I have never had problems with cuts or injury to my feet, as I say they are not numb. It’s annoying but manageable. I make sure I walk every day, it seems to help. Mainly it’s not painful, sometimes a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately the only treatment seems to be pain relief. Best wishes.