Need advice Please!

hands and pain
Hi Deena,

I feel your pain because one of my drugs makes the skin on my fingers crack and split. Sometimes it's incredibly painful (and a bit messy) trying to type. If you don't have open skin on your hands, there's an ointment that you can buy over the counter for burn treatments that has a topical numbing agent (lidocaine, I think) and that will help some. It won't take the pain away completely, but it should relieve it to a manageable level. Because I have open skin, I can't use it anymore so I gave it to my sister and now I can't go to the medicine cabinet to see what it's called, sorry. As for the exhaustion, I'll catch little naps whenever I can. I have trouble sleeping at night, so I have to get to the point of collapse so that I can get 4 - 6 hours of shut eye. Then, any chance I can get during the day, I'll grab a short catnap for maybe only a couple of minutes at a time.

I hope that you can find the ointment and that it works good for you.

Doc

RobinKaye said:

Advice...
My husband has the same problem but with his feet - it is neuropathy which causes pain and tingling not just numbness. Anyway, the onc said that he was done with the oxaliplatin, the benefit did not outweigh the possibility of permanent damage to his feet. He had 6/8 treatmens with the oxi and no more.

You might want to discuss this with your onc, does he know how bad your hands are. Don't downplay the severity he needs to know.

Have you had calcium and magnesium given before the oxi? It adds an hour or so to the treatment and some say it really helps, others say it makes no difference.

I have neuropathy...
and have had for more than 10 years, and they've never been able to figure out the cause. Good circulation, not diabetic. Anyway, docs tried lots of stuff to help control the pain, and my GP finally prescribed tramadol and it has worked great to take the edge off. It's a generic, is very cheap and it saved my life. Until my dx with stage IV cc, that is. Wish tramadol worked on that too, but at least my neuropathy isn't too bad. They put me on folfiri because folfox creates it's own neuropathy problems. Hope you find some relief!

Hugs,
Dan

It is probably neuropathy - from the chemo
This is neuropathy. I have completed 6 of 12 chemo treatments. My Onco is following this. He said if it gets worse we add magnessium and calcium drips. I asked if that dilutes the effectivenes of the chemo and he said no. The neuropathy can become permenant if not watched. I have this is hands, feet, teeth, roof of mouth. For my hands I found that embroidery is like a miracle. I asked the Onco about this and he said the movements of the sewing will help. So needless to say.....I have completed 4 projects with 3 under construction. For the feet - I do a little walking around the house, for the teeth, I just move my mouth for a while (teeth usually stay numb longer). Hope this helps.

Doc_Hawk said:

hands and pain
Hi Deena,

I feel your pain because one of my drugs makes the skin on my fingers crack and split. Sometimes it's incredibly painful (and a bit messy) trying to type. If you don't have open skin on your hands, there's an ointment that you can buy over the counter for burn treatments that has a topical numbing agent (lidocaine, I think) and that will help some. It won't take the pain away completely, but it should relieve it to a manageable level. Because I have open skin, I can't use it anymore so I gave it to my sister and now I can't go to the medicine cabinet to see what it's called, sorry. As for the exhaustion, I'll catch little naps whenever I can. I have trouble sleeping at night, so I have to get to the point of collapse so that I can get 4 - 6 hours of shut eye. Then, any chance I can get during the day, I'll grab a short catnap for maybe only a couple of minutes at a time.

I hope that you can find the ointment and that it works good for you.

Doc

Consult with doctor
You need to tell your doctor about this because it can become permanent. Believe me, when talking to my doctor about lowering the dosage because of the tingling she said it will go away - well it never did. No cream will work. Tell your doctor now. Hope you get better results.

Kim

thxmiker said:

Sorry about your dx. Our
Sorry about your dx. Our thoughts and prayers are with you!

The burning and numbness in the hands unfortunately is normal, or not uncommon. I wore gloves to get anything out of the refrigerator and/or freezer. I wore gloves to the grocery store so I would not feel freezer burn. There are meds to help the nerve rebuilding. They upset my stomach soooo bad I did not continue. I tried again after chemo, and the Onc told me the meds for the nerves really had little benefit.


My wife's wax bath helped me a little, and very temporary. My taste changed, feet and hands tingles, and burned with cold, lost a little hair line, and my CEA went from 1125 to 2 with chemo. One year after chemo my feet are still partially numb, and the tips of my last three fingers still have mild numbness.

Best Always, mike

Hi Deena
I just wanted to suggest one more thing here. A couple of years ago, someone here suggested Alpha Lipoic Acid. I don't know if many here have tried it for the chemo neuropathy, but I believe it works for some. It did not work for my daughter, Johnnybegood. However, it has become a lifesaver for my husband's diabetic neuropathy. We buy it a Walmart and it is inexpensive. So just another option to check out, but make sure it passes the approval of your onc.

Luv,

Wolfen

Honeybear4701 said:

I used Aspercreme before
I used Aspercreme before bedtime and in the afternoon befor I went into the pool and put my hands over the jets. One of the above helped quite a bit. Also my Husband rubs my hands before I go to sleep. I just thought I'd throw these suggestions in, in case it might help someone else.

I will talk to my Onc the very next visit about your suggestions! Thank you all so much!

Deena

Mention every symptom as they come up - right away!
My wife's oncologist and her practice urges us to report every new symptom asap. I give my wife calcium and magnesium supplements (normal dosage) as there are studies (posted at NIH) which support the use of cal/magnesium infusions, although our ONC does not provide the infusion.

oxaliplatin
oxaliplatin is one of the main culprits of neuoptahy.
talk to your doc about reducing that drug a big... and you need to complain.

I didn't complain soon enough, and my wife saw me putting an old pain patch on my arm as i was in such pain. (i had been told no aspirin, Advil or anything but prescription pain meds) so i put a Fentanyl patch on for the pain... the very next week she filled the nurse in about the added pain and they brought the onc over to look at the cracks in my hands and feet and also the black toenails and quizzed me a lot about the pain and i guess i didn't realize it was so bad.

I just wanted every possible treatment i could get, but they did a force stop of the chemo treatments.

that was a week ago, and the neuopathy continues to get worse.

now they gave me Percoset for the pain... and i went out and found the most comfortable tennis shoes in the world.... Reebok ZigTech's they are awesome.

as the the cuts in the hands... they eventually heal, and then more will show up.
it's crazy.

fight the fight... and talk to your docs.

Honeybear4701 said:

I used Aspercreme before
I used Aspercreme before bedtime and in the afternoon befor I went into the pool and put my hands over the jets. One of the above helped quite a bit. Also my Husband rubs my hands before I go to sleep. I just thought I'd throw these suggestions in, in case it might help someone else.

I will talk to my Onc the very next visit about your suggestions! Thank you all so much!

Deena

aspercream
I couldn't take aspirin or NSAIDS with my regimen. Ask doc if its ok, cause the aspirin will absorb. That's just what my team told me. Ask five and u get five diff answers! I certainly understand your pain. Wear gloves. Be careful not to burn yourself. Lots of luck!

Jamie