Exercise with Neuropathy

Hi,

My Rick used to peddle on a stationary bicycle.

Cyn

I have been blessed in the fact that even though I still have neuropathy in my feet 19 months out from chemo, I have never experienced any pain or soreness.  In fact, I can walk and walk and walk, and my feet are so numb I don't feel when they are sore (which is a problem in itself, I suppose). 

I know some people take medication, is it Celebrex? The one that is advertised for diabetic foot pain on the telly. 

You are definitely right in wanting to exercise, it is so important.  I hope your pain lessens soon.

Sue - Trubrit

John212 said:

You're Blessed Indeed

I don't think there's a problem walking on numb feet, though you wouldn't feel an injury as easily, I suppose. I don't recall seeing Celebrex advertised for foot pain, but I'll look into it.

Tomorrow I'll be attending a presentation at my hospital on Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy and will report back what I hear, especially regarding exercise. The presenter is a physiotherapist, as I understand it, so this should be a part of his or her expertise.

  I am out to the start of year seventeen of survival. The chemo I had is not supposed to cause neuropathy. I have seen a neurologist and have had nerve conductivity tests. They showed moderate to severe motor sensory peripheral neuropathy of both feet and legs. Because he does not believe in chemo causing neuropathy he stated that he did not know the cause of the problem and refused to treat it. My rheumatologist has tried to help me with lyrica and neurontin , both anti eppileptic meds, as well as endep and norspan and fentanyl patches ,both morphine related. My neuropathy started when I was excercising excessively. I was walking 50 miles a week ,every week for nearly three years. I had to stop when I developed acute pancreatitis , lost my gall bladder and started to suffer badly from neuropathy. All of my docs have suggested non load bearing excercise  like swimming and water aerobics but these days I am just to tired to even think about it. I have been dxed with grade two ankylosing spondylitis , psoriatic arthritis ,osteo arthritis and an unknown auto immune disease of the kidneys causing severe protein loss thru my kidneys. I have had thre kidney biopsies but although they all showed problems , none that relateto known kidney disease. For pain I am currently on targin 40/20 twice a day. That is 40 mg of oxycodone combined with 20 mg of naloxone an opiate antagonist. It does help with the pain but it causes me severe opioid induced constipation. The oxy shuts down my motility and with every dose of targin I have to take two biscodyl and two coloxyl. Be careful with your feet as it is very easy to cause damage that you cannot feel. I was on a high dose of steroids and it caused type two diabetes so I have to be extra careful. I don't feel like losing any toes to gangrene. one thing i have found over the years is that as bad as cancer is , surviving survival at times is just as hard. All the best Ron.

John212 said:

You're Blessed Indeed

I don't think there's a problem walking on numb feet, though you wouldn't feel an injury as easily, I suppose. I don't recall seeing Celebrex advertised for foot pain, but I'll look into it.

Tomorrow I'll be attending a presentation at my hospital on Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy and will report back what I hear, especially regarding exercise. The presenter is a physiotherapist, as I understand it, so this should be a part of his or her expertise.

Celebrex was a guess and I've not doubt a wrong guess at that. I've seen the advert so many times, I just don't pay attention any more to what the medication is they are pushing. I'm sure someone here will come up with the medication I'm thinking of.

OK, I just looked it up, it was Lyrica and not Celebrex. 

Sue - Trubrit

John212 said:

Zeta Insoles

Thanks for the recommendation. I just looked these over at Amazon. They're a bit more expensive now but most of the buyer reviews are quite positive.

told to take B complex for neuropathy and I rub an aryuvedic oil on my hands-Mahanarayan oil. I have no idea if it's helping because it feels pretty much the same to me. I'm out from chemo 14 months so I'm afraid it might be permanent. I was also suggested acupuncture but have not done it yet. I ride a bike or do the elliptical at the gym. Good luck!

Easyflip/Richard

KMSGJP said:

L- Glutamine for neuropathy

Hi John212,

my father just started FOLFOX regimen and I have looked into supplements to help with all side effects. He started taking glutamine powder the week of chemo. the pharmacist agreed that there are studies that show it's effectiveness. Thought this might help. 

He also exercises on a stationary bike. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17405895/

www.fightcolorectalcancer.org/tag/neuropathy

(keep in mind date of pub as research is on going)

An article in healio.com on1/16/14 asserted calcium-magnesium failed to reduce oxi-induced neurotoxcity

and have only recently started to push through the pain and try to do some basic aerobic exercise.  This was on the advice of the pain management doc I saw, who felt that the pain was not indicative of further damage, just not pleasant to experience.

Do you take any pain meds?  I take vicodin 3x per day, and schedule it so that I have one about an hour before I want to exercise.

Then I do either a reasonably long walk, or an exercise video from Youtube (lots to choose from, I look for one that is no more than 30 minutes and labeled "easy" or "beginner").

And if you have a smart phone, there are lots of walking apps that allow you to keep track of how much walking you do in a day.  I'm going to get one as I think that will motivate me a bit to take longer walks.

Finally, I do the indoor exercise in bare feet.  This seems counter-intuitive, but I read somewhere that it might help with neuropathy so I've been trying it.  Have no idea if it really helps, but it doesn't seem to be hurting either.

Good luck!  I'm 4 years out from chemo and still trying to get my old self back...it's not easy.