Intense Itching After Chemo

Iris_G
Iris_G Member Posts: 50 Member
in Breast Cancer #1

Hi everyone!  Quick question...has anyone else had the problem of intense itching or a pins/needles feeling under the skin AFTER finishing chemo?  My onco doc said that should've happened DURING chemo, but he couldn't explain why I was having this side effect after chemo.  It's always on my arms and front torso, never my legs, back, or feet.  And it definitely gets worse if I get cold!  I work in an office environment and the gentlemen here love to keep it meat-locker cold, so I have to keep my heater going under my desk and wear a jacket, even though it's 100 degrees outside these days!  The itching/pins & needles usually starts either first thing when I get up at 4:45 am or starts around lunchtime and goes for at least 3-4 hours, if not longer.  If I feel every hair stand up on my body (like cold chills), I know it's getting ready to start.

Just hoping this doesn't stay with me forever! 

Thanks ~~ Iris

 

Comments

  • desertgirl947
    desertgirl947 Member Posts: 653 Member
    #2
    A pins and needles thing

    A pins and needles thing sounds a bit like neuropathy, which affects most of us who are having or have had chemo.  I am fortunate in that I just have some weirdness in two of my little toes on one foot.  Other people aren't.  I have no idea if the problem subsides.  I am four years past chemo and still have the weirdness in my toes.

    As for the itching -- I have no idea about that.

  • peony
    peony Member Posts: 306 Member
    edited August 2016 #3
    I agree with desertgirl947

    Sounds like a version of neuropathy. I have it in my hands and feet and I also get worse if I'm cold and at night. Mine started during chemo and my MO lowered my dosage, but I've got it anyway. My hands sometimes feel itchy, as well, and the pins and needles turn into daggers and swords. But after 6 months, I can tell my hands are improving.  It's not as intense and the last 2 fingers on each hand rarely hurt. So there's hope.

  • twnkltoz
    twnkltoz Member Posts: 169 Member
    #4
    I didn't have it quite like

    I didn't have it quite like you describe, but I was itchy all over and often had goose bumps. I finally figured out it was my body hair growing back in! About three months after I finished chemo, it finally went away. If it's neuropathy, mine wasn't too bad and it was gone in a month or so.

    chemo is so weird. It affects us in so many different and unexpected ways.

  • Iris_G
    Iris_G Member Posts: 50 Member
    #5
    Thank you!

    Thank you for all your replies!  This has been going on for 3 months now, and it didn't start until exactly 2 months after my final chemo.  I saw my oncologist today and he's suggesting I see a dermatologist, and if he can't help, then he's going to send me to a neurologist for testing.  We'll see...hopefully one of them can help!

     

  • twnkltoz
    twnkltoz Member Posts: 169 Member
    edited August 2016 #6
    Good luck! Keep us posted.

    Good luck! Keep us posted.

  • Apaugh
    Apaugh Member Posts: 850 Member
    edited August 2016 #7
    Itchy and tingly feeling

    Sounds like neuropothy.  Might want to consider seeing a neurologist.   I had it prior (diabeties) to my cancer and chemo and it is now worse.  Neuropothy does not just affect the fingers and toes. 

     

  • Lolaep1
    Lolaep1 Member Posts: 2
    #8
    Iris_G said:

    Thank you!

    Thank you for all your replies!  This has been going on for 3 months now, and it didn't start until exactly 2 months after my final chemo.  I saw my oncologist today and he's suggesting I see a dermatologist, and if he can't help, then he's going to send me to a neurologist for testing.  We'll see...hopefully one of them can help!

     

    Pins and needles sensation! Painful!!

    Hello! I am having the exact same problem and it started a month after my last Taxol treatment ( I had 12)  which was March 2016. I have noticed that the pins and needles sensation begins when my body starts to 'warm up' and begin to break a sweat ...whether I am outside in the heat or walking on a treadmill inside. It is very painful and the feeling is mostly from the waist up. Oddly I also get these little bumps under my skin on my arms, upper back and chest. I literally can not be outside more than 5 minutes before it starts. If is painful. I asked my Onco and she said she has never heard of such a reaction and thought it was possibly hormones. NO, it is not hormones!!  I have been googling and found a site where another lady was told it was due to clogged sweat ducts. She even called it 'prickly  heat rash'. What did your Dermatologist say? I have an appointment tomorrow with one to discuss, but it's hard to show the bumps if I am not hot or sweating. I even thought of writing the manufacturer of Taxol. 

  • Iris_G
    Iris_G Member Posts: 50 Member
    #9
    New diagnosis!

    Hi everyone!  I went to my dermatologist appointment and he diagnosed me with erythomylalgia, which he gave me steroids in lotion form and told me to take one Claritan a day...which was totally a wrong diagnosis!  Here in Peachtree City, GA, we have a program called Walk With A Doc.  So this past Saturday I signed up for the walk.  Much to my surprise, the doctor for this walk was a neurologist (YAY!).  I talked with him and he said I have truncal neuropathy and that a dermatologist would not be much help.  He said I need to meet with a neurologist and have him/her check my Vitamin B-12 levels and have an MRI done on my spine to see which nerves were affected.  He seems to think that when I had my radiation my spine was hit and inflamed the nerves which come around from my spine to my abdomen.  He said he couldn't promise that it would ever go away, but he did say the symptoms could be treated!  So I guess it's on to the next doctor...I'll be so glad when this is all over!

  • birdleaf
    birdleaf Member Posts: 4
    edited October 2016 #10
    Thanks for sharing.

    Thanks for sharing.

  • peony
    peony Member Posts: 306 Member
    edited October 2016 #11
    Yes, thanks for coming back

    Yes, thanks for coming back with an update.  I've been taking vitamin B=12 supplements. I don't know if they help or not.

  • Iris_G
    Iris_G Member Posts: 50 Member
    edited November 2016 #12
    Update

    Well, the medicine the dermatologist gave me did nothing!  It didn't help at all!  I kept after my oncologist about my symptoms so he finally had me do an MRI last week.  Two days after I had the MRI, the pin/needles & itching hit with a vengeance over my entire body, when before it was just my abdomen and arms.  It was so bad Monday night that I had my chest blood red from all the scratching and I just about had my husband take me to the emergency room.  Since I had an appointment with my oncologist scheduled for Wednesday, I just waited it out.  Turns out that my MRI showed nothing...no damage or irritation to the nerves in my spine, and he said it was time for me to go to a neurologist, that there was nothing else he could do.  I just broke down and cried and told him that I could not go on like this much longer!  His nurse actually stepped in and told him it was time to give me something for this.  He prescribed Gabapentin for me.  I took one pill last night and it was a miracle!  It totally stopped the pins/needles & itching feeling!  Today was the first morning in months that I've actually gotten out of bed and not started feeling uncomfortable, and just felt normal!  Woo hoo! At least I have something to take until I get to the neurologist for further testing!  I'll update more later!

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