How does chemo cause weak legs?

unknown said:

You Can Never go Back

56 is not young. Maybe its a combination of cancer treatment effects and 16 more years on the time clock? maybe you can find a "new normal" that suits your desires. Lots of fun, interesting things we non athletes can do. I am a bit older than you and to do the things I did in high school or even 16 years ago is not possible. And what I do hurts. I am very active and just put up with the pain and take naps for the tired feeling. I don't expect it to get better.  Best of luck. Grin and bear it.

'I must totally agree with GKH.  No one can ever know this, but your leg issues might be exactly what they are today if you had never had cancer.

At the prostate board (where I am a member, due to prostate cancer also) so many of the 60-something guys worry about 'sexual performance' issues due to disease and treatment.  But I think: We are 60 and 70 year old men ! Not surfer dudes at Malibu !

Prostate surgery and hormonal issues have caused me great muscle atrophy, weakness, etc.  My shoulders, arms are sticks now.  But I am in late middle age (60 currently) now, not the man I was ten, or even five, years ago.

You MIGHT have some neuropathy (chemo-induced nerve damage), which can contribute to leg issues, which may be worth checking on, but if you did you would have most likely known about it long ago.

I wish you health and vitality,

max

shasha1 said:

Thank you so much for your responses. Now that have a name to what may be the cause of my issue I can bring this up to my doctors next visit. If I didnt have siblings in my age rangr who are very active can bend and walk easily I would be able to except that my leg issues may be it is what it is, however although I am the oldest girl in my family my next sister is a year younger on what is often referred to as irish twins is very flexible and active now but I was always much stronger and active then they were, always the athlete, run, jump, climb and lift more then them. It was always thought that I  was the youngest of four. With all of this the only excuse that I  can accept is that there must be something to this claim of neuropathy; some damage to my nervous system from the agressive chemotherapy treatments. I wish you all well, thanks for the advise.

 

From what you describe it sounds like what I was dealing with in 2014, before I was even diagnosed with cancer. I was having problems with both legs swelling and walking just from my car to the building where I worked was exhausting. We have been in that building for 6 years and didn't have this problem until that year. Going up or down stairs was a real strain. When I told my Dr she had me go to a vein specialist. They did testing on my legs and determined I had insufficient veins.  The fix was to have the veins lasered to shut them down. They were done a few weeks apart. The improvement was almost instant. 

Last year my husband was also having problems with his one leg swelling and it made walking very tiring. I got on his case to talk to his dr to see if he had bad veins. He finally talked to the dr this year and in his case his veins were fine. His dr ran more tests and they found that an artery leading to that leg had blockage. They put a stint in about a month ago and the leg is much better. 

What I am offering is other reasons for weak legs besides cancer treatment. If you haven't talked to your primary Dr yet about the problem, it may be a good idea to check. 

shasha1 said:

WEAK LEGS

I am a 15 year breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed when I was 41 years old and had a mastectomy of my left breast.  I had chemotherapy every three weeks from January to August in 2002. I am now 56 years old and have been struggling with ascending and descending stairs and even have some difficulty stepping down off a curb. Where I used to run 4 miles a day pre-cancer I can only now walk. I was in my in my 16th year with the NYC Police Department when I was diagnosed, I was a school athlete and remained pretty active even during my chemotheraphy treatments I stayed in the gym. I am saying all this to say that although I am constantly in motion nothing I do seems to strengthen my legs enough so that I can freely go up and down stairs. When I bring this up to my doctors they can not offer any explanations other then it may be age related arthritis. I wish I could offer some type of remedy but I can't. All I can say is be strong and push through it and don't let it defeat you. I am here if ever you need an ear.

I have worked on a pediatric oncology unit for more than 20 years. 3 years ago I started having trouble picking up my feet. I have seen 4 neurologists and had work-ups done for both MS and ALS. The bottom line is I have spasticity and muscle weakness of unknown origin and it is progressing. For over a year I have been contacting various occupational safety organizations with my concern that exposure to chemo caused my neurological issues. If you google "Chemotherapy Induced Weakness and Fatigue in Skeletal Muscles: The Role of Oxidative Stress" you will find information that may be helpful in understanding the potential root cause of the issue. Being on the "other-side" of healthcare has been eye opening.

I hope that this helps in some way. It's a blessing to see SURVIVORS!!!

allmost60 said:

Weak legs...
Hi Bob,
I finished CVP-R chemo on Dec. 14th with minimal damage. A few toes and fingers were numb, but gradually came back to feeling normal. However...the weak legs feeling is still hanging on. My upper body has gained strength back, but my legs still get weak when I go up and down stairs or stand on them for very long. My knees seem to lock up(which never happened before chemo) and my left hip gets sore and achey come evening time. That was the hip my BMB was done on, and it hasn't been right since. My ONC says it's age related...maybe?...I'm 60.. but I'm leaning more towards chemo being the culprit. The year "before" chemo I could take the stairs 2 at a time, no problem. My hips never hurt and my energy level was great. So...can just one year of ageing deteriorate someone that fast?...I think not. Like you said..we have to learn to live with this "new normal", but we don't have to like it, and it's perfectly ok to complain about it.This is a great bunch of listeners here, so keep coming back.
Take care...Sue (FNHL-2-3A-6/10)

I can totally relate to you. I don't think any doctor or nurse can tell you what you know and how you feel unless they have had chemo.  As caring and empathetic as they may be no one knows unless you experience it, and then we are all different. I was very active and walking easily 2 hr hikes before chemo. Legs get weak and my left hip gets sore at times. My skin is extremely sensitive and my facial skin has definitely aged since starting chemo. I am 58.

Him I´m from Chile, yes just there were the world ends, under the southern cross. I finished Rchop on march 30, this year, and one month later I begun to have problems climbing stairs,even a step, also my right leg is with a paresis, I can´t walk alone, at home with a walking stick, but outside I need another person by my side,and Iam not able to walk a block. I use to do exercises Gym-ballet three times a week, thanks God, because muscular atrophy has been slow, I´m 62. My husband is a doctor and even to him is difficult to undertand this weakness, about my rigt leg neurologist said is a radicle neuropathy by drugs so I must be patient. I am with fisioterapist 3 times a week an another exercises the other days, but even that some days everything is worse. I´m trying massages too.So taking some antioxidants, vitamins B12 etc. Hope be walking for Cristhmas, that is my goal and the mind is so powerful.

Mlynzer said:

Weakness after Rchop

Him I´m from Chile, yes just there were the world ends, under the southern cross. I finished Rchop on march 30, this year, and one month later I begun to have problems climbing stairs,even a step, also my right leg is with a paresis, I can´t walk alone, at home with a walking stick, but outside I need another person by my side,and Iam not able to walk a block. I use to do exercises Gym-ballet three times a week, thanks God, because muscular atrophy has been slow, I´m 62. My husband is a doctor and even to him is difficult to undertand this weakness, about my rigt leg neurologist said is a radicle neuropathy by drugs so I must be patient. I am with fisioterapist 3 times a week an another exercises the other days, but even that some days everything is worse. I´m trying massages too.So taking some antioxidants, vitamins B12 etc. Hope be walking for Cristhmas, that is my goal and the mind is so powerful.

I had also 5 rounds of R-CHOP for my marginal zone lymphoma. My lymphoma tumor was surrounding my spinal cord. After I finished the chemo I started having neuropathy problems, tingling in my legs, muscle spasms and weakness. I thought that this is caused by nerve damage from the tumor that was pressing on the nerves for 8 months or so. But this could be possible side effects of chemo all this neuropathy and weakness. Some people get this from chemo and other do not get any side effects. I will never know if this is from chemo or from my bad back. But I read about many people with this problem. So you are not alone and this could be side effects of chemo. For me it is almost a year after I finished chemo and I still have a lot of neuropaty. What kind of lymphoma did you have?

God help us all,

Dana