Oxillaplatin & Neuropathy

Mark,
I had neuropathy after both my rectal and my breast cancer chemo....I am 4 months out from last infusion...I have no numbness left. BUT I drink at least 2 quarts of water a day...and did during my infusions as much as possible...flushs things...
Hope this helps!
Hugs, kathi

Hi Mark,

I have neuropathy in my feet and some in my hands. I'm supposed to get treatment 9 on Wednesday but I'm telling them no more. Because I'm diabetic the neuropathy worries me. It is all the time now. Flushing like Kathi said should help some. Try taking a b complex vitamin (natural of course) to help some more. My chemo nurse told me that. It might take some time for it all to go away. That is why I'm stopping now. Not good for a diabetic to not feel her feet. LOL. Take care and tell us how things work our. Also congrats about being done chemo.

Lisa

Excellent question! I have been wondering the same thing. I had my last treatment 3-21 and am on Xeloda (oral chemo). My hands and feet have gotten worse which is what my doc said would happen before it got better. It's now boot and glove. I have learned to adapt in many ways. I was hoping someone would say it went away by a certain time. Pam

Hi! I hesitated to answer because I can't give you the answer you'd like to hear. I completed 12 cylces of folfox 1 year and 3 months ago and I still have some neuropathy. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is very mild. I never stumble-in fact I play tennis in USTA leagues and still win a lot- and I am typing this as easily as ever. You will improve gradually to the point that the little bit of numbness is just a reminder of how far you've come from where you are now. And I am still cancer free!

It seems we are all different. I had 6 cycles of Xeloda / oxaliplatin / Avastin for Stage IV CRC. The oxaliplatin - after the first cycle - caused me acute neuropathy - the usual cold liquid thing, but also total numbness (and pain if touched) in the arm in which I received the IV). A bit of finger numbness, but only for a day. The arm numbness was the big issue, though it was acute rather than chronic and gradually diminished over three weeks in time for the next cycle. But, I had no persistent, post-chomo neuropathy. So, I really can't help except to tell that there is clearly a huge variation in response. Your neuropathy may go away in a few weeks or may take several months to resolve. Wish I could be more helpful.

Betsy

Hi Mark,
I took Oxaliplatin last year from March until Sept.; eleven doses total, skipped the last one because the neuropathy was so bad. Then about 6 weeks later, it got much worse in both the hands and feet and I had alot of muscle pain and weakness also. It continued to bother me severely for 2 months, then either I got tired of complaining or it got a little better, I'm not sure. It stayed in the hands until February when it started to go away. It is almost completely gone from the hands now, but still is in the feet. My Dr. said the nerves are longer going to the feet and will take longer to repair. I'm on FOLFIRI now and I'm feeling it getting worse in the feet again. Hopefully it won't get much worse. It can take up to a year to completely go away and I've heard of more people than the doctors admit, that it has not ever gone away. I'm still taking Alpha Lipoic Acid tablets daily and L-Glutamine powder (10g) twice daily and I think it helps to minimize the numbness. Good Luck and congratulations on completing your treatments. Kandy

hi

i know this is too late for people who ahve already suffered from neuropathy but this was sent to me from a cancer survivor who has tried pretty much every chemo .she said it does work.my father is about to start his chemo and i wondered if anyone else had tried this

Prevention of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity by calcium and magnesium infusions: a retrospective study of 161 patients receiving oxaliplatin combined with 5-Fluorouracil and leucovorin for advanced colorectal cancer.

Gamelin L, Boisdron-Celle M, Delva R, Guerin-Meyer V, Ifrah N, Morel A, Gamelin E.

Department of Medical Oncology and Oncopharmacology, INSERM U564, Anticancer Centre Paul Papin, Angers Cedex, France.

PURPOSE: Oxaliplatin is active in colorectal cancer. Sensory neurotoxicity is its dose-limiting toxicity. It may come from an effect on neuronal voltage-gated Na channels, via the liberation one its metabolite, oxalate. We decided to use Ca and Mg as oxalate chelators. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A retrospective cohort of 161 patients treated with oxaliplatin + 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for advanced colorectal cancer, with three regimens of oxaliplatin (85 mg/m(2)/2w, 100/2w, 130/3w) was identified. Ninety-six patients received infusions of Ca gluconate and Mg sulfate (1 g) before and after oxaliplatin (Ca/Mg group) and 65 did not. RESULTS: Only 4% of patients withdrew for neurotoxicity in the Ca/Mg group versus 31% in the control group (P = 0.000003). The tumor response rate was similar in both groups. The percentage of patients with grade 3 distal paresthesia was lower in Ca/Mg group (7 versus 26%, P = 0.001). Acute symptoms such as distal and lingual paresthesia were much less frequent and severe (P = 10(-7)), and pseudolaryngospasm was never reported in Ca/Mg group. At the end of the treatment, 20% of patients in Ca/Mg group had neuropathy versus 45% (P = 0.003). Patients with grade 2 and 3 at the end of the treatment in the 85 mg/m(2) oxaliplatin group recovered significantly more rapidly from neuropathy than patients without Ca/Mg. CONCLUSIONS: Ca/Mg infusions seem to reduce incidence and intensity of acute oxaliplatin-induced symptoms and might delay cumulative neuropathy, especially in 85 mg/m(2) oxaliplatin