Page 1 of 1

Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 10:00 pm
by Kompressor
I'm just two FOLFOX tx's into treatment so far. The side effects come and go. Severe constipation has been my worst so far, but I think I may be getting a handle on it. I've read that lower-body soreness can also be a side effect. My legs are killing me. Can't relax them. I'm sure some of it comes from the numerous power squats I've been doing in the bathroom, but that cannot be the sole source of my pain. I don't want to take any more pain pills than I'm already taking, as a matter of fact the hydrocodone does almost nothing for my leg pain although it is effective at relieving my pain elsewhere. My only other thought (as far as medication goes) is maybe a muscle relaxer, but to be honest, when I've taken them in the past (years ago) they seemed to offer little relief. I'll ask my ONC about it next week, but he seems to just give me a script for anything and everything. I'd like to go in with maybe a recommendation or two. Can anyone help?

FWIW, I do usually spend at least a couple hours a day in hot baths, with and without Epsom.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 10:34 pm
by waw4
Wish I could help but I haven't heard of leg pain being a side effect of FOLFOX, nor did I experience it.

Maybe others have some familiarity with this.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:35 pm
by edgellc
Kompressor wrote:I'm sure some of it comes from the numerous power squats I've been doing in the bathroom,
FWIW, I do usually spend at least a couple hours a day in hot baths, with and without Epsom.


Last week i was doing power squats, i had to do about 6 sets of 40 pushes :shock: , seems to be a popular exercise around here :roll: . I got some relief sitting in the hot tub for a few hours with the jets pointing at the backs of my legs. wish i could be more help... :(

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 12:09 am
by SkiFletch
Is it leg pain or muscle cramps? Are your legs swollen at all? If it's cramps, that's a neurological side effect of Oxaliplatin, most often made worse by a low-potassium condition, although sometimes also magnesium and calcium. Might be worth looking up some foods that are high in potassium (there are more and better ones than bananas) and try eating some of those to see what happens. There's also always BB's old friend pickle juice

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 1:25 am
by Kompressor
It's not cramps, it's like Restless Leg Syndrome x10. They are sore and almost impossible to relax. When I lay down, I unconsciously cross my ankles and "flex" my legs. There is no swelling. I'll look into the potassium angle and ask my doc. Thank you for the input guys.

On a related note, my butt muscles feel bruised, like I rode a horse into town. A friend told me its because I lost 20 pounds rather quickly. Sounds kind of silly, but I guess it could be true.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 8:43 am
by SkiFletch
Muscle twitching and cramps are both oxali side effects. MOST folks experience just mild calf cramps/spasms if anything at all, though a few people like yourself suffer more significantly from that symptom. Try eating some foods to bump up your potassium and see what happens :)

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 10:04 am
by juliej
Fletch is right. Oxaliplatin causes muscle stiffness, twitching, and cramps. Try drinking a couple of electrolyte drinks. That's what helped me. They contain potassium, magnesium, sodium, etc. and can help correct an oxaliplatin-induced electrolyte imbalance.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 10:48 pm
by scottyg
I have been having the same problem lately. I have not had any chemo since the beginning of March just before surgery. I brought it up with the Doc last week. He prescribed Ferrous Sulfate. Iron pills. I am pretty happy so far. It felt like I needed to go run or climb Mt Everest. Just crazy it would hit me at night before bed. I am still ramping up to the amount they want me to take there are some side effects I have not seen any yet. Talk to your Doc. Hope this helps.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 4:53 pm
by Kompressor
It may be too soon to tell, but I added an iron supplement since your post Scotty and the pain/restlessness has subsided substantially. I'm hoping that was the culprit and it has been so easily fixed. Thank you.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 5:07 pm
by justin case
I'm sorry Kompressor, I didn't see this post earlier. All through chemo and radiation, I have had tremendous soreness in my left leg, during and after my normal work routine. I wrote it off to neuropathy. I changed oncs, and she started giving me iron infusions, on my second treatment. I feel much better, although I'm still not up to the proper iron levels. You would think with all the blood they draw, the old onc might have mentioned something. His answer was poor circulation and surgery :roll:
Michael

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 6:47 am
by Kompressor
I wanted to take the time to update this thread. Thank you to everyone who replied with advice. I can now confidently say it was iron deficiency. After following the suggestions here, I talked to my onc about the pain and mentioned that iron had been successful for other Colon Clubbers. (I'm sure doctors don't like it when people try to self-diagnose or "self-prescribe", but my Dr. has a lot of respect for this forum, he recommended it to me on my fist visit.) Anyways, he told me to stop taking iron supplements and added Venofer (iron sucrose injection) to my chemo and within two days, all the leg soreness/restlessness is gone, completely.

If someone else comes along and is suffering this side effect, I highly recommend talking to your doctor about adding the Venofer. Its made this horrible process a bit more bearable for me. Thanks again for the input.

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:07 am
by handicap18
Vitamin C helps the body better absorb iron. So eating more vitamin C will also be beneficial. Apples, oranges, Strawberries, honey dew melon, Grapefruit, watermelon, broccoli, Tomatoes, green peppers and baked potato with the skin (which also has iron) are all high sources of vitamin C. Eating or juicing them are better than getting it from bottled juice from the store.

I had that very uncomfortable feeling in my legs a few days after my first treatment. I'd get out of bed each morning for a few days and my legs felt like I just ran a marathon or I just finished working a 12 hour day. Weak and unstable.

Once I started getting a good supply of micronutrients and getting some exercise it went away.

Glad to hear your feeling better!!!

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 6:01 pm
by justin case
I've been on the venofor for 4 weeks. I talked with my onc yesterday, and the low iron levels, is attributed to the 5FU. As that's all I'm getting right now, besides the leukovorin, it must be so. Thanks for updating Kompressor, I didn't think I was imagining less trouble with my leg, but it sure helps to know someone else benifitted also!
Regards,
Michael

Re: Any recommendations for leg soreness?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:12 pm
by simon031003
Wow this describes my husband's problem to a T. All the way to the sore butt muscle. We are going to call onc and get him to run a test on his iron levels.