The Colon Club

Hi all!

My mother will start Xeloda next week. I was wondering what worked with for you guys for the hand foot syndrome side effect from the chemo?
So far, I have bought Udderly Smooth hand cream and Udderly regular body cream. I also bought fragrance free Aveeno, but now may just get the Cetaphil as someone on this board mentioned that was more heavy coating and moisturizing. I have read about the "Working hands" working well too. Also, I also was told that Aquaphor does well for the radiation burns. Does the Aquaphor work well for the hands and feet too? I am learning so much from this Colon Club So many side effects from the Radiation vs. just the chemo..

Any help would greatly be appreciated! Thank you in advanced!

Udderly Smooth felt good. Not sure it did anything to prevent H/F, but as I said it did feel good.

At least for me nothing eliminated H/F. I did find that when just sitting around, chilled ice packs under my hands and feet felt very good. No need to use your ice - many such packs you can freeze and reuse - check Amazon. I also bought Dr. Scholl's gel inserts and used them from time to time in my shoes.

I did find that if you keep ahead of it with creams and cold, you can keep it from being too bad. I still sometimes used bandaids on my feet (usually got a 1 week break then.) Make sure you avoid long, hot baths -quick showers work best.

Hoping your mother does well,

ocstacy wrote:Hi all!

My mother will start Xeloda next week. Was wondering what worked with for you guys for the hand foot syndrome side effect from the chemo?
So far, I have bought Udderly Smooth hand cream and and regular cream. I have read about the "Working hands" working well too. Also, I also was told that Aquaphor does well for the radiation burns. Does the Aquaphor work well for the hands and feet too?

Any help would greatly be appreciated! Thank you in advanced!

I used both, but Utterly Smooth was not greasy.... You have to stay on top of it and ask onc for a possible reduction in dosage if your hands and feet get sore. Once the dose was reduced, it was much better...

I used Udderly Smooth 5 or 6 times a day. I also took extra B6 vitamins. I still had hf syndrome , but was able to work through it. Best wishes to you mother during her treatment.

My husband likes the Working Hands because it doesn't feel greasy to him (to me it feels weird and damp). When his hands are really cracked, I've found using a greasy shea butter cream, letting it sink in a little, and then putting the Working Hands over it helps keep the moisture in really well...

I used Aquaphor on my hands and feet and put on cotton gloves and socks afterwards to help it penetrate. I agree with Betsy about using chilled cold packs. Look for the flexible kind covered with fabric rather than plastic. They really helped cool things down and were easy to use when watching tv or reading.

Also remember to get shoes with comfy insoles and a wide toebox because her feet will swell. I had to use slippers in the house because walking on tile or hardwood floors was very painful if I tried to do it barefoot.

For those who had dose reduction because of h/f syndrome was that your only side effect? When did the dose reduction start and do you remember what it was. It looks like for me dose reduction will be 20% starting with treatment #6 of 5-FU. I've been using castor oil with gloves at night, compression gloves to work and Bentonite clay to help draw out toxins and cool things down.

Kobe wrote:For those who had dose reduction because of h/f syndrome was that your only side effect? When did the dose reduction start and do you remember what it was. It looks like for me dose reduction will be 20% starting with treatment #6 of 5-FU. I've been using castor oil with gloves at night, compression gloves to work and Bentonite clay to help draw out toxins and cool things down.

I had a Xeloda reduction at the end of cycle 3 of 8. Instead of lowering the dosage (1500mg in the morning and 1500mg in the evening), he had me follow a 12 day regiment instead of 14. My was specifically for H&F. By doing this, my onc said it would not lower the efficiency.

I'm curious - why 8 cycles, not 12?

Kobe wrote:I'm curious - why 8 cycles, not 12?

Xeloda is given in 8 cycles. 14 days taking pills and 7 days off. IV 5/FU is given every other week for a total of 12 cycles. Hope this answers your question.