The Colon Club

Hi, Did someone take oxilaplatin with xeloda, if yes how long does(how many cycle) this chemo is taken? Is there any worse side effect after it?

Hi Suniva,
My husband did 6 cycles of Xelox (oxaliplatin + Xeloda). Side effects (peripheral neuropathy) became really bad at the 5th treatment, and as adjuvant chemo it did not work anyway... Even if it had worked, I'm not sure how long he would have been able to take it because of the awful side effects. It's been a year since the last treatment and his feet are still pretty messed up (maybe permanently...)

I did 11 cycles of Oxaliplatin- though not with xeloda. I did 2 on FOLFOX and 9 on IROX (oxali+irinotecan). The neuropathy side effects were pretty intense in my hands and feet (moreso in my hands) during treatment. It’s been 3 months since I stopped and I do have some residual effects in my feet, but it’s tolerable. Everyone is different in how they’re effected so just keep doctors aware of the side effects throughout treatment so they can monitor you.

I did 12 cycles of FOLFOXIRI last year, and completed 5 out of another planned 12 this year due to liver recurrence...then moved to a new state, where my new onc took out the Ox, to stop my neuropathy from progressing, and just kept me on FOLOFIRI to complete the treatments.
I have tingling in my fingers, and the bottom of my feet fell like I'm walking in wet sand. It is tolerable though....but hasn't improved.

My DH didn't do Oxaliplatin with Xeloda, but he did have Folfox and had 13 rounds of oxi( I think! may have been 11). Had to stop when he started having trouble swallowing and was choking due to neuropathy in his throat.

edited to add that the only residual side effects a few year later is some minor numbness in his feet.

I had 14 cycles of oxaliplatin as part of the FOLFOX regimen. The last 2 cycles were at reduced strength because of neuropathy. My neuropathy started after the 8th cycle. I saw a study where they recommended taking L-Glutamine while on oxaliplatin. I did so throughout my whole treatment.

Currently, I have tingling and slight numbness, but no neuropathic pain. Perhaps the L-Glutamine helped.

Rich

Hi Suniva,

A ‘standard’ full course of oxaliplatin is 12 cycles (24 weeks), but in trials typically around 80% of patients don’t make it this far - needing either a dose reduction or to change treatments due to side effects.

I did 6 cycles then had some delayed-onset neuropathy which almost fully resolved; I then did 3 more cycles and stopped due to an allergic reaction.

Indeed as Rich says there were some past studies suggesting that supplementing glutamine and calcium may be protective against neuropathy. I believe more recent research has suggested this may not be helpful however. There is also some weak suggestion that additional glutamine intake may promote tumour proliferation, so for this reason alone I’ve avoided it.

Good luck,
Rob