Numbness & Joint Pain

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djmccluskey
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Numbness & Joint Pain

Postby djmccluskey » Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:43 pm

I had my last FLOX treatment on October 4th, and my port was removed on November 9th. I was extremely tired for about 4 weeks after the chemo, which was a bummer to me, b/c I had been bouncing back pretty well, or so I thought. My wife saw it differently.

Anyway, after the port was removed I started experiencing numbness in the ends of my fingers and toes. Not like the neuropathy I had experienced from the Oxaliplatin, but fairly significant numbness. I have learned that this is fairly common, and am taking B-6 twice daily for it. I tried amitryptillyn (sp?) at night, but I was so tired the next day I gave it up after about 6 days, plus it didn't seem to be helping.

I am now experiencing some pretty severe joint pain in my hips and ankles. To the point that I can barely get out of bed in the morning. Has anyone else experienced this joint pain?? It's starting to freak me out a little.
2010 Colondar Model - July
Stage 2 Rectal Cancer
Diagnosed 2/15/07
23 nodes, none positive
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Postby seussfan » Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:29 pm

That is so weird - I had the same thing happen to me. My lat treatment was the last week of November. Now I have numbness in my toes and in my finger tips. The toes are worse than my finger tips - the numbness hasn't prevented me from doing anything. My toes bother me a lot - annoying. In addition, I have a lot of pain in my knees. I wanted to start working out, but my knees hurt! I am making an appointment with my general practitioner to find out what I should do about my knees and if there is anything I can take.
Stage 3 Colon Cancer-6 of 15 lymph nodes positive/Surgery & Dx 3-5-07/Finished Folfox4 11-28-07
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djmccluskey
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Postby djmccluskey » Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:29 pm

I just got back from my CT Scan & meeting with my Onc. I am NED!!!!

I spoke with him about the numbness and joint pain. He said that the Oxaliplatin will cause numbness after you are off of it, and I have spoken with a friend in the area who went through all of this with me at the same time, and he is experiencing the numbness also. We are both taking B-6 twice daily, which is supposed to help. This should be relieved through time, some longer than others. Imagine that, no direct answer.

I also talked to him about the joint pain, and he said that he doesn't think that it has anything to do with the Oxaliplatin. But, then he said that he supposes that it is not out of the realm of possibility. Again, imagine that, no direct answer. He told me that he wouldn't rule anything out with me b/c I had just about every side effect possible.

So, no answers yet. I need to go and see my FP doc if it persists, and we'll check for arthritis. We'll also look into the possibility that it is being caused by the Lexapro I've been taking for depression. I'll keep you posted.
2010 Colondar Model - July
Stage 2 Rectal Cancer
Diagnosed 2/15/07
23 nodes, none positive
http://www.davidsfight.org

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djmccluskey
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Postby djmccluskey » Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:33 pm

BTW, I am taking Vicodin for the pain. Only about 4-6 tabs/day (5/500). It definitely helps, and the more I move, the less it hurts. It's just a matter of getting started in the morning, which is very difficult.
2010 Colondar Model - July
Stage 2 Rectal Cancer
Diagnosed 2/15/07
23 nodes, none positive
http://www.davidsfight.org

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sandym
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Postby sandym » Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:06 pm

I am only in my 3rd round of FOLFOX and I have joint pain in my left arm at the elbow and the left knee joint. I have had dye studies for clots of course and vein studies and all is normal. My oncologist is watching this closely as I don't really have a lot of numbess that lingers after the treatments. He told me yesterday because of course I complain that it is very painful that it could be the oxilaplatin and we will just have to watch it. He did give me a prescription for Lyric last week but I have not started on it yet and he said it should help. He also told me that sometimes this is a lasting effect of chemo so I guess we all just have to wait and see.
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wendysafrica
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Postby wendysafrica » Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:04 pm

I had exactly the same thing! I had terrible neuropathy during oxaliplatin treatment, which got worse and lasted longer at each treatment. Then after chemo was finished, my fingers and toes felt fine until about a month after chemo finished, then the fingers and toes felt numb (and still do). It is not painful and I still manage to use my fingers, although sometimes I feel a bit clumsy. My oncologist said it is the nerves regenerating that is causing the numbness.

At the same time, I also developed aching in my hip bones. My oncologist said this could be due to bone thinning (I think that is what she said) and that the chemo can do that. She said they will monitor bone density.

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Rui
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Postby Rui » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:31 pm

Nice, some talking about what I need an answer. I finished chemo 1 and half month ago. And now the numbness is getting worse each day no matter what I do.

Some advice? Tomorrow I'll talk to my onc and ask for a prescription for something for this. The toes especially, wierd that this is worst than on chemo!
Diagnosed and surgery @ March 2007 ( age 29 ) - 50 cm of colon removed, Laparoscopic surgery
Stage IIIB - 2 nodes out of 13, T3N1M0
Chemo from 7 June 2007 to 7 November 2007 - 12 cycles of Oxaliplatin + 5FU with 48h pump
Officially NED since 12/12/2007

weisssoccermom
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Postby weisssoccermom » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:33 pm

First question. Did you have radiation? If yes, then it is very likely that the hip pain is a side effect of that. I finished my radiation over a year ago and just recently started to notice the hip pain. I had the whole x-ray,bone scan thing-nothing there but was told that the radiation often times can give you hip pain. As for the toe pain, etc. if you had a lot of lymph nodes taken out, it can affect the drainage for your lower extremities.

I take Naprelan (not plain Naproxen- this is more long acting and controlled released-works great!) in the mornings (not every day) for the hip pain and a diuretic for the toe pain. My neuropathy is not caused by any cancer related treatment, but any extra fluid buildup in your feet can cause excruciating pain in the joints and can give you neuritis/neuropathy pain. Ask your GP(FP) for a Rx for a mild duiretic to see if that helps. Nothing too strong as it is not needed. If I forget to take mine for more than two days, boy do I feel the pain in my feet.

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Rui
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Postby Rui » Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:40 pm

djmccluskey wrote:I just got back from my CT Scan & meeting with my Onc. I am NED!!!!
...


So Mr. NED join the club, congratulations!

offtopic mode off :wink:
Diagnosed and surgery @ March 2007 ( age 29 ) - 50 cm of colon removed, Laparoscopic surgery
Stage IIIB - 2 nodes out of 13, T3N1M0
Chemo from 7 June 2007 to 7 November 2007 - 12 cycles of Oxaliplatin + 5FU with 48h pump
Officially NED since 12/12/2007

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Traveler001
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Postby Traveler001 » Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:04 am

This is not good news to me.

My fingertips are already feeling numb and I have 3 treatments to go. It is a strange feeling like the skin feels so super dry, therefore the fingertips are numb.

Dont feel any numbness on the toes yet, but the skin on my ankles and heels got so dry that I developed some fissures.

I hope it doesnt get worse after treatment...
Diagnosed June '07
Laparoscopic LAR surgery - 7/12/07
Stage IIIC 4/21 nodes
FOLFOX6 and Erbitux started 8/24/07
Completed 11 / 12 on 1/15/08
NED
New 4.5 cm lung mass and lymph nodes discovered 7/12
Folfiri w/ Avastin on 9/14/12 - 11/29/12


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