Jaw Pain

[d-it-up]

Has anyone ever experienced Jaw Pain as a side effect of Oxaliplatin/5FU?

I had my first Oxi injection one week ago today, followed by 46 hours of 5FU. When I haven't eaten for a while, and take my first bite, the back of my jaw cramps up like I have just eaten something very sour. The pain goes away after about 5-10 seconds, and then I am fine with every additional bite. It doesn't matter what I eat - even pretzels cause this type of reaction.

I mentioned it to my nurse and she said she had one other patient who had experienced similar symptoms in the past, and it went away after a few rounds of treatment.

Just wondering if others have experienced this, and if so - did it go away?

Thanks!

[sadysue]

Surprised the nurse only saw it in one patient - it's a common reaction to oxaliplatin. I had it from my first infusion and I am pretty sure others here will tell you of similar experiences. Pain at first bite then subsequent bites are normal. It only stopped when they stopped the oxali on me. I had my last two infusions minus oxali and reduced 5-FU dosage as well. Good luck with your treatment - kick butt!
Mary Ann

[BrownBagger]

Yes, I think "the jaw thing" is very common with people on oxi. I had it, though it usually came and went pretty quickly.

[stephh]

Yes! I definately had exactly what you are mentioning. completely normal.

[dianne052506]

You'll sometimes see it referred to here as "first-bite syndrome," but that's not an official name. I had it with every round of oxaliplatin. It wore off in-between rounds, and then came back with the next infusion. I've been off oxaliplatin for more than 2 years. Occasionally, I'll get it again, but for the most part, it left when I finished oxaliplatin.
Some people say they can lessen the intensity with various tricks, but I never could. I am a big one to have a bottled drink and something small to munch on when I am driving. I learned very quickly to always take my first bite/swallow when I was stopped!
Good luck with the rest of your chemo.
Dianne

[Kathryn in MN]

Yep - I had it. It did stop when I stopped getting oxaliplatin. Mosly an annoyance compared to the other side effects. I learned to keep eating once I started, so it wouldn't happen again. If I took a break for a while when I ate, it would happen again, and it was pretty painful.

[Nickmark59]

They took me off OX because of jaw pain and it trying to lock up . My Onc. told me he never saw this before and later found out at a conference that it develops in those with TMJ it is pushed to fast .
You may want to discuss this with your Onc.

[juliej]

First bite pain/jaw pain is a common side-effect of Oxi, at least on this forum. I had it after every Oxi infusion. It would wear off after a few days, but it hurt like heck. It goes away completely when you stop Oxi. Try taking a very small first bite and chewing very slowly. The next bites should feel normal. Hope this reassures you!

[kpjpmom]

I too had this problem every time I had a chemo infusion. First two bites and then it would subside. Very normal and unfortunatly one of the side effects. Hang in there!

[westie68]

Yup, me too. But after the first oxaliplatin treatment I started taking 5-10 grams of L-Glutamine powder in juice, 1 calcium/magnesium tablet, 3 alpha lipoic acid tablets, and 1 vit B6 tablet every day (and still do). I never really had much of a problem after that (and very little neuropathy and cold intolerance either). I had 12 treatments of oxaliplatin + irenotecan + 5fU + leucovin.
CMP

[deb1223]

Oh boy did I ever have the jaw pain. I also suffered with my eyes burning when I cried. Did my best not to cry but I have a tendency to cry when stressed and there's nothing more stressful then fighting cancer. Best of luck to you.
Debbie

[frugal]

I've had it since the beginning. This round, 7, has been the worst. Hurts like hell for the first 20 seconds or so of chewing. It also lasted five or six days this time.