I've gone back and read through a lot of the recent threads on neuropathy, but I have a question.
It seems like I may be starting to develop some mild neuropathy; for the past 24 hours or so the soles of my feet have kinda felt like the tail end of sensation after you hit your funny bone. A little numb, combined with a little tingly. We're having warm weather here today so I can't chalk it up to cold weather.
My fingers are feeling a little bit numbish too, but no tingling there yet, thankfully.
I've already sent a note to my oncologist to give her a heads up, and I have 8 days 'til my next infusion, so we'll see how things go over the next week.
Also relevant, my oxali and 5FU doses were both cut back by 25% for my last round of chemo because of low platelets and will stay at that level for the rest of my treatments (at most). So I'm hoping that will help slow down the progression of neuropathy symptoms.
I type a lot at work and I knit and weave (which requires manual dexterity for threading the loom) as hobbies. I really don't want for the neuropathy to get bad in my hands, although I'm willing to have some trade-off if there's discomfort in my feet that doesn't otherwise affect my ability to function.
I know people take l-glutamine and other things in the hopes they will help with nerve damage, and I know there are really helpful salves that can be compounded for those with painful neuropathy. I also saw a recommendation for a Homedics style foot massager. How about the rolling-ball foot massagers like I see in my local running store? Would that potentially help any?
It sounds like keeping on top of things is key, and I have no idea what to expect as far as "how bad should this be" before Oxaliplatin should be cut back or eliminated. What are your experiences and recommendations? Obviously I will talk about this with my oncologist, but I'd love to hear thoughts from you all.