Taxotere and Icing Fingers and Toes

Omaz

bdavis - I was told to start cooling 15 min before, then during, then 15 after.  Get a warm drink if you get too cold.  I would shake sometimes.  I also don't think you want to freeze the tips, I think that means don't get them numb.  Good luck!!

bdavis

thanks Omaz... will report back after tomorrow

Omaz

bdavis - Good luck!!

Karen007

Dear Theresa

I had a terrible time with very painfull fingers, nails and toes after my first treatment with Docetaxol- it felt like my finger nails were in a clamp or had been hit with a hammer. I also got bad pins and needles and found doing fiddley jobs with my hands difficult- but thanks to people like you on the forums sharing their experiences and advice -I used a freezer cooling element wraped in a teacloth and plastic carrier bag to keep my hands cool during my second and subsequent treatments and I took my shoes and socks off and Im pleased to say i have had no pain or pins and needles in my hands and feet since. 

Iv discussed this with my hospital and they are researching into it for other patients on taxol

Im also keeping all my nails painted very dark and keeping my hands and feet as cool as pos- wearing flipflops or nothing at home and using special thin 'cool' socks (available from outdoor/walking shops). i think im also lucky that im having my chemo over the winter months although its been unseasonably warm in the UK this winter- I always feel a bit better when the weather is cold and clear.

I have also used the special neoprene cool cap for all my treatments-( 4no epirubicin with cyclophosphamide and 4no docetaxol)- iv lost about 30% of my hair but mainly where I wore a bandana as a hair band- probably because this made my scalp too hot under the band- so iv stopped wearing it except for 'special occassions and only now wear the thinest I have. Also had my hair cut short to take alot of the weight of it and bought several very high 600 thread egyptian cotton pillow cases that were very smooth to reduce heat and drag on hair at night and i frequently turn it if awake at night to keep cool.

Other advice I can share- I found ginger great for stopping/ reducing nausea- (lots of cookies with large lumps of crystal/ stem ginger! ) and honey helped reduce sore mouths and tonge (can use Manuka but any good honey worked). Kept as active as i felt I could and lots of fresh air and i carried on working but very reduced hours to keep some normality in my life- also reward yourself arrange special outings etc when you are feeling a bit better at the end of each cycle- i found going to music events/concerts with friends particularly uplifting also  riding (when up to it)/ being with my horse a very good therapy.

Hortense

I iced both my hands and my feet and have had no problems with either nails or neuropathy. I highly recommend doing it.

I used ziploc bags of crushed ice or frozen peas for my hands - peas are kind of fun to fiddle with. I put my fingers into the ice up to above the first joint and only took them out for short periods when they got too cold to bear, then I put them back in.

I used frozen gel-pacs from the hardware store for my feet as I already had them for keeping picnic foods cold. I put a folded towel on the floor both for insulation and to absorb any condensation, then put the frozen gel packs on the towels, put my bare feet on the gel packs and covered my toes with two more frozen gel pacs. It was cold, but well worth the chill not to have had any neuropathy and not to have discolored, thickened nails or to lose nails entirely.

The first oncologist I went to told me to expect neuropathy and didn't want me to ice, though not for any medical reasons. She also refused to let me use Penguin Cold Caps - not for medical reasons either, so I simply switched hospitals and doctors to one that would let me do both. Fortunately I live in an area blessed with top hospitals so I could switch.

As a result of switching, not only did I not have any problems with my nails or neuropathy, I kept my hair which I would have lost completely without cold caps therapy. It really does work. As does icing nails.

Zizabella

I begin TC chemotherapy June 2. I am being told to ice before it. I was wondering about during it. I will tell them I want to. Thanks for the thread. Very creative, ladies

SpecialK

ziza - I iced during the entire Taxotere portion of the infusion - which is about an hour - started just before and stopped just after.

Tinatess

Yes, icing works! 

Many of the problems with hands and feet during chemotherapy could have been avoided or reduced by icing 30 minutes before,during and 30 more minutes after taxane and platinum based chemotherapy sessions! Why doctors and nurses do not advocate it, is beyond belief! Had to bring my own basin in a private hospital, fill up with ice and water for my feet and two cereal bowls for my hands. No neuropathy, no onychopathy. I watched 4 people who had seen me doing all this for 9 sessions getting all the hand and feet problems as they would not try icing themselves. You can even buy mittens with gel on Amazon for £70 each and in France you can buy footsies with gel that freezes. It is a bit like cold caps for the hair. The drugs do not reach your exremities so you are spared. I researched it when after my first dense dose got a huge ridge on my thumb nail. I did not have another dense dose after the first one as I had huge amount of pain on my legs, they had sent me home with Arthrotec for aches and pains, useless on nerve pain which is what you get with taxane and platinum chemo!