Wanted recommendations to prevent neuropathy

Gwinnettgirl

hi !! Has anyone used glutamine or other supplements to avoid neuropathy ftom taxol?

I was going to ask Doc to do a slow infusion as well. Txs for any advice

amtreb

My integrative oncologist added R-lipoic acid and glutamine and one other I'm blanking. if you PM me I will remember to look it up for you tomorrow.

I also got weekly acupuncture, ask them to needle between the toes, the "bafeng" points. I had 8 rounds of dose dense Taxol. I would get just a little funny/numb kind of feeling in my finer tips and toes just for a day or so after my infusion and it would go away. Now that treatment is finished I have an occasional "aversion to cold" feeling in my toes is the best way I can describe it. Like if my feet are cold I just can't stand how it feels on my toes to be barefoot. And even that is fading.

Good Luck!!! message me if you want the specifics!

KBeee

I used ice packs on my hands and fee

Gwinnettgirl

did the ice packs work and did u order anything special like mittens? If so where did u order them?

Txs!!!

Anonymous

The glutamine and frozen pea bags worked great for me. No neuropathy whatsoever. The glutamine was in powdered form, and it had kind of a weird taste, but it was worth it.

I kept the frozen bags of peas in the nurse's freezer, opened them, and stuck my hands in them. I put two more on my feet and wrapped towels around them to keep them secure. Hands went in, and out, over and over, till I was done with the infusion.

I spilled part of a bag of peas once and always wondered what the cleaning staff thought when they found little peas rolling around under a chemo chair

Newnorm

Hi

My Chinese herbalist recommended soaking hands and feet in hot water for 10mins every night. It worked. I’ve not suffered from neuropathy. All the best. Xx

Gwinnettgirl

I am going to try this. I am freezing hands and feet during infusion and only have small soreness to feet right now. It may be frost bite lol.

Txs for tip!!

JFL

I take sublingual vitamin B complex drops daily. I am shocked at what a difference it makes.

buttonsmachine

I took glutamine and iced my hands during treatment and I still got neuropathy after only three Taxotere cycles. I do think the glutamine helped the symptoms, because my symptoms worsened if I didn't take it. Also, my feet were worse than my hands, so I think icing helped too.

Neuropathy can still happen despite our best efforts, and some of us are more prone to neuropathy than others for no discernable reason. I am young and otherwise healthy so my MO really didn't have any explanation for why my neuropathy was so bad.

Keep a close eye on it, and best wishes in preventing it. I do think the glutamine and icing helped, just not enough to offset the neuropathy completely in my case.

Momine

Agree with buttons that it is unpredictable and difficult to prevent if you are prone. Icing is probably a good idea. I mostly escaped, except for lasting numbness in 3 of my fingertips, which is really minor (although still pretty annoying at times).

I have nothing to back this at all, but I like to think that the fact that I stayed doggedly active physically all through chemo may have helped a little. I walked a lot. Typically several miles a day.

Amelia01

http://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/jco.2014.32.15...

It seems that fish oil EPA /DHA can help prevent neuropathy. In this study patients took 640mg 3 times per day for the 3 months of taxanes.