exercise with Hand foot syndrome?

wonderwomanAL

taking xeloda and have mild hand foot syndrome. I exercise a lot before this and miss it. can I run, take barre class, etc? or do I have to do exercise that doesn't require my feet.

blainejennifer

You can exercise - just keep an eye on your feet. If you get painful redness, blistering, etc., switch to less weight bearing exercises like swimming, or the recumbent bike, while your feet heal up.

Keep your feet cool. I found I got more skin damage if my skin got hot and sweaty. For barre work, I wore thin cotton socks under the ballet shoe. Wear good leather ballet shoes that don't have a weird, bumpy insole. On the whole, wear shoes that breathe, with cork soles if you can. There are prettier versions than Birkenstocks (though I live in mine). Unless your sneakers have a lot of mesh ventilation panels, you might want to look at "wicking" socks to keep moisture away from your hot, sweaty foot skin while working out/running/walking. Make sure your socks fit well, with no creasing, as that'll damage hotfoot skin quickly.

You aren't even thinking of doing pointe work, right? I never tried, as I'm more Jazz/Modern, but pointe work just doesn't seem like a good idea.

I'm not a runner, no have no good tips there, at all.

The most popular lotions invoked on this list for hand/foot syndrome have methylparaben in them as a preservative. Sadly, all the parabens seem to have estrogenic effects, so - for most of us - it's a must miss. If you are ER/PR-, maybe it's not such a huge issue for you.

My favorite lotion is the Body Shop's peppermint foot lotion. Very cooling and soothing. I'd put it on at bedtime so that I wouldn't get all distracted by my hot feet, and I could get to sleep. I made a cooling spray too, with filtered, boiled water and peppermint oil (12 drops to 8 ounces of water, about 2 ounces of ethyl alcohol, shake before using). The least expensive source of ethyl alcohol is cheap vodka. The transpiration of moisture, along with the cooling effect of the peppermint, is quite pleasant when dealing with hotfoot. It's also great as a quickie body spray, and shoe freshener. Put it in a glass bottle with a sprayer top, as plastic bottles leach estrogenic chemicals into any product that's not pH neutral.

I've gone on too long. But, they also make slipper type ice packs, and I wear mine during TV time at night. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJZXRG2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?pd_rd_i=B003L4WOKG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=1713835751726239774&pf_rd_r=JR6W8JDFD6YRRXRNCQGA&pd_rd_wg=1c5sy&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=yv486&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=15859686-933b-11e8-8894-7b6c558f7022&th=1

Best of luck. Xeloda was a great drug for me, and I keep trying to get my MO to reconsider trying it again. They are reluctant, as I left it due to progression, but it has been 5 years since, so maybe there is some wiggle room?

scoobie

I'm a runner, but I found it impossible on xeloda because you just chew up your feet. Most other forms of exercise are possible

JFL

I continued to run on Xeloda, which I took for 14 months but had to take precautions and do some workarounds. I would describe my HFS as moderate and it did require me to lower the dose at the 11 month point when it tipped into the more severe category. The key was "toe socks" that look like gloves for your feet with each toe separated so there is no friction. I wore super soft socks and used super soft, flexible running shoes - Nike Free Run, so nothing was tight or binding on my feet. When I was at home, I wore fluffy socks and used lots of lotion with 20% urea cream.

I have a different kind of HFS on Doxil right now (what I would describe as fire feet, burning from the inside out) and am finding that icing my feet and hands 1-3 times a day when they flare up and also preventatively when they feel okay helps a lot. Had I known back then, I would have done the same thing on Xeloda. Good luck.