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hi everyone

i was just after some advice, i have a patient who recently finished chemotherapy for bowel cancer. since the end of the chemo she initially was complaining of pins and needles in arms and legs with lack of sensitivity, more recently she is complaining that her feet and legs feel like they have tight band wrapped around right up into groin. she finished chemo 3 months ago.

is this common after chemo therapy or should i be looking for alternative diagnosis

thanks
andrea

 

Peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of chemo.

 

In my experience chem patients seem to experience symptoms such as you describe both during and after treatment has finished. The feet particularly get very tender with the skin blistering or reddening and sometimes peeling off. The nails also can get loose or thicken. These symptoms seem to get better over time but it probably depends on the type of chemo I presume with some experiencing more acute signs then others.could do with a CPD module on it as so many patients now undergoing cancer treatments. Katie

 

Hi Andrea

My wife had FEC chemotherapy (6 doses) 18 months ago and had an lot of peripheral neuropathy in her feet. This could be quite painful at times, especially around her toenails. As she has some onychauxis and involution I thought they needed treating. However they didn't as the pain resolved spontaneously but would shift from toe to toe. She still has a feeling of ants running up the side of her thigh but her feet are fine.
More recently a physio colleague has had chemo for bowel cancer, and for 3-4 days post treatment he has painful pins and needles in his hand, which is particulary succeptible to cold. So much so that he can't even hold a pint of beer.

Regards

Alan