Legs problems due to chemo?

[coni]

My hubby has just finished his 6 rounds of chemo and he is having such problems with his legs (mostly his right leg) he has numbness and discomfort to where he has trouble walking...We told both his radiation Doc and his Chemo Doc they both felt it's due to chemo but hubby has doubts...anyone had or have leg problems during chemo?..he had taxol/carbo

[Patti B]

Coni-

Does he have any redness or swelling in his leg??? I had a blood clot in my leg several months ago and was told that 50% of cancer patients develop blood clots as having cancer puts your body in a coagulant state much like women who are on b/c pills. I kept telling the doc there was something wrong and he would look at my leg and say he thought it was side effects from the Alimta I was on and I finally DEMANDED an ultra-sound and sure enough - a blood clot.

Don't want to scare you but it is something to think about.

Good luck and let us know.

Patti B.

[recce101]

I see in your profile that he had blood clots in the legs last spring. Is it reminiscent of that?

Exactly where is the numbness/discomfort -- upper leg, lower leg, ankles, feet, all over? Does it feel like cramps? Is there tingling with shooting pains like electric shocks? Is there any swelling? Is the skin discolored? What did the doctors say other than it's probably due to the chemo?

I had two leg problems while on chemo -- peripheral neuropathy, which is a common side effect of Taxol, and stasis dermatitis, which I already had in mild form but became much worse on chemo because of reduced circulation. I received medication for both conditions that was very helpful.

Give us more details, and maybe someone else will have some ideas. (I saw Patti B's post just before I sent this.) Aloha,

Ned

[Wendy]

Hi Coni,

I was going to suggest blood clots or neuropathy (Ned and Patti beat me too it). I have had neuropathy in both my hands and feet.

I didn't have Taxol but sister-in-law had it and had horrible pains in her legs during treatment. She was given an narcotic to help ease the pain. Once her treatment was over the pain went away. I dont know that she had problems in just one leg at a time though.

Hopefully your husband will start feeling better and nothing is going on. If you both are concerned though, continue to look into it until your comfortable that it is just the chemo.

Hoping for better days ahead,

Wendy

[coni]

Thank you for responding people... His legs are much better today..he does have DVT and is on Lovenox (pills don't work for him) so looks like it was the Chemo afterall...

Thanks again

[Diane]

My dad had 5 rounds of carbol/taxol and 6 rounds of avastin. He has terrible peripheral neuropathy as well as pain in his thighs when he tries to climb back up the stairs. For the most part he is bedridden because of the neuropathy. he is now on Tarceva, but we're not sure how he's doing as it hasn't quite been 1 month. The dr. prescribed Lyrica and that did not seem to help the neuropathy at all. Does anyone out there have suggestions for drugs that have actually worked on the neuropathy? It's been at least 1-1/2 months since his last chemo treatment and the neuropathy has only improved marginally. Thank you.

[recce101]

Diane:

I almost missed your question since it was in a thread I had already responded to.

Neurontin (gabapentin) was helpful for my neuropathy. I think Lyrica is "supposed" to be better — I'm pretty sure it's more expensive — but the two are probably different enough to make it worthwhile trying Neurontin.

Aloha,

Ned

[Diane]

Ned, thanks. I don't know what I'm doing on this site! I should have posted a new message not a reply to that thread. Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping you would reply as I'd seen you had a similar issue at one time. I also went out and read your story so I did see the name of the drug was neurontin. My dad is actually on that drug now, I just didn't realize it. He was on Lyrica, which didn't seem to be doing anything and then a couple of weeks ago, they switched him to neurontin. Some days are better than others. A lot of the tingling went away and his balance improved, but going up the stairs, he still gets quite a lot of pain in his thighs. Did it take a long time for the neuropathy to subside permanently? Thanks.

[recce101]

Diane:

I got some relief from the tingling/numbness within a day after starting Neurontin (that's a faster than normal response according to my onc), but it took a couple of months for the tingling to disappear completely and even longer for the numbness. The only leg pains I attribute to neuropathy were shooting pains in the lower legs (calves, mainly) which felt like electric shocks. On occasion I've had cramps in the thighs, but they don't feel anything like that, and I figure they're from a different cause.

If your dad's leg pains feel more like cramps than electric shocks, you might try Googling "leg cramps" or "muscle cramps" and see if any of the listed causes ring a bell. Insufficient potassium is one possibility.

Ned

[Diane]

Ned, Thanks for the helpful suggestion!