Hi, all!
My mom complains of increased trembling legs.She thinks this is a side effect of treatment. Have you had any problems with the nervous system after chemotherapy.
Are you taking any medications and which are not contraindicated for non-hodgkin's lymphoma?I would like to share your experience.
Rositsa
First post from a long time lurker. I am not very computer savvy. Hope I am doing this right...
My husband was diagnosed with neuropathy shortly after he completed six rounds of chemo. He has pain and numbness in his feet and legs. It is especially bad when he first gets up in the morning or after sitting. He is taking Gabapentin, two capsules three times a day. It has helped somewhat but we were hoping for better results. The doctor said that there is something else he could try that is used to treat depression. The doctor also told him that he will eventually need to use a cane.
Your mother needs to speak to her doctor about this. My husband should have mentioned something sooner. He is not one to complain and let it go too long. It may not have been as severe had he mentioned it sooner.
Good luck! Please continue to post and update me on your mom.
Donna
Thank you, Donna!
Me too it's hard to write here, but try to maintain contacts with the group.Today, adding one more problem.Mom trembles temperaturе /38 C /, she drinks only Paracetamol, so have told her in the hospital.Because this is the second time, she does not know what to think .. if it is a deepening of the disease, chemotherapy or any side effect and its body is exhausted.Many questions which seek answers because uncertainty has many negatives. I'm looking forward to your comments.
Rositsa
Rositsa--
Welcome to SupportGroups. It sounds like your mom is experiencing peripheral neuropathy, a not uncommon side effect of some chemotherapy drugs, notably-- as they pertain to lymphomas-- vincristine and vinblastine. The effects can last for a few months following the end of treatment, or in rarer cases, even longer.
If she's having problems with her legs shaking, then the chemo -- assuming this is the cause-- is affecting her motor skills, as opposed to causing sensory (pain, tingling) side effects. I agree with Donna that it's absolutely essential that her doctors know about this as soon as possible, because the sooner something is done about it, the better off she will likely be. Doctors can test the degree of neuropathy and actually diagnose it with a test called an electromyography (EMG).
Ross
Hi, Ross!
Thank you for your competent answer.I talk every night with my mom, she feels bad these days, is dropped, there are chills and fever, and trembling legs.Contact with doctors is difficult.They say only what is necessary, everything else is details.However, it will attempt to talk with the doctor.We will do this study/electromyography /,if we can convince mom and doctors.
It is very important for her to understand that this is happening to others, but can be overcome.So many want to continue to fight and be able to emerge from this crisis.
Want advice on food and vitamins are not harmful in this disease.It helps my writing from other patients in this Side,so read all Publications.I know that some vitamins of group B are contraindicated for cancer, such as B6.Can you say something about a vit.B, and foods that are contraindicated.
Writing here helps me to deal with problems that are in families of patients.Thanks for your time and for sharing!
Rositsa
Hi all. I am new to this site but not to these forums, unfortunately. I am a 59 y/o male, Stage 3 FNHL, 40 radiation treatments early (when I was Stage 1) that did not stop things. I decided to do W+ after that as the disease is low grade and I enjoy my life. However, I think the nodes under my arm where there is active disease are slowly growing (I can feel two) but my health is not being heavily impacted so I am still good to go.
My nervous system, on the other hand, has some issues we are still working on. In April, I lost the use of my left wrist to peripheral neuropathy. Recovery (about 90%) took 4-6 weeks and the neurologist determined that the issue's root cause is an antibody thrown off by the lymphoma that attacks the myelin (nerve sheath). It can be addressed with an infusion of immunogammaglobulin (for a while) but the ivig carries risks all its own.
I had another followup where they decided that my left leg is also involved so I was upgraded (downgraded?) to multi-focal neuropathy which is a concern as the progression could continue to additional severity or limb involvement. They ran some other bloods, which are normal and the next step is another MRI next Tuesday, this time of the spine. The purpose is to confirm that the problem is not being added to by degenerative disk disease or lymphoma in the spine. Assuming it is negative (we will see), the neurology folks have already said that they will be recommending the ivig and I am lukewarm at best to take a blood product derived from a very large donor base (more than 2000 donors per dose). My oncologist is copied on everything, of course.
It seems logical to me that, if I opt for chemo, it could address this issue by killing the lymphoma which is producing the antibody. Of course, that causes me to reflect on the increased incidence of neuropathy post treatment which makes me hesitant. If I am predisposed somehow, will chemo make the neuropathy issues worse than they are now? So, I am trying to figure out if I should reject the neuro recommendation and just stay on W+W altogether, go with the ivig or reset with my oncologist on our plan.
I already know that no one can answer the question here, but would love to see what feedback you do have for me. I am also very curious to know if anyone else has had to deal with this secondary impact of follicular NHL. I am being told that it only occurs in 1-2% of NHL cases before chemo.
I look forward to reading and posting here...good health to all.
Kermica
Hello everyone,
I was diagnosed with Stage 4 NHL (Follicular) June 09. I finished my original rounds of R-CHOP. I went into remission as of Nov 2009. I am currently in a 2 year chemo maintenance program (1 round of Rixutan every 3 months) I suffer from severe Peripheral Neuropathy. It started out on me as tingling in my fingers and toes. This began during my R-CHOP treatments. I was told this would go away (to date it hasn't). Eventually, I was unable to have any feeling in my feet, nor feelings in my fingertips. I developed severe pain in my arms and legs. At first, they tried me on the Gabapentin ,but my body did not tolerate it well. I now am on Topamax, as well as Morphine Sulphate and Tramadol for pain management. I still suffer with bouts of extreme fatigue, although I am learning now just how to pace myself during the day. I had to have the electromyography (EMG)test done. I am very thankful that I am no longer at a Stage 4. If this is how I am going to have to be the rest of my life, then that's a small price to pay. I hurt. It's frustrating, but I'm alive, and I'm so thankful for that. I just wish they would find a cure for all of this.
CD-
congrats on being in remission, but sorry about the PN. what have your doctors said about it going on? my understanding is that it could go on for as long as a year following completion of a combination chemo regimen like R-CHOP. as for the rituxan infusions, peripheral neuropathy is not listed among rituxan's 'most common' side effects but if you read the extended (35 pages) prescribing information you do find mention of it, although even then the occurrence is rather low.
as for the fatigue; you're 8 months separated from a hardcore chemo regimen putting your cancer into remission, so that was 8 months where you probably weren't much in the mood for exercise, and rituxan can definitely cause fatigue, lower your blood cell count, and f**k with your lungs a little too.
that and a drug like topamax, along with opioids like morphine and tramadol (or maybe tramadol isn't an opioid) are also bound to knock you down. in other words I think you have a future ahead of you that's free from fatigue just as soon this pain recedes, and I think it will eventually.
Ross
Hi, everyone!
After I wrote the theme "neuropathy, side effect, I am happy to share with you that this is only a temporary effect of chemotherapy.My mom was very sick, was impaired sensitivity of the hands and feet.Three weeks after chemotherapy is already gone.Not consumed any more specific drugs.For it was very important to know that this is just a side effect unrelated to the underlying disease.
Still coughing and swallowing problems.Any advice for a cough, often you meet?
Rositsa