Best to check with your Oncology Team as well @cazgib10 if you are unsure. They will have a good idea about how you may or may not benefit from the pads.
There may be other things to try as well 
.
I also always contact BCN Nurses and MacMillan Nurses Helplines if I am unsure about anything even things that seem small. They are a wonderful mountain of information.
Hope you are managing to sleep better. Its tough, there is no doubt about it. Sending you a hug, love and strength. 
@cazgib10 Iâve had a look into the suzzipads and they sound good, but not sure I can take having frozen hands as well as a frozen head! 
Iâve heard mixed things about effectiveness, so I guess the only way to find out is to try as weâre all different. My infusions are on Fridays too, and my 2nd Pac is this Friday. I had a reaction to my first one within less than a minute. Red hot face, hands, breathing hard, but have been told it was a âmildâ reaction. Certainly didnât feel mild! 
Have spent most of time since then dealing with very hot, sore, dry, flaky and reactive hands which Iâve been creaming constantly with not much relief. Iâm prone to hand eczema anyway, but this is a whole other level of hell. Yesterdayâs random side effects curve ball was a suddenly swollen jaw on one side while I was eating, accompanied by what felt like my salivary glands smarting - like Iâd eaten a whole lemon and theyâd reacted.
Iâve actually been wanting to post on the main March starters thread, but canât see how to do it. I donât come on here as often as many of you, but I just want to say to everyone on there how much I appreciate everyoneâs openness and supportiveness. What amazing women you all are. It makes the shitshow weâre all enduring feel more bearable! Hugs and to all - we can do this.
@m1sty.george i totaly get what u are saying im meant to be having my 2nd pac too friday but im just not sure i can face it after being in A&e for 12hrs yesterday that was just shocking , tbh i wasnt feeling too bad until the rash appeared . Im wondering if what u are saying about the salivary gland might possibly be oral thrush , once i got the nyasin it worked quite well and i was suddenly able to taste food again
Goodness @m1sty.george that is a really tough reaction. I thought Pac was suppose to be easier than EC. 
.
I was bracing myself for EC in the hope it would all be OK soon.
My heart goes out to you so much
Im in the May starters. I think if you go into Search, you can type âMarch Chemo Starters 2026â and it should list that group for you. . Unless there wasnt one. Then go to Feb or April starters. 
Truly hope your side effects reduce. One brave lady.
I use to have hand eczema. It got so inflamed. Nothing worked. Then I tried Savlon Gell. I coated my hands in the gell throughout the day. Then as the sores healed, i used the Savlon cream. Gradually it all cleared up. So if I get a hint of it happening again, I turn to Savlon every time now. Not sure it would work for you during chemo, but ask Oncology if it would do any harm?
The emollients my GP gave me, just aggravated /made it worse, and I noticed the small print said âdont put on broken skinâ !!! Eczema IS broken skin. 
So it was useless. Only good as a preventative. Nothing else.
Sending you a hug brave lady.
Sending you a hug @cazgib10 . That must have been worrying and totally exhausting. 12hrs in A&E is beyond awful.
So glad things have improved.
Such a strong and wonderful lady you are. 
Thankyou poppy ireally dont feel it but i appreciate it
Found this @m1sty.george xxx via the âSearchâ.
Its a tough call @cazgib10 . No, I dont think it is always easy to be positive and philosophical all the time. Thats unrealistic.
Its totally fine to get grumpy and say how hard it is.
I encourage everyone to share bad days. Thats the reality. It can be very grim. Xxx stay strong, but rest when you are totally exhausted. I sleep loads.
I started EC 8/5. Ive now got a cold 
, so last weeks 22/5 was delayed. But the toxic feeling the first week was very grim.
My hair is going now, 
, this week, and ive had mouth ulcers/soreness all last week. My Oncology team gave me mouthwashes that help. Difflam, and a gell. I also have to swish with salt water and vitamin C mouthwash, throughout the day.
Its not a walk in the Park thats for sure. Xxx
But sleep gets me through it. Even on my better days Ive needed a few hours sleep. 
I also drink loads and I eat more protein, to give my body chance to recover. As well as lots of varied fruit and veg.
Its all helped. 
Stay strong but just give in to exhaustion when you need to. Its our body telling us to stop and rest. Pamper yourself at those time. I never fight exhaustion. I give into it. 
xxx
@cazgib10 that sounds so awful. Iâm sorry youâve had to go through that, especially in such hot weather too. Big hugs. 
These side effects seem to have a sneaky way of showing themselves just when youâre feeling okay. My phrase of the season is âwhat fresh hell is this?!â Iâll check out about the thrush, thank you. My jaw seems to be okay again now and I havenât had any more issues with it thankfully. 
The oncologist said it could be unrelated to chemo and might have been a salivary gland stone!
I have to admit Iâm anxious about Friday, and even though you donât want to do it, try and focus on how itâs going to help you in the long run. Easier said than done I know, but I try to do that. Take care. Xx
Ahh thank you @Poppy261 Sending a big hug and strength your way too and hope the treatment flies by for you! 
Have you actually started your chemo yet? Iâd also been under the impression that pac wasnât as bad as EC, but I found the EC a bit more predictable with side effects so felt kind of ready for them. The pac ones seem to suddenly appear, so if youâre starting that soon, get all your creams ready and use them loads, even if you donât get a reaction! Itâs apparently known for upsetting skin. The Savlon gel sounds good - thank you - and even if I canât use it on chemo, itâs sounds worth trying afterwards. My hand eczema is always worse in the winter. Iâve been using CeraVe Moisturising cream for very dry skin, and the CeraVe ointment between the fingers. Cotton gloves at night too for a while, until everythingâs soaked in. In 10 days itâs managed to calm everything down and start to heal, so hoping it stays that way! Xx
thankyou for ur advice it needs reviewing by my oncologist i have her emailed her now , it may possibly be upto her to decide what she wants to do wether treatment will be delayed or not . I have been told its not uncommon and i dont think much will change now as evidently some people have a worse reaction than mine and mine was pretty bad this doesnt help much as now i feel this could possibly happen again but worse
Perhaps theyâll lower the dosage for you? Thatâs a possibility although theyâre going to wait and see with me too before doing that. Theyâll watch like a hawk for this next one I think.
Glad to hear you are mastering all the horrid side effects @m1sty.george . But 10 days of sore hands is not nice. Well done for sticking with everything. . Whatever weakness we gave the beggars target those 100x dont they. Im prone to ulcersâŚso ive had a sore mouth for a week. 
. So I bet my hands will pay the price in 6 weeks .
Ive got 3 more EC to go. Then 4 rounds of Pac. I should have had my second EC last Friday but it was delayed due to me catching a cold. 
.
Im glad they delayed it as cold, chemo, sore mouth, hair loss, boiling hot weather 
, may have sent me crazy. 
.
Fingers crossed your Friday treatment goes ok. Xxx
One strong lady @cazgib10 . You survived that garbage. You can survive it again.
But hopefully it never happens again for you. Its like being hit by a thunder bolt isnt it 
.
The only way I get through it all is to think nice things. Relax/deep breathe. Distract myself. But I do add in some grumpy moments as well. 
cant ignore those.
Sending you strength and hugs.
Thank you @poppy261 Youâre spot on about these hitting our weak spots! Have you asked for some of the mouth wash for your ulcers and sore mouth? I had similar and that really helped to numb it a bit. I also used Bonjela on the especially sore spots and it helped to calm them down. My mouth has been better for the last EC and first pac, so hopefully things will ease for you as you go through. Drinking bucket loads of water, squash, juice and mint tea helps too, especially in flushing out the red wee of EC for those first few days after! 
I really hope your cold clears up quickly and you can get back on the horse soon and get this all behind you. Might be a bit cooler by then too! Every treatment will get you closer to the end - you can do it. 
Xx
All the best for you tomorrow @cazgib10. Sending hugs and positive vibes for a better day. Xx
@m1sty.george thanks but its not going ahead tomorrow but will be next week
Yes, I absolutely agree with you @m1sty.george fluids and more fluids help to wash all that toxic soup out of our bodies 
.
The constant rush to the toilet was a pain though 
However, by day 7, I woke up feeling really whole body âcleanedâ âfreshâ. It was such a lovely feeling. All the toxins were out of my body. So, like you, I would encourage everyone to make sure they drink loadsâŚat least 2.5/3 ltrs a day. Root ginger in water also helped as well.
Re mouth: yes, they gave me Difflan and a gel that is like Bonjella. So definitely helping, but its not clearing up as quick as id like. . I wouldnât mind but Ive stopped eating chocolate to help it along 
.
I had to stop eating boiled sweets 
years ago, as the sugar in them just sends my mouth crazy with ulcers in seconds. But chocolate was always fine
The things we have to go through. But Im eating nice fruit and veg so its fine.
I found that with EC I craved protein. I read we needed half of our body weight in grams of protein during chemo, to help our bodies repair, eg. 100lbs in weight = 50g of protein. 200lbs in weight = 100g of protein per day. Same principle with Kg. I craved fish at 4am one morning. So I cooked some . I felt so much better.
I could really feel how the chemo was hammering my body. So I would agree with increasing protein. Normal amount is just 30g.
So lots of water, lots of protein and generally huge variety of fruit and veg, helped tremendously.
Hopefully () I should have chemo tomorrow. I had PICC cleaned today. If my bloods are ok, they said they may go ahead even though my cold is lingering but on its way out . I will just need to wear a mask.
I was glad to have a week off. Its given me time to rest, and get ontop of my extensive hair loss this week which started on Sunday.
Best hair hack everâŚ.use a lint roller, throughout the day, if hair is cut short. Its stops all the hairs dropping all over the house. Ive used about 50 sheets on the roller today !!! The amount of hair just keeps going and going. I read we have 150,000 hairs on our head. 
Wow thats a lot of hairs to catch. But I dont have a house covered in hairs so definitely worth using gently.
Other best adviceâŚ.wear a satin hair bonnet at nightâŚPrimark ÂŁ2.50. I use it to stop hairs going all over the bed. It has been really cool and soft to wear, even in this heat. . Ive also worn it during the day, as its so soft and comfy. Looks hilarious on my head but comfy beats image any day at the moment
I hope you manage to get lots of rest @cazgib10 if you are not having treatment this week 
. Pamper yourself as much as you can xxxâ
Make the most of the days off to build up your strength. Ive slept loads this week.
Sending you all hugs, love and positive vibes
@poppy261 Thanks thats very sweet
Xx
. I Spoke to my oncologist last night and he seems quite concerned about my reaction to pac but cant understand why it didnt hapen imeadiately. it took 5 days to appear has anyone else had a delayed reaction? . I am very worried that something may happen next week now