I am a week past four fortnightly sessions of EC. Yesterday while out walking (which is a regular activity) I suddenly felt as if my second toe had tucked under itself. It didn’t feel like cramp. Then, suddenly, I felt what can be described as an electric shock shooting up my second toe and around the inner edge of my big toe. It was painful and made me squawk out loud. It happened another couple of times while I made my way home, but not to such a sharp extent. Today I have tingling at the base of my second, third and fourth toes. Is this possibly related to the chemotherapy? Is there anything I can do to prevent it from happening again? Thank you
Hello chubbychops,
Thanks for your post. It’s understandable that you’re asking if there is anything you can do to prevent the sharp, shooting pains you experienced in your toes.
The symptoms you describe are likely caused as a result of damage to the nerves in the hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy) as a result of chemotherapy.
It’s important that you speak to your chemotherapy treatment team about the pains you are getting as they may suggest ways of managing this. They may wish to alter the dose of your chemotherapy or suggest stopping the next dose.
It can be useful to keep a pain diary so your treatment team can easily see how often it happens and how intense it is.
Some people benefit from specialist advice so your doctor may refer you to an NHS pain clinic. And some hospitals run pain management programmes.
In the meantime, you could ask your GP to prescribe some appropriate pain relief, which may help.
We have a facebook live l recorded session on neuropathy that may be of interest.
Talking to someone who has had a similar experience can often be helpful. Our Someone Like Me service can match you with a trained volunteer who’s had a similar experience to you. You can be in touch with your volunteer by phone or email and they can share their personal experiences to help answer your questions, offer support and listen to how you are feeling.
You can ring the Someone Like Me team on 0800 138 6551 or email them at someone.likeme@breastcancernow.org, so they can then match you to your volunteer.
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Best wishes,
Addie
Breast Care Nurse
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