Hi just wondered if anyone else has had swollen feet during treatment, I finished Tax chemo last week, now on 3 weekly Herceptin, did n’t have
this problem until now.
Thanks
Jean
HI,
I had a bad time with swollen feet and legs after my last Tax. I think it must be a build up of the Tax. I went to the docs but the one I saw said she could not give me anything to help. Not a lot of use that. I phoned and made an appointment with the Oncologist, luckily he could see me the following day. He prescribed Furosimide to get rid of the excess fluid. I think he prescribed anti-inflammatories as well but it’s 3 years ago now and I can’t be sure.
Might be worth your while to phone your Oncology unit for advice.
Hope it soon clears.
E
Thanks Emmbee, I already take water tablets for high blood pressure, I may need them increasing , I will phone gp tomorrow.
Thanks for response I thought it was just me !
Jean.
On holiday post tax and my feet have just started to swell badly. Good to know it’s not just me! Can’t sensibly get to Dr, be interesting to know what yours says. Start radiotherapy in ten days. Jane
Hi tillybob,
I had very swollen legs after Tax, from the top right down to a pair of enormous ankles. It started with the first Tax and got worse with each one, usually hitting about 10 days after each dose. A combination of that and Tax-induced muscle weakness meant that after the third one I could barely walk for a while and had to use a stick. I couldn’t get up the stairs at home without resting twice on the way. the muscle weakness also affected my arms although they didn’t swell.
I despaired of it ever getting better but it gradually started to improve about five weeks after my last Tax (which was on May 4th). It was definitely mostly fluid retention - at one point I lost half a stone in weight in a week!
My ankles still swell if I’m on my feet a lot but it’s now very nearly back to normal - so much so that last week (three months after final Tax) I was walking in the Alps.
My onc knew about it but I didn’t ask for anything to treat it as I’ve heard that often they don’t like to give any water tablets as the chemo has already put a big strain on your kidneys and liver and they could make it worse.
So don’t worry too much - you can try asking for water tablets but it WILL go down on its own - people in here told me that but I found it hard to believe, until it happened.
Jane xxx
Thanks Alto and Jane, I have to admit my feet have suffered badly with the Tax, I have numb toes and have lost one nail with others looking dodgy ! I feel better knowing it’s just another SE of Tax,
Jean
Hi Jean,
Just want to echo what Alto has said - I too had dreadfully swollen ankles and feet and muscle weakness on tax. When out shopping I used to stop and pretend to look in shop windows in order to rest for a few minutes! It does pass, hard though it seems to believe when you are in the middle of it all.
One tip I followed was to elevate my feet at night. I bought a specially shaped leg pillow from Aldi, but a pillow under the mattress also does a similar job. It definitely helped, making at least the start of the day easier although the ankles filled up again during the day.
Best wishes,
Julie
Hello again!
Forgot to ask if you have painted your nails with dark polish? Tax makes the nails light sensitive, so a dark polish helps stop them getting too horrible and dropping off. I lost one toe nail, but the rest were fine: I kept them painted throughout and for a couple of months afterwards.
Julie x