First chemo tomorrow--tips, suggestions, cautions?

Yes I get chills also & I live in the California desert. It has been a chilly spring so far. Summer is coming though. I can feel it! I always have a blanket close by & take a light sweater wherever I go.

My oncologist said definitely no pre-icing with Oxaliplatin. I was bummed because I had already purchased the socks & gloves & had them chillin! I wore the socks on the drive to the infusion center & have no neuropathy in my feet but my fingers have lots of tingling. I did not wear the gloves. I am using a Boiron homeopathic remedy called Kali Phosphoricum for the tingling & it is definitely working to take away that tingling in my fingers, like within 10 minutes. It does come back but the nurse practitioner told me to not take this because they have no idea if it interferes with the chemo. Bummer because it has been really helping me! You have to take a few pellets when it returns but it goes away so fast. I read that it interferes with steroids though so maybe not a good idea? The NP then told me they can lower the Oxaliplatin dose if it’s causing too much tingling. I am going to ask for less next infusion.

@frygirl777 , Why did your onco nix the pre-icing before Oxaliplatin?

Hello everyone:
I know nobody has posted anything in a few years but I found a lot of the information here helpful. I'm starting my FOLFOX chemo next week and I was thinking about doing the Cryotherapy to prevent any neuropathy side effects. My oncologist gave me a big NO today when I asked for his opinion. I just don't understand why if there are people with good outcomes from it, why at least they don't support you if you want to try it.
I understand where he is coming from saying the Oxaliplatin changes the sensation of cold to pain but the point of Cryotherapy is to prevent the drug from doing that on the extremities. I'm so confused and frustrated right now. Not sure if I should still do it because at the end I will be the one dealing with the side effects but I don't want to go against my Oncologist's directions either. guess I will have the whole weekend to think about it. Are you guys still having neuropathy side effects years after your chemo treatment?

I haven't heard any good explanations of why an oncologist would recommend against icing during the administration of oxaliplatin, but you should ask for details at your next meeting.

In the meantime, you could try compression socks (with your onco's approval?) to buy time while he/she researches the icing issue. Both cryotherapy and compression therapy have shown good results in various trials. Acupuncture is also said to be helpful. (Trying it myself right now.)

I don't know your specific situation so our experience may not be directly comparable. My wife had Folfirinox chemo for 12 cycles at the Fred Hutch cancer center in 2024. It was the standard practice of care for us to ice the feet and fingers every time during the Oxaliplatin infusion - in addition, my wife was very disciplined in taking ice chips orally to reduce possibility of neuropathy in the throat (she has esophageal dismotility). The latter made her nauseous but she persevered for 2 hours each time as the alternative was too risky from her perspective. She wore compression gloves on her hands/fingers while she held on to an classic ice pack filled with ice chips from home - the ice pack did the best job of conforming to her hands/fingers during the actual Oxaliplatin infusion. She still developed some neuropathy but now, at about 5 months later, the neuropathy in her fingers and feet is improving. Best wishes for you. I agree with another commenter that I would ask for the reason and study references that support it for you not to consider extremity icing as an option. Everyone is a unique case but I would want to understand the rationale and the data supporting it. The Hutch staff was very responsive when we wanted to understand an issue during treatment.

Would be interested to hear of your acupuncture experience markymarkfl. My husband's neuropathy has gotten so bad that he now has trouble walking even with the walker. I'd been reading of red light laser also. Nothing sounds real promising. But it would help his world if he could get around better.

We had not heard of the icing when my husband was doing the folfox chemo, and his neuropathy is now severe. We started doing it when he changed to abrax/gem... but that was after a year of folfox and I think the damage was already done. I am not a doctor, but wish in hindsight that we had known of the icing and would have pursued that I think. But, everyone is different and I guess doctors feel differently about it helping or hurting.

I'm still in the "trying it out" phase with acupuncture. User @murray3 has more experience and recently posted some details in this discussion: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/compression-therapy-during-chemo/?pg=1#comment-1267454
I do occasional foot-soaks in a bath of water with various B vitamins. My acupuncturist recommended adding two herbs (Lu Lu Tong and Ai Ye) to the water.

I've not been very scientific about measuring cause & effect, but my neuropathy is not bad considering about 24 months on Abraxane. (My original neuropathy from the pre-Whipple Folfirinox resolved about 6-8 months after stopping the chemo.)

One tip I might offer, aside from dealing with neuropathy.
Strongly recommend asking for a bag of fluids before they detach your pump on the third day. This gives your body a head start to move everything through and helps keep you from being dehydrated. Dehydration is common when your taste buds aren’t normal!