Several medications can be given to alleviate these symptoms and are listed below. Often times, they are combined with analgesics or narcotic medications to provide maximum pain relief. Response to therapy varies with each individual and their tolerance to possible side effects. Many of these medications are used to treat other health conditions and not all medications may be appropriate for you. Speak to your physician about your treatment options.

Non-medicinal methods can also be used to help manage neuropathy. If your fingers are numb, be very careful when grasping sharp, hot, or otherwise dangerous objects. If your sense of balance or muscle strength is affected, avoid falls by moving carefully, using handrails when going up or down stairs, and using bath mats in the bathtub or shower. And always wear shoes with rubber soles (if possible) to protect your feet.

-At the risk of you thinking I am a promoting some sort of organization, I offer this tip for neuropathy I got from the oxiliplatin:

WALK every day. Just little bit if you can, around the block. The days I did NOT walk my feet hurt worse. Simple aspirin also helped the arthritis-like pain I occasionally felt.

-J - first off - thanks so much for posting this as it is very timely. My mother did two cycles of carboplatin and paclitaxel and, after the two stints in the hospital due to the stuff almost killing her via dehydration and other things, her one remaining side effect from it is the nerves in the tips of her fingers and in her feet. Her feet are extremely sore and it is impairing her ability to walk. She's gotten better everyday, but she just said to me yesterday on the phone how much she wishes she could get rid of the pain in her feet and if she could she'd be feeling okay overall. A visiting nurse checked in on her today. The skin on my mom's fingertips is starting to peel off. The nurse looked at it at the request of my mom and said it was due to the chemo.

Could you post the link to the above information source so that I can get the medications table and mention it to my mom's doctors when we meet with them this Thursday (just before her first infusion of the 2nd line chemo (the 1st line of carbo/paclitaxel didn't work)?

We mentioned it last time but my mom downplayed the soreness (she has a way of downplaying her symptoms/side effects when in the presence of the doctors), so the doctors just said "it's due to the chemo" and left it at that. I didn't realize there was some drug that could possibly help counteract the nerve damage/pain in the extremities.

-I'm sorry to hear about your mother's neuropathy. The list of medications is on the website at the top of this post. Some readers have claimed that adding B6 vitamin has somewhat helped. There's also lidocaine listed there. I was just researching patches in regards to something else. Some people get the 10mg and cut them into pieces to stretch them out further
(use in more than one place). That's also on the list. Might be useful if you don't want to add to her oral medication burden. It's a good idea to print out the list and talk with her doctor. So just click on the link above.

It says here that http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Combinationregi...

Numbness or tingling in hands or feet This is due to the effect of paclitaxel or carboplatin on nerves, and is known as peripheral neuropathy. Tell your doctor if you notice these effects. The problem usually improves slowly a few months after treatment is over."

I don't know if that's necessarily true for everyone. Some had it bad and it never got better.