Side Effects Of Chemo...How To Treat Sores

My mom is in her 4th week of chemo...Cisplatin, Epuribicin and 5FU...she's getting sores on her lips and the palms of her hands...I expected the mouth sores but the hands have taken us by surprise....that just began today..anyone out there had similar symptoms?  If so...u have any suggestions on how to make her feel better?  Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

My dad is gets the mouth sores too. His Dr prescribed some special mouthwash which seemed to help with the pain. The sores will go away after a few days or so but ask your Oncologist about the mouthwash.

Thanks for your reply....were his hands affected as well? She says she feels like the inside of her hands are on fire.

How is your dad doing?

His hands were fine, he just got the mouth sores...bad. It's painful for him because he won't eat anything as it hurts him to chew. He also gets a bad sore throat too.

All the chemo symptoms usually go away 4 days after treatment. So far he feels great and his confidence level has been high since his last scan (clean results)

My mother had bad mouth sores and has had good response from the triple mix mouthwash her clinic has prescribed. It's pink and has both a numbing and soothing effect. Mostly it was the reduction/elimination of irenotican (sp?) which caused her condition to improve. She still has issues with hot hands and feet ..... we use a shea butter lotion which seems to keep her cool and soft. Her hands and feet are very rough and leathery now - looks like she's been in the sun for years without shade. Keep her hands and feet lathered up with the shea butter when they get hot - and remember - they'll cool off soon ........

Good Luck - I hope this helps

I had the same symptoms with Xeloda (oral 5FU). 

For mouth sores I was given a suspension of lidocaine and an antifungal agent to be used as a mouthwash.

For hand foot syndrome, unfortunately there is not much that can be done except use a lotion like Aveno.  I had severe hand foot syndrome during one of my chemo cycles.  The dose was dropped by 25% for subsequent cycles.  You can look on the internet for other precautions for hand foot sysndrome (e.g. avoid hot water).

 

Best wishes.

 

Tom

I have been told to mix 8 oz. of water with one teaspoon each of baking soda and salt and use as a mouth rinse throughout the day.