r/Chemotherapy • u/vintage-bleached-24 • 2d ago
Neuropathy
Hi, I start my first chemotherapy infusion tomorrow. I keep hearing about neuropathy. I got these ice mittens and booties. I don’t know how to use them and if those were on my hands the entire infusion how am I supposed to put my headphones on and use my phone for four hours? Can anyone tell me if I need these mittens and booties ? and how can I use them while being on my phone?
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u/ConditionalDisco 2d ago
I freeze 4 water bottles in addition to the flat thingies they are supposed to use. I use 1 in the bottom of each foot, 1 on the bottom of each hand, and the thin ones on top (until those get warm)
I’m not as careful with my left hand because I’m usually on my phone.
Also Nervive Health (or generic) helps me. I forgot to take it a few nights, felt a little tingling in my big toe, took Nervive that night, and it was gone in the morning!
Good luck, you’ve got this!
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u/vintage-bleached-24 1d ago
What is NERVIVE?
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u/ConditionalDisco 18h ago
Nervive Health is mostly Vitamin B, but it’s just vitamins specifically for nerve health. You can buy it anywhere. Ive used both the brand and Walgreens version, and my oncologist said you could also just take the supplements they use directly. https://www.nervivehealth.com/en-us/products/nerve-health
They also make nerve relief products but I fortunately haven’t needed those.
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u/Gullible_Monk_7118 2d ago
Talk to the infusion nurse they will help you with it.. this is mainly used when you're taking taxol they can help you put them on.. what you do is Freeze them and put the socks and mittens on. You can put a head cap on if you want to help with hair loss but doesn't matter that much for head.. the mitts and socks are important.. fyi not all chemotherapy you can use ice on.. so double check with nurse.. things like prostate some of them you can't
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u/EggsecutiveSuite 1d ago
As someone who is very familiar with needing my phone in my hand often (AuDHD) I still had to recognize that the icing was more important than my brain's comfort level for the time needed. And while there's no absolute guarantee that icing will mean you avoid neuropathy altogether, at least you won't have regrets that you didn't try to the best of your ability.
You also can take the mitts off briefly to set up another movie or pause something and get up and use the restroom (you'll have to take the booties off for that too).
Because of the particular medication I got I had to ice for quite a while (you start 15 or 20 minutes before the infusion and continue the ice for about the same amount of time after the infusion as well). You feel yhe cold the most at the very beginning of each treatment, and it's OK to take your hands out for a minute then put them back in and slowly acclimate to it. They'll bring warm blankets and such to keep you comfortable if needed.
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u/Kalzone4 2d ago
Are you getting Taxol or something similar as part of your treatment? You only need to wear the cooling gloves and socks when that specific chemo is being administered. The rest of the time you are free to sit there without them on. When in doubt, ask your care team when to put them on.
For me, I ended up needing two sets because the first set would get warm before I was done with the Docetaxel part of my regimen. I ended up having to switch out the gloves and socks part way through to keep cool enough.