pins and needles after IV: Hey, After my first... - CLL Support

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pins and needles after IV

Our_wes123 profile image
13 Replies

Hey,

After my first round of treatment I suffered side effects needing a hospital stay.

I received antibiotics through a drip on my left wrist, I had some tenderness during this process and now have intermittent pins and needles in my left hand. I have read up about potential nerve damage.

Has anybody else experienced this? Did it go away naturally or did you require some form of treatment.

Thanks

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Our_wes123
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13 Replies
Sepsur profile image
Sepsur

I’ve had severe to mild peripheral neuropathy which can give you the sensation of pins & needles - if you have nerve damage and it’s not too badly damaged, it can take 1mm a day to repair.

SofiaDeo profile image
SofiaDeo

When I sleep improperly, I wake up with my arms numb. Make sure you are not pinching a nerve, have good nutrition so you can repair, and do stretch/flex exercises in the area. When my spine is not in alignment, I get random nerve problems. Hopefully this is just something related to not feeling well/being bedridden, and will sort itself out once you start mild gentle stretching exercises. If you haven't been a huge fan, maybe it's time to start. I notice a difference now when I don't stretch out my body. A clean area of a floor, a few soup cans for light weights, are all you really need. Perhaps a wall nearby, to do some mild push-off exercise, to build up to a full floor pushup? Doing planks for even a few seconds at a time, to start, will help align your core. When I was coming back from being really ill, I started doing planks with my weight on elbows/forearms on the floor, I was too weak to start using my hands only as support.

Poodle2 profile image
Poodle2

If you weren't cannulated properly, it can be really painful once the cannula is taken out. Had a few very painful experiences but they usually resolved within a week. Hopefully, it will get better.

Our_wes123 profile image
Our_wes123 in reply toPoodle2

fingers crossed! Thanks for your reply

Big_Dee profile image
Big_Dee

Hello Our_wes123

I had some arm nerve damage from B+R IV infusions but would not expect it with antibiotics. Some of my damage may have been the IV needle insertion itself. Took about one year for arm to recover. Blessings.

Our_wes123 profile image
Our_wes123 in reply toBig_Dee

ah sorry to hear that. It’s uncomfortable pins and needles rather than very painful so hopefully it goes away in time

Big_Dee profile image
Big_Dee in reply toOur_wes123

Hello Our_wes123

Mine was also kind of a tingling numb feeling, not real pain either. I do however recall one time being cannulated and felt severe electric like shock travel from shoulder to tip of finger, felt like I had been electrocuted. All is well that ends well! :) Blessings.

Pacificview profile image
Pacificview

I will toss in my 2 cents. Make sure you are well hydrated, drinking plenty of water. Why? So it fills up your veins making it easy to stick an IV in. I was just reminded of this at the infusion center a few days ago. I did not drink enough water and the nurse had a heck of a time. Had to change arms and try with the right arm. She mentioned, drink more water before you come next time!I relearned that lesson. When she tried to get the IV in the left arm. It was really painful!!!!!

So noone has to remind me to hydrate well in advance of approaching sharp objects...:)

Our_wes123 profile image
Our_wes123 in reply toPacificview

thank you. And not necessarily something that I would have thought of before going in for treatment. Will make sure to get plenty of water for my next visit!

Poodle2 profile image
Poodle2 in reply toPacificview

You should drink 2l before you go in for your infusion. Also holding your hand in a bucket of very warm water helps to open up the veins (yes, I did have to do that on the ward🙂), keep warm. As I went through the treatment, getting the cannula in became more and more difficult, your veins sometimes say "it's enough".

Big_Dee profile image
Big_Dee in reply toPacificview

Hello Pacificview

I my case, I was drinking enough water all during treatment, but alas did not help with IV. This is reason I had a infusion port installed before starting V&O treatment, so nice. The infusion nurses use to draw straws to see which one would have first go at cannulas. One time it took 3 infusion nurses 6 tries before success. :)

Poodle2 profile image
Poodle2 in reply toBig_Dee

I had a similar experience from cycle 3 onwards. My veins just weren't cooperating. I ended up using the same nurse (well, she always picked me) - who was just amazing - had her for most of my infusions and with all the extra prep, it would usually go in on the second try. I had two cycles when she wasn't in and it took about 5 attempts, it was awful but what can you do. My veins were really poked heavily as I was having about 3x blood tests a week for the first 2 months - something like that and weekly hospitalisations with cannula always in for a several days. Apparently it can happen if your veins are cannulated often and also the Obinutuzumab apparently does that to some people - not sure.

Pacificview profile image
Pacificview

Me2, i was thinking oh we have to flush the toxins out....got it.For those of us that are currently pin cushions its needed info.

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