Chemo side effects and opioid intolerance

[Demelzatheseagull]

Hi all. This is my first post. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer in September and have just had my first chemo. I have had chronic pains in my legs that normal painkillers haven't touched. I'm opioid intolerant but took codeine an hour after metoclopramide hoping this would work but sadly not 🤮. I'm going to talk to my team about it but I'm dreading the next time and wondered if anyone else had experience of this x

[Lyndy2]

Hi Demelzatheseagull, I think you need to ring your chemo line and ask for pain killers that won’t upset you. That bone pain is excruciating. Don’t struggle on, get something that works asap… xx

[Riverflo]

Hi, Demelzatheseagull, sounds like you are having a really tough time. I have been having leg pain in my third round of chemo. The worst part is the knees so I have been using ibuprofen gel topically which has helped.

But if your pain is totally generalised, hopefully your team will have a better solution. X

[Horsesrock]

Hi, I also can’t take morphine, codeine, etc. could you possibly look at acupuncture?? Or using a tens machine? Both have helped me at various stages. Or supplements even? Hopefully your care team can help. The treatment is bad enough without the added leg pain. Good luck x

[Demelzatheseagull in reply to Horsesrock]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm going to see if my cancer team can come up with a drug combination that works for me and also investigate a TENS machine and acupuncture.

So grateful to have this forum of other people who just get it x

[Rosado22 in reply to Demelzatheseagull]

I take Clarityn - I don’t know if it dulls it down or not but I was having it anyway for Hay fever and the American ladies all seem to take it.

[Leniko]

massage or a heated pool/hot tub are soothing.

[Beaugirl]

Hi the bone pain may be due to the injection that stulates your bone marrow Neupogen or Filgastrim I think it's called given in a single dose. Ask to have this in an injection over 5 days instead it made such a difference to me. Hope this helps xx

[Cumbrianlass5]

The leg pain is a sign your body is building up its bone marrow again, which is good. I struggle to find a painkiller I can tolerate but was eventually put on dispersible paracetamol and they worked remarkably well. Hope your team find a solution for you. Best wishes x