When I was going through chemo I did very little research into what side effects accompanied the treatment apart from know I was going to be BALD and possibly left infertile ( that was one piece of information that actually registered with me at one of my pre chemo appointments). I felt that if I knew all possible side effects, I would manifest most of them – maybe because I am a drama queen lol. I am glad I approached chemo blindly because I wasn’t waiting for things to happen and when they did, they were a pain but I dealt with them one by one and it wasn’t as bad as sitting waiting for them.
One side effect of chemo that kinda scared me was the cramps. I had 4 sessions of AC and 4 sessions of Taxol. It was the Taxol that caused the cramps and they were not only uncomfortable but kinda scary. All of you Breasties know how our imaginations run wild with any ache or pain that we get.
I did find having a hot bath helped with the cramping however I discovered that I had to be extremely careful of the temperature, simply because during chemo with the way the nerves in your hands and feet are affected it would have been very easy to have a scalding incident by checking the temperature with just your hand so my advice pop a thermometer in also to double check its not too hot.
During chemo taking supplements is a big NO NO, you may hear people tell how they take herbs and it removes all side effects etc. But I do not recommend taking anything unless you get the green light from your oncology dept.
After chemo you can take supplements and in my case about 6 months post chemo when I was still getting leg cramps and darting pains I decided to ask the pharmacist if there was anything they could recommend for me. And that is when Seven Seas JointCare Active because my go to supplement, safe to take with Tamoxifen ( but always check with pharmacist yourself) and it took 2 weeks to kick in and I have to say gals the improvements was unbelievable. I’ve been taking it ever since, I usually buy mine in Dunnes Stores as they usually do a 3 for 2 offer I take 2 capsules daily and I really don’t know myself.
However you must keep taking them regularly, I have found that if I don’t take them for a week or so the cramps and stiffness returns, a pack of 30 costs €12.99 but as I said Dunnes Stores usually has them on special offer. Give them a bash and let me know how you get on.
