Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment
Once cancer treatment ends, a challenging and enduring side effect can remain — chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy or CIPN. For some individuals, the sensation from CIPN can be characterized as uncomfortable. For others, neuropathy after chemotherapy can leave behind severe pain and a loss of control over how their body operates on a daily basis. Traditionally, a combination of pain medications and therapies are often prescribed to help manage patients’ symptoms.
Unfortunately, however, medicines commonly prescribed for CIPN can be ineffective, failing to provide patients with the relief they need.
Florida Mind Health Center, Gainesville’s leading ketamine clinic, offers an alternative pain treatment through ketamine infusions. Intravenous (IV) ketamine is an emerging, widely acknowledged therapy for effectively treating a wide variety of pain conditions, including chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy, and helping the body restore itself for long-term improvements to patients’ health and enduring relief from chronic pain.
Contact our clinic today to schedule chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy treatment.
What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?
Peripheral neuropathy is characterized as a set of symptoms caused by damage to peripheral nerves, which are the nerves that extend outside the brain and spinal cord. Peripheral nerves carry sensations to the brain and spinal cord. These nerves control the movements of the arms and legs as well as the functioning of the bladder and bowel. Any issues with these nerves can affect the skin, muscles, and joints in the hands and feet as well as other parts of the body. For cancer patients, the most common cause of neuropathy is chemotherapy — termed chemotherapy associated peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
CIPN typically affects both sides of the body in the same way. For most patients, CIPN symptoms start in the toes before extending to the feet, legs, hands, and arms. The following chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms are commonly associated with neuropathy from chemo treatments and medications and can range from mild to severe.
- Tingling or pins-and-needles sensation
- Sharp, stabbing pain
- Burning or shock-like sensations
- Partial or complete numbness
- Small motor skill issues affecting the hands
- Problems with gripping
- Clumsiness
- Weakness
- Oversensitivity to touch
- Coordination and balance issues
- Difficulty gauging temperature
- Diminished reflexes
- Difficulties swallowing
- Jaw pain
- Hearing loss
- Constipation
- Issues with urinating
What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy?
Chemotherapy induced neuropathy results from nerves damaged during specific types of chemotherapy treatment and from other drugs used to treat cancer as well as radiation and surgery. This can be a serious, disabling side effect of cancer treatment and unfortunately one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. Many factors can contribute to CIPN, including a patient’s predisposition to the condition, genetic makeup, and the duration of their chemotherapy. Chemotherapy medications travel through the body, damaging the nerves that cause sensation and those that control mobility. Both the onset and duration of this condition vary among individuals. While some patients experience neuropathy with the first dose of chemotherapy, others might not experience it until late into treatment. Additionally, patients may continue to experience neuropathy well after treatment is completed.
Ketamine Treatment For CIPN
For some patients with CIPN, traditional treatments — such as steroids, numbing medications, antidepressants, anti-seizure medications, opioids, and narcotics — may help ease some symptoms. Still, for others, these treatments are limiting and can be ineffective. Certain patients may not be eligible for traditional treatment forms due to preexisting conditions or for other reasons. Given the limitations of available pharmaceutical treatments, more physicians and their patients are turning to natural remedies for neuropathy from chemo.
Florida Mind Health Center offers an alternative peripheral neuropathy treatment through ketamine infusion during which ketamine targets, binds to, and inhibits N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, blocking their ability to communicate with other regions of the brain that signal pain and cause other harmful sensations. Ketamine’s pain-blocking capabilities allow the brain to restore vital connections within the brain and throughout the body previously lost and damaged as a result of chemotherapy and CIPN. In as little as one treatment, patients may start to feel rested, restored, and ready to pursue each day pain-free. What’s more, ketamine treatment is both effective and enduring and it can be combined with other medications to accommodate each patient’s unique chemistry.
Ketamine Infusion For Neuropathic Pain
Our ketamine clinic offers a wide range of ketamine treatments for helping patients manage a wide range of pain disorders, including chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. Our team is skilled in providing compassionate, individually curated treatments and therapies designed to help our patients manage their pain, heal from previous traumas, and thrive in their daily lives. If you suffer from a pain condition, contact our clinic today to find out how our natural pain treatment using ketamine can help improve your life.