I had a radical robotic hysterectomy followed by chemo, radiotherapy and brachytherapy 2024-225. This February 2026 i had a sore swollen leg. I was given Amatryptaline for nerve pain. I am also on Naproxen. My legs are swollen, heavy and tired. My body aches all over, my skin is sore to touch and I have pain through the night in my legs. Is this common after treatment? I have tried acupuncture, LTD a massage, compression and physio. Nothing seems to be working. Any help would be appreciated. Thankyou
Hi Twinnie
I am sorry to hear that you are having symptoms after your cancer treatment.
Have they spoken about neuropathy? Your symptoms sound similar to mine and I was also given amitriptyline. I tried it for a while but did not like the side effects and found it did not do much for the pain and didn't help with the sensations. They can offer different meds for nerve pain if one type does not help.
I also saw a physio and go given an exercise programme. It did help more than the meds to be honest. I found for me that anything that gets blood moving to the areas affected has some affect- but with walking etc it is about moving enough to help and being aware that doing too much can cause more symptoms. My legs often feel heavy and tired. I do have some swelling sometimes if I have been over doing it.
During my check ups we did talk about the neuropathy from the paclitaxel and it is a known side effect and they couldn't really suggest anything to help that I wasn't already doing. The check ups seemed more focussed on checking for recurrences rather than the side effects of treatment. They were sympathetic but it wasn't the focus.
Have you a late effects clinic at your hospital? it may be worth contacting your CNS and mentioning possible peripheral neuropathy, lymphoedema and myalgia. They may be able to then get you in, give you a full check, bloods etc to make sure these symptoms are due to the treatment and see whether there is anything that can help.
It may be worth asking in particular about vitamin B12 and whether it would help you. it was suggested to me for the neuropathic pain.
You have been through a lot of aggressive treatment and for me it took time for things to settle to a manageable stage. I am 4 years post treatment and I do still have effects from the chemo and radiotherapy. But they can feel more in the back ground with occasional flares, rather than constant now. I think that is partly also due to my attitude towards them- to being with it was hard to accept that the treatments can cause long term effects but with time I adjusted a bit more.
I hope you can find something that helps.
Jane
One thought- you mention sore skin- is that in the areas where you are getting the nerve pain? if so ask whether it could be allodynia ? Mine feels a bit like sun burn at times. Its a sort of sensation that can cause pain which wouldn't normally- it can be part of the nerve damage.
The other thing that sometimes helps is alternating hot and cold packs.
I would also suggest asking about whether there is any possible lymphodema as you have had radiotherapy.
its a case of sort of ruling out other potential causes and then working out what may help.
