B6/B12 for neuropathy?

[Rich66]

Folks doing this, having luck with it? Mom started adding Navelbine to H.

[Believe51]

Just a bump so this does not get lost on Rich.>>Believe51

[Lori R]

Rich,
While I was on taxotere + herceptin, my Dr. suggested that I take the B6 - B12 combo.
I took the vitamins during my entire 6 cycles of taxotere.

I did end up with what I perceive to be mild neuropathy in my fingertips. It made it difficult to manage buttons and typing felt odd. But, I believe others have had to manage more severe cases.

I have no idea whether this was due to the B series or not. For some reason, I thought there was something published later indicating that Vitamin B was not good to take with Chemo. (Urgh....I hate it when I have the fuzzy, unsupported recollections) I'll do a quick google and see if there is anything published on this fuzzy memory.

OH...actually, I have an Onc appt tomorrow. I will add to the list of questions.

Since Marie was kind enough to bump this, your mom has probably received a few rounds of the Navelbine. Any updates??

[Believe51]

Lori, please read Ed's post titled "Dr Burstein (DFCI) Meets The Mighty Oak. I would like you to see this before your appointment and you know I wll be praying for you. Please p.m. me if you need anything else. Sending positive thoughts for a wonderful Friday appoitment.>>Believe51

[chrisy]

Rich,
When I was getting T/C/H my doctor had me taking B6-B12 and l-glutamine among other things. I think it helped.

[Rich66]

Mom has had 1 weekly infusion of N withher 3wk dose of H just 2 days ago. So far no prob. Just trying to head off neuropathy if possible. To confuse things, we remembered a doc a while ago suggesting she take a B12 shot for anemia. This was before (we knew about) her recurrence...
Anyway, with the recent recognition that some Anemia is a beneficial response to cancer and that other anemia fighting drugs can hinder cancer treatment, been wondering about B12.

[sassy]

Rich,

I took the combo and think it helped.

[harrie]

For the prevention of neuropathy during chemo, I was giving the steroid, Decadron. It worked.

[Rich66]

Interesting article noting tumor cells' uptake of B12:

http://www.lerner.ccf.org/news/archived/20020701.php

an excerpt:
"
Cobalamin/vitamin B12 is an absolute requirement for the functioning of the enzyme methionine synthase, which is involved in differentiation, proliferation and metabolism of cells. Cells that comprise many types of tumors have a particularly strong need for cobalamin because of the increased proliferation of these tumors.
Like healthy cells, tumor cells import cobalamin from the blood through cell receptors. The transcobalamin II receptor (TC II-R) is the protein that mediates the uptake of cobalamin in both healthy and tumor cells. Because tumor cells have a higher demand for cobalamin, they often produce excessive numbers of TC II-R on their membranes to latch on to as much of the micronutrient as they can."