Neuropathy secondary to drugs

Neuropathy secondary to drugs is a loss of sensation or movement in a part of the body due to nerve damage from a certain medicine.

Loss of sensation

Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but they are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or le...

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Causes

The damage is caused by the toxic effects of certain medicines on the peripheral nerves (nerves that are not in the brain or spinal cord). There may be damage to the axon part of the nerve cell, which interferes with nerve signals.

Peripheral

Peripheral means "away from the center. " It refers to areas away from the center of the body or a body part. For example, the hands are peripheral ...

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Most commonly, many nerves are involved (polyneuropathy). This usually causes sensation changes that begin in the outside parts of the body ( distal ) and move toward the center of the body ( proximal ). There may also be changes in movement, such as weakness.

Proximal

Proximal means nearer to the center (trunk of the body) or to the point of attachment to the body. If another reference point is given, such as the ...

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Many medicines may affect the development of neuropathy, including:

Heart or blood pressure drugs:

• Amiodarone
• Hydralazine
• Perhexiline

Drugs used to fight cancer :

• Cisplatin
• Docetaxel
• Paclitaxel
• Suramin
• Vincristine

Drugs used to fight infections:

• Chloroquine
• Isoniazid (INH), used against tuberculosis

  Tuberculosis

  Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious bacterial infection that involves the lungs. It may spread to other organs.

  

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• Metronidazole (Flagyl)
• Nitrofurantoin
• Thalidomide (used to fight leprosy )

  Leprosy

  Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. This disease causes skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness that ge...

   

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Drugs used to treat autoimmune disease:

• Etanercept
• Infliximab
• Leflunomide

Drugs used to treat skin conditions (Dapsone)

Anticonvulsants (phenytoin)

Anti-alcohol drugs (disulfiram)

Drugs to fight HIV:

• Didanosine (Videx)
• Stavudine (Zerit)
• Zalcitabine (Hivid)

Arsenic

Colchicine

Gold

Symptoms

Symptoms may include any of the following:

• Numbness , loss of sensation

  Numbness

  Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but they are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or le...

  

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  Loss of sensation

  Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but they are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or le...

  

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  Read Article Now Book Mark Article
• Tingling , abnormal sensations

  Tingling

  Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but they are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or le...

  

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  Abnormal sensations

  Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but they are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or le...

  

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• Weakness

Sensation changes usually begin in the feet or hands and move inward.

Exams and Tests

A brain and nervous system examination will be done.

Other tests include:

• Blood tests to check levels of the medicine (even normal blood levels of certain drugs may be toxic in elderly or certain other persons)
• EMG and nerve conduction test of the electrical activity of nerves and muscles

  EMG

  Electromyography (EMG) is a test that checks the health of the muscles and the nerves that control the muscles.

  

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  Nerve conduction test

  Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is a test to see how fast electrical signals move through a nerve.

  

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Treatment

Treatment is based on the symptoms and how severe they are. The drug causing the neuropathy may be stopped, reduced in dose, or changed to another drug. (Never change any drug without first talking to your health care provider).

The following drugs may be used to control pain:

• Over-the-counter pain relievers may be helpful for mild pain (neuralgia).
• Phenytoin, carbamazepine, gabapentin, pregabalin, duloxetine, or tricyclic antidepressants such as nortriptyline may reduce the stabbing pains some people experience.
• Opiate pain relievers, such as morphine or fentanyl, may be needed to control severe pain.

Whenever possible, avoid or reduce use of medicines to lessen the risk of side effects.

There are currently no medicines that can reverse the loss of sensation. If you have lost sensation, you may need to take safety measures to avoid injury.

Outlook (Prognosis)

Many people can partially or fully return to their normal function. The disorder does not usually cause life-threatening complications, but it can be uncomfortable or disabling.

Possible Complications

Complications may include:

• Inability to function at work or home because of permanent loss of sensation
• Pain with tingling in the area of the nerve injury
• Permanent loss of sensation (or rarely, movement) in an area

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call your health care provider if you have a loss of sensation or movement of any area of the body while taking any medicine.

Prevention

Your provider will closely monitor your treatment with any drug that may cause neuropathy. The goal is to keep the proper blood level of the drug needed to control the disease and its symptoms while preventing the drug from reaching toxic levels.