Acupuncture and the Management of Chemotherapy Side Effects

As chemotherapy is the standard of care for most cancers in today’s medical system, nearly every cancer patient will suffer the side effects of these medications. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, neuropathy (numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes), reduced red and white blood cell counts, and headaches. The result is that many of the common side effects that result from the use of chemotherapy, particularly nausea and vomiting, require the prescription of strong pharmaceuticals. And for some symptoms, such as hair loss and fatigue, the patient must simply suffer, as there are no standard prescriptions to manage them. And to boot, the medications given to manage the side effects of the other medications, yup, they have side effects too.

This often times leaves the patient suffering both from the cancer and cancer treatment, with only a few days out of a month when they are enjoying the progress the chemotherapy has made, and the freedom from the hangover that the chemotherapy and accompanying drugs leaves. This in itself is psychologically difficult to manage, and so frankly, the resulting combination of physical and psychological symptoms leaves the patient debilitated and with little hope or motivation other than the idea that all their suffering will be worth something when they beat their cancer.

Enter Acupuncture, a system of medicine that has been proven to control nausea and vomiting with no side effects, and will not interact with any medication. Patients who receive regular acupuncture treatment while undergoing chemotherapy, can have relief from nausea, vomiting, reduced hair loss, reduced fatigue, reduced neuropathy, increased red and white blood cell counts, and relief from headaches or any other pain. And so they can also undergo their treatment and take less medication, and increase the number of days out of the month that they feel like a decent human being and not a hung over receptacle for numerous pills and injections.

My mother, who passed away from pancreatic cancer, received chemotherapy regularly, and I have personally witnessed, and helped her deal with all of the above mentioned side effects, and seen how acupuncture worked when pharmaceuticals didn’t.

In this article I will outline the symptoms and side effects that come with chemotherapy treatment, and how they are relieved with acupuncture.

Nausea and Vomiting

Nausea, and the subsequent vomiting are nearly always present with the use of most chemotherapies. They can last anywhere from a day to a week, and often have just subsided when the next round of chemotherapy is due. The common pharmaceutical treatment is anti anxiety medications, which can be addictive, and anti emetics (emesis means to vomit), which turn off the part of the brain responsible for the feeling of nausea and the subsequent reflex to vomit. Acupuncture has a similar effect, reducing anxiousness and regulating the feeling of nausea. Rather than simply shutting off a part of the brain, acupuncture regulates the brain’s response to the triggering event, the toxicity of the chemotherapy. By dampening this response in a more subtle way, acupuncture does not cause constipation, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, and indigestion like most strong anti emetics.

This was one of the worst side effects for my mother, and regular treatment with acupuncture was the only thing that allowed her to continue her chemotherapy treatment for as long as she did.

Acupuncture can be given prophylactically before the administration of chemotherapy, after, or both before and after, depending on the severity of the patient’s nausea and vomiting.

Hair loss

Hair loss is one of the most visible and psychologically potent side effects of chemotherapy, leaving a patient feeling both self conscious and many times depressed at the conspicuous reminder of their cancer and its toll on their vitality. The best solution presented to patients is a decent wig or a hat, which may fool others, but the patient is still aware of the truth beneath. Acupuncture helps reduce hair loss caused by chemotherapy by increasing circulation of blood to the scalp.

My mother, despite receiving regular and potent doses of chemotherapy, only experienced thinning and some slight loss of her hair, but never needed to wear a wig or cover her head.

Fatigue

If you have ever been poisoned, or at least have had a few too many drinks, you can understand how fatigue can be a common side effect to chemotherapy. The nausea, vomiting, and fatigue make up a chemotherapy hangover in much the same way they do an alcohol hangover. A person has been poisoned, and the body is trying to get the poison out. The effort required to process and eliminate the poison takes a toll on the body, and leaves a person exhausted. Most doctors will prescribe sleep and possibly a few cups of tea or coffee, but the use of caffeine is not the best solution, as it activates the sympathetic nervous system and can contribute to a patient’s anxiety and stress in an already anxious and stressful situation. And, as most people know, the only way to sustain caffeine induced energy, is to drink more caffeine, or suffer the inevitable crash, leaving an already fatigued person even more fatigued. Acupuncture increases a patient’s energy by increasing circulation, thereby making the nervous system more efficient, and allowing the muscles and cells to function more efficiently.

Acupuncture, along with regular exercise like Qi gong, slow movements and breathing exercises, is what kept my mother from being a permanent inhabitant of the couch around our house. Granted, when she slept, she really slept, but she was still able to go about town and do things, visit with people, etc. even within a few days of her chemo treatments.

Neuropathy (numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes)

Neuropathy is a common side effect of many chemotherapy drugs, as along with killing the cancer cells, the chemo kills the cells that help your nerves work. These cells are called myelin, and function just like the insulation around a wire or the power cable that plugs into your computer. As one might imagine, this causes the body a lot of confusion. The typical presentation is simple numbness, the nerves aren’t working. But as not all the nerves are affected all the time, the brain receives lots of mixed messages, and anywhere from a tingling sensation to electric like pain can be experienced, especially when touching something that is cold. Drugs that prevent over excitement of the nervous system, like gabapentin, commonly called neurontin are prescribed to regulate this side effect, but typically its effect is minimal unless given at large doses, which causes increased side effects like dizziness, twitching, or visual problems.

This was a major complaint for my mother during her treatment, and the loss of sensation in her feet led to some balance problems at times. Acupuncture was able to reduce the numbness, by increasing circulation to her hands and feet, allowing her to retain the ability to button shirts and knit, but she still frequently experience a shocking sensation every time she tried to open the refrigerator too soon after receiving chemo.

Reduced Red and White cell counts

This is typically the primary reason patients cannot continue chemotherapy. Because chemo damages the bone marrow along with killing the cancer cells, the body’s ability to make red and white blood cells is compromised. Decreased red blood cells, which transport oxygen results in fatigue, and at too low levels can be life threatening. Decrease white blood cells, which are responsible for immune function can also be life threatening, as the patient has no means of fighting off even the simplest of infections. A common cold could be deadly. This is treated by injections of the needed type of cells. White cells are cultured in a lab and injected directly into the patient, raising their counts. While this allows them to continue chemo, eventually the deficit becomes too great to make up, and injections are just not enough. The down side of the injections is the leave the patient with a flu-like malaise, similar to common reactions to vaccines. So in order to get ready for the chemotherapy that leaves them feeling like crap, the patient needs to get injections that make them feel like crap.

Because of her regular acupuncture treatment, my mother only needed these injections many months into her chemotherapy, as acupuncture boosts the immune system and helps the body recover and repair itself more quickly. And even when she did need the injections, their side effects were regulated with the acupuncture as well. Acupuncture is similarly used to boost the immune systems of people with HIV, and has seen remarkable results in this application as well.

While acupuncture is not a magic bullet for all the side effects of chemotherapy and the side effects of the medications given to regulate these side effects, it is a great tool for supporting these therapies, and making patients more comfortable, when at nearly every turn they are given medications and procedures that cause nothing but discomfort. And in many cases, this is just enough to get patients through this long hard experience, in a healthier place than when they started.