After receiving oxaliplatin, a drug often used in colorectal cancer chemotherapy, many people say things like "my fingertips tingle" or "when I touched cold water it felt like an electric shock." This is exactly the side effect called peripheral neuropathy, and it arises as the drug affects the nerves. The first time you experience it you are bound to be alarmed, but knowing in advance what the symptoms are and having a plan to cope makes it much easier to bear.
The symptoms come in two broad streams. One is the acute symptoms that appear within a few days of the injection. Breathing in cold air can feel like your throat is tightening, grabbing a can from the fridge can send tingling pain through your fingers, and drinking cold water can make your throat feel stiff. These usually settle after a few days. The other is the chronic symptoms that build up slowly as treatment accumulates. Sensation in your hands and feet dulls, and small movements like buttoning a shirt or picking up a coin become awkward. In severe cases, walking can feel as if there is cotton under the soles of your feet.
Reducing the acute symptoms is surprisingly simple. In a word, "avoid anything cold." For the few days around chemotherapy, drink lukewarm or warm water instead of cold, and keep iced drinks at a distance for a while. It helps to carry gloves when you go out and to wear gloves when opening the fridge or freezer. In the cold season, wrapping a scarf around your neck and keeping cold wind off your face can ease that unpleasant tightening quite a bit. It may seem like nothing, but the difference is large.
Because chronic symptoms take time to recover from once they set in, reporting changes to your care team as they happen matters more than anything. Concrete descriptions like "the feeling in my feet is duller than last time" or "this time it was hard to do up buttons" are good. Depending on the degree of nerve damage, the team may decide to adjust the drug dose or take a break for a period, and this is only possible when they know the weight of the symptoms accurately. Enduring it and letting it pass, only for the symptoms to harden in place, ends up being the bigger loss.
Do not forget to protect your hands and feet in daily life, either. When sensation is dull, it is hard to notice getting scalded by hot water or bumping into a corner. Check bath water with your elbow or a thermometer rather than your hand, and wear socks or slippers instead of going barefoot. Soaking your hands and feet in lukewarm water or gently massaging them is good for circulation and for your mood. If your balance seems off, it is safer to start with light stretching and slow walking rather than strenuous exercise.
These symptoms often improve slowly over several months after treatment ends, but the pace of recovery differs from person to person. Do not be too impatient, but do not suffer alone in silence either. Calmly bringing up even small changes in the exam room is the most reassuring form of management. What is written here is only general information, so be sure to settle judgments suited to your own condition in consultation with your care team.