Hi My father suffered from Stomach Cancer last year....gone through the stomach surgery & Chemo and Radio therapies. Its almost 8-9 months after the full treatment. Now we are facing the complaints of wait loss, Blood count getting down along with the shivering in neck & lips (lower lip); recently we have gone through all the test advised by doctors (like Endoscopy/ CT SCAN etc.)...even we did the transfusion of blood 1 pts. Would like to get an advice on the lip/ neck shivering...could you Pl aware us why it is happening & what possible treatment can be there. Thank you
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can have unavoidable side effects. These medicines are given because they are life-saving and benefit of taking is higher than risk of side effects. These medicines can get cytotoxic to the nervous system. This way it can affect the movements of lips and head causing shivering. There is neurotoxicity to brain including cerebellum which controls head movement. There is release of primitive reflexes as the inhibition on unwanted movements is affected. In this way the lips and shivering movements happen. The lip and shivering movement is a benign condition and does not require treatment. In most cases it will settle down or reduce in intensity by itself over the next few months. Please do not worry.