Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Chemo related nausea

Hi,
My friend recently got diagnosed with OvCa 3b. She just finished her 2nd round of chemo and is going to have surgery in about two weeks. After that she will undergo 4 more rounds of chemo. She is turning 41 tomorrow. I just found about her diagnosis and am trying to look for some help here n there. Is there any thing  that would give her some relief from nausea ? Also, has any body here tried any alternative/complementary therapy ??

Thanks much & you all take care,

-sunita
11 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Thanks much y'all for your inputs. I wish you all tons of good luck. You all are in my prayers. I will definitely need more help from you all gorgeous ladies when she goes into surgery. She lives in India and I am here in US, so we are exactly on the opposite sides of each other. I guess the only little thing I can do for her is provide information that will ease her day to day planning as well as discomforts. I have been in touch with her daily on phone.

Once again, thanks a bunch !!

sunita
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have always had a strong stomach and not even one minute of morning sickness.  I had terrible nausea with carbo/taxol--up to 10 days after my last 3 tx despite tons and tons of premeds (zofran, emend, decadron, and more)!  Now that I am on carbo/gemzar, I have been able to manage it with prophylactic zofran and phenargan for 3-4 days after tx.  I knew nothing about phenargan during my carbo/taxol tx which makes me furious, as this combo seems to work really well for me.  I LOVE the fact that it makes me sleepy. Good Luck. Paula
Helpful - 0
282804 tn?1236833591
This is from the Mayo Clinic.  I am posting some "nausea" sites on the HealthPages Links.

Personal factors that may increase your risk
Not everyone reacts to treatment in the same way. Certain factors may make you more vulnerable to treatment-related nausea and vomiting. You may be more vulnerable if one or more of the following apply to you:

You're a woman.
You're younger than 50.
You've experienced nausea and vomiting with previous treatments, or you have a history of motion sickness.
You have a high level of anxiety.
You experienced morning sickness during pregnancy.

In addition, if you expect that your treatment will cause nausea and vomiting, there's a chance that it will. You can become so convinced that nausea and vomiting will occur that it does occur. This might happen if you think, like many people do, that all cancer treatments cause these side effects, which isn't true. Your doctor can tell you specifically whether the treatment you'll receive is likely to cause nausea and vomiting.

Helpful - 0
282804 tn?1236833591
Everyone is different, but if a med isn't working don't let her stay on it to long.  That is a mistake a lot of us make.  Just figuring after awhile that we just have to live with it.  Whatever "it" may be.  Compazine did nothing for me, but IV zofran works great, reg zofran is okay, but seemed to be less effective over time.  Phenergan suppositories work well, but they make me sleepy whereas the pills don't.  Different delivery system I think is what that is.  Also, I have been making hot spearmint tea with a little milk & honey and that has helped.  Some woman use Ginger tea.  She should keep some mints around.  She should avoid large amounts of liquids while eating.  That, along with talking while you are eating introduces more air into your stomach.  What works today, may not work tomorrow.

If she can snack throughout the day that does help a lot of people.  My nutritionist and chemo nurses all said that some of mine was due to not eating, but you can't eat and throw up at the same time.  No matter how well meaning they are & no matter how many patients they see most nurses, & Drs, even the good ones, don't get it.  Cold fruits helped me a lot during my carbo/taxol.  I kept frozen seedless grapes and peaches in the freezer.  No smell, good nutrition. It is sort of like being pregnant; if it sounds good it is more likely to stay down.

Don't try to force her to eat, which a lot of friends do because you don't know what else to do, and you want to help.  However, that will make her feel guilty about worrying you & worry herself that she isn't eating enough.  Most cancer patients worry about losing weight because we have that picture in the back of our mind of cancer patients wasting away.  (For as sick as I have been, I still have a healthy weight.  I don't worry anymore.) Try not to worry, she will eat when she feels like it.  

All the chemo drugs are different too, so if she ends up on something else, you may need to do things completely differently.  I wasn't near as nauseous on Carbo/Taxol as I was on Gemzar.  There is actually a list out there somewhere that tells who is more likely to get nauseous during chemo.  Also, chemo drugs are rated on how likely they are to make you nauseous (I just found that out) and if it becomes a real problem for her than she should ask the Dr about drugs that are less likely to cause nausea.

Sorry it was long but we all have our "specialty" on here & I guess mine is vomiting.   :-)
I spent most of Dec., Jan, & Feb in the hospital because of throwing up, but I think I was on the extreme end of the scale.  I have gotten nauseous easily ever since my first child.  

It is hard to be friends with a cancer patient.  If you are going to be there for her now, please plan to be there for the long haul.  I think we have all had friends slip away because of cancer.  If she doesn't get in contact with you, make it your job to get in contact with her.  We often feel we are bothering people or are too tired to reach out to people, but it is always nice to have a friend to kind of pull you out of yourself.  Hopefully, she will need you for years and years and years.  Even if she gets a good long remission, she will be worried about it for a long time after she finishes chemo. Good luck to you and your friend.
Jan
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i found if by day three i was still nausious i went in and had iv fluids with other meds ffor the feeling  perked me right up.
Helpful - 0
408448 tn?1286883821
Another thing i remember is that even when I felt really icky I could almost always eat a little bread of some kind. The ladies at work sent zuchinni bread, banana bread and cinnamon breads. I normally don' t like those things, but I did during chemo. Marie
Helpful - 0
408448 tn?1286883821
I had the best luck with the Emend pack before my cisplatin. I also had zofran and ativan to fall back on if the Emend wasn't enough. They also gave me aloxi in the i.v while I was at treatment. I really don't think the zofran was very helpful.  I also found that I should never let my stomach get all the way empty. I ate just a bite or two here and there and avoided big meals. If I got too hungry feeling I felt worse. Marie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello... I've found just snacking 'off and on' throughout the day does it for me. I don't bother with the 3 meals a day for a couple of days after chemo, but rather smaller meals more often. I've got a heap of anti-nausea pills here if you want them. :-)
Of course we are all different, so what works for me, may not work for others. Wishing your friend all the best, and hope she is soon feeling much better...hugs..Helen...
Helpful - 0
398758 tn?1248220291
Hi,
Aloxi did the trick for me.  Any residual nausea got cleared up for me, surprisingly, by acupuncture!  Honest!
Best of luck to your wife.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Each person is different, so you'll probably get a variety of answers.  What worked best for my wife when she was on carbo+taxol was to have aloxi along with emend prior to the chemo infusion, and then follow with emend on days 2 and 3 also.  After starting this protocol, she rarely had to use any other meds to address the nausea.
Helpful - 0
451053 tn?1237577749
Compazine, Compazine!!!!  My Mom takes it in the car on the way to chemo, on the way home from chemo and am/pm for the next 4 days.  She has had NO nausea!  While the compazine does make her tired, she is already fatigued from the chemo anyway.  My Mom said that she would rather be tired and exhausted than have to deal with the nausea.

I am heart felt when I say I am going to pray for you and your dear friend!!!!!  Blessings to you!!!!

Alisa
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Ovarian Cancer Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Learn how to spot the warning signs of this “silent killer.”
Diet and digestion have more to do with cancer prevention than you may realize
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.