help for nausea

[babs824]

i am in week 6 of treatment and finding the nausea is worse that a few weeks ago. i have tried ginger, mint and chamomile and none seem to work any more. i work as a private chef and the smells of meat are getting really hard to take. i wonder if any one know what meds are the best and least toxic for this. i grew up with pepto bismal but dont want to take anything with out being sure it wont effect tx. my weight is pretty low so i dont want get too far down. any thoughts? thx, babs

[Trish77]

Smell of licorice didn't bother me at all while on treatment and while nauseous.  It soothed my stomach down some to eat the soft black licorice.  It's actually one of the known nausea remedies - is listed on the Sloan-Kettering cancer site as a help for dyspepsia / upset stomach.  Like anything else though, works for some and may not for others.  A friend of mine in the U.S. sent me a lovely package of licorice tea but it was too sweet for me to tolerate. When I was at work, I kept a bag of soft black licorice handy to settle my stomach down.  I know my nurse told me ginger and I ate gingersnaps but I don't know if they worked or not .. I could tolerate them so perhaps they did.

[spectda]

I was prescribed Zofran for nausea induced by pain medication I was taking after a motorcycle accident. I agree with Diane it works amazingly well. It is very expensive though so hopefully your insurance if you have it will pay most or all of it.

Bill1954 suggested I try real ginger candy when I was very nauseated during this tx. it didn't take it completely away, but it took a lot of the edge off.

Good luck,
Dave

[peanut43611]

Before & during work I didn't eat or anytime I'd be away from home. I was going to be sick no matter what, so without anything to come out or up I did pretty good. I ate what I could when I was at home and took meds for it.

[nygirl7]

Babs

If your naseau is that bad I'm not thinking licorice will really work......let me tell you sometimes it was worse than any hangover I ever had in my whole life (which was an awful lot of them!), my whole body hurt from retching repeatedly.  Fortunately, I didn't have it constantly and everyone at my job knew I was on 'chemo' so if I had to run I did. Sometimes though I would have to gag into the garbage pail at my desk.....that was embarrassing.

Anyway the point being, when I was that naseaus I'm pretty sure the smell of the licorice probably would have put me out for good (which is odd because I like licorice (mmm Good N Plenty's) when I'm not sick) and I dont think it would have done a darn thing any way, not from chemically caused naseau as compared to say just an upset stomach.

[Diane12855]

The Zofran worked great for me when I was still able to work... mentally. It was such a relief to be able to work and not be worried about having to make a mad dash to the rest room that I didn't mind the sides from it (constipation and abdominal pains). You have to do what you have to do to be able to make it through this.

That's how I looked at it anyhow,
Diane

[GSDgirl]

Hi babe, I had a whole lot of nausea and I just gave in ti it.  I puked more than I ever have in my life.  Probably not what you wanted to hear but after that I was OK for a while.  Upste stomach GONE, the gag reflex GONE,

[Kathy73]

Pot really worked for me. My husband would make wonderful meals trying to tempt me but the smell, texture or something else would turn me off.

[babs824]

some great suggestions, thanks. i did not want to resort to the heavy hitters i used for chemo. i believe i used zofran and compazine but cant recall which worked!! i will start with the peppermint and licorice and see if they help before bringing in the big guns. peppermint oil for work days is a good idea too. as for pot i dare not go down that road as i might like it too much altho i preferred other substances in the olden days! thx again, babs

[evangelin]

My husband also had to take Compazine but it was in pill form.  It helped a lot although it also put him to sleep and caused some upper right quadrant pain but he has cirrhosis and if your liver isn't very damaged you probably won't have that trouble.  
One other thing that is an aid is peppermint essential oil.  It comes in a little tiny bottle and you can rub a few drops under your nose and it has a similar relief as sucking on mints and might also mask some of those food odors.  They have it at most health food stores.
I feel for you.  nausea is a pretty bad feeling to put up with when you are having to work, around food no less.

Hope you find what helps you get through,
Ev

[mikesimon]

I was so sick I couldn't even swallow a pill with water. I used Compazine (Prochlorperazine) suppositories and that worked great for me.
I fooled around with crackers and soda etc but nothing worked until I tried the Compazine.
Of course, with any medication that works there can be side effects so check it out thoroughly. I suffered no adverse effects and I could finally eat again.

Mike

[Trish77]

I found that black licorice helped me some.  The real black licorice, the soft stuff from Australia that is usually on the candy shelf, at least here in Canada it is.  Just the same...black licorice helped me.  Doesn't hurt that I love the stuff either.  Soda crackers also helped some.

[foofighter]

Agree with Bill! Give me pain anyday. I feel for you. I had severe nausea and it ended my tx at week 13. I tried all the tricks mentioned above to no avail, and was allowed Prochlopher in my trial, which didn't touch it. Sounds like it worked for Eureka's husband though.

I am hopeful that the other prescription meds Bill mentioned will get me through the next go-round. I have heard Zofran is the real deal, but there was another member here who found it did nothing. We all respond to meds so differently. Let me know what your doc says, what your next step is and if it works!

Good luck.

[djbn13]

Haven't done tx yet so can't help you on that one but way back when I was pregnant I had morning sickness terribly the old fashioned peppermint sticks the chalky ones always helped. Even now when I get sinus infections and the world spins when I move they help.

Good luck

[Bill1954]

Hi Babs—

There are a number of antiemetics that can be prescribed for nausea; Zofran, Reglan, Phenergan, things that are also used for cancer chemo.

You could also try something like benadryl, I guess; I’m not sure ho effective it will be. Can you buy/smoke pot? Some folks swear by it, but of course, there are issues with that too.

Good luck… I’d rather deal with pain all day than nausea; you have my utmost sympathy.

Bill

[eureka254]

My husband has had mild to severe nausea,  and he didn't find the ginger, mint, or chamomile any help either.  Some of the things that worked for him were sugar free fruit drops (he liked Halls Breezers a lot), and occasionally Jolly Rancher sour candies (very strong flavor and aroma) also did the trick for him.  Bittersweet chocolate in small bites also seemed to help sometimes.  I don't know much about OTC anti-nausea meds, but when my husband had a couple of incidents of very severe nausea (related to additional treatments), his doctor prescribed Ondansetron one time and Prochlorperazine another time.  Both were prescription meds but completely eliminated the nausea, and were deemed safe even with my husband's cirrhosis. Hope that helps; feel better soon! ~eureka

[willbb]

I was told by my study nurse to take gravol for nausea if needed.  Hope that helps!