How did you deal with Nausea?

[Michelle]

I thought on top of Mary's request, I would add a few common side effects of chemo and thus---give others some insight as to HOW and WHAT worked well for you as an individual.

For Nausea:
What chemos were worst offenders?
What drugs helped you?
Any homeopathic remedies that you may have tried?

Any suggestions?

[Cari]

Recommendation--Dont eat Jello!!    haha Just kidding of course-but When you don't feel good a lot of time you are giving jello right( well everytime) I was given jello I would end up throwing it up at a later time---I can't even look at jello now without my stomach turning!!
MEDS MEDS MEDS--there are lots of them to help with Nausea--if one doesn't work ask for another!!!!
Personally I used Anzamet when at home--during inpatient visits I would use Phinigan--or when in chemo room for 7 hour infusions I would ask for Phinigan--as mentioned before--it made me tired--which was ok--I would rather sleep through the not feeling well part   Ativan also helped--more for anxiety but sometimes the more you worry about something that might make your stomach upset also--so to be calm might help some of the side effects--
Don't be afraid to ask for something else--they will start you off with the common ones--if you don't feel better though ask for something else---they have it!!!!

[Cathy]

I'm afraid NOTHING in their bag of tricks helped me.  I puked my guts out.  Lost 30 lbs.  They started to tell me it was all in my head.  Yeah, right.  The final treatment; they gave me a steriod, and it was the only treatment that I did not throw up at. 

Cathy

[Celeste]

   You guys are not gonna hear this...but I never got sick from chemo. I guess I had good drugs.
 It was new when I did chemo it's called Kyril...I had no problems. Just my hair...lol
 I didn't have mouth sores and for fatigue I just went to bed...and I'm still there.


  Hugs,
   Celeste

[Mariana]

I was on Adriamycin, Cisplatin,Ifosfomide and methotrexate....they ALLLL kicked my butt.  What worked best for me was this capsule called "EMEND" which was given to me while I was getting the chemo...helped tons!  And then when I got home I would take phenergan(promethazine) and that was really good.  If I was feeling really awful they'd give me abh ( atavan,benadryl,haloperidol) and that would knock me out for hours at a time...which was actually good.  Would make time go by faster.  but i couldn't take that on a consistent basis because it would give me slurred speech and I'd feel as if in a stupor ( some people might like that!).  I didn't like zofran because it cave me a headache but they gave it to me anyway....and they also gave me the steroid which helped with the nausea BUT make me look so swollen!!  My eyes were swollen to the point I looked asian.

[Mary]

Okay gang, who hasn't answered this poll or shared your keeping-the-food-down tips yet??? How did you manage the nausea???

[Cindi]

Thankfully I have not had to deal with too much nausea.  My nurses are really good about keeping it under control.  They begin my treatment with 3 days of Emend (lifesaver) along with decadron for 4 days.  I am also given Kytril 2xday and Reglan 4xday....before each meal and bedtime.  When the symptoms are real bad they give me Ativan.  As soon as I feel the symptoms coming on I ask for something....I would much rather catch it before having to chase to it. 

I have learned to eat small frequent meals...and only eat what sounds good.  Sometimes it is tough to get all those fruits and vegetables down...so some days I do and some days I don't.   In the beginning the hospital food use to make me gag.  I now have people bring me stuff or I ask to order off the kids menu....offers more "comfort food".  I still have 10 treatments left....so this could change.  But so far I have been very fortunate.   

Staying strong-
Cindi

[Kaye]

I also took Emend and Zofran, but they are VERY expensive and some insurances don't cover them.  Ask your clinic if they have leftovers from former patients.   Towards the end (I think it was a psycho thing) they gave me Ativan to calm my nerves.  I really don't remember getting sick during treatment.  I have gotten sick more after treatment.  I know I ate alot of salads with lemon juice (I never had mouth sores, just sore teeth), ice creams, pasta salads (that kick was for a month straight!) and chopped steaks.  I was good to eat two bites of anything during chemo days, but the off time, wow.  I ate (no pun intended...) like my life depended on it!  If I could not smell it, I ate it.  If it had an odor, forget it.  For the record, I had epirubicin (Ellence), ifosfomide (Ifex) with mesna, vincristine, and I think methotrexate. 

[Cathy]

My nausea was never controlled.  I had Adriamyicin, Cisplatin and Ifosimide.  No matter what they gave me I threw up.  It could be because I had a bleeding ulcer and they didn't know it until I almost died.  I lost 30 lbs. in 3 months.  Wish I had a better experience to report, but here are the facts.

Cathy

[Rene]

It was a learning experience for me. The Adriamiacin was the only chemo that made me sick the first 3 or 4 times. I learned to eat very little on the days I got it. I got Compazine pills and Zofran Iv's before every chemo. For the 5 days I had Ifos/Etop I would bring the same, safe lunch. It was a cheddar cheese sandwich and some pretzels. Then a small dinner. I learned not to eat any of my favorite foods during chemo. I will never eat scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese or tomato soup ever again. I'm just now beginning to drink water again. For some reason I just couldn't make myself drink it. I drank a lot of Lemonade, Hawaiian punch, milk or vegetable juice. My oncologist said as long as I was drinking a lot it didn't matter what it was.
Since finishing chemo 2 and 1/2 weeks ago I have been eating my favorites again. I missed my spicy foods with garlic.