Inner ear loss and post-tx nausea/vomiting

Lelia
Lelia Member Posts: 98
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
I'm still new to posting here, I am CG to husband, surgery Feb 2011, finished chemo mid April and radiation Ap 29, parotid tumor with metas to earbone and 35 lymph nodes. Last night after many weeks of successful tube feeding with near zero problems, he vomited the whole dinnertime feeding and has been nauseated ever since. Each of the two x we tried tubing a little formula since then, he vomited.

Key fact: he lost his entire ear and we were warned of ear loss related nausea. Valium is indicated for inner ear loss nausea and he's been able to take it w/H20 via the tube since last night and bingo, nausea stops, at least temporarily. But he can't tolerate any nourishment at all, even with the valium.

Anyone familiar with ear loss and/or ear loss nausea as part of your cancer? Or other post-tx vomiting? Feedback or thoughts much appreciated --Lelia

ETA: He wanted me to mention that a couple days before the nausea/vomiting he began to hiccup, he had annoying but not debilitating hiccups during chemo which concluded with those treatments, hasn't hiccuped again since, until late last week. So he wonders/worries if the nausea and hiccups are some kind of post-chemo relapse, this time the hiccups are fewer, quieter/softer and less frequent than during treatment. He hasn't had either hiccups or nausea/vomiting since tx concluded, until now. Nothing else is different that we're aware of.

Comments

  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #2
    Hoping for Improvement
    Lelia,
    I'm sorry I don't have any knowledge on the subject of post-treament nausea. Has his doc suggested trying a different tube formula?
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #3
    I cannot speak to the ear
    I cannot speak to the ear thing. Don't know about that. I do know about the post tx nausea and vomiting. I held my weight all through radiation. The doctors were so impressed with that I was not even 5 lbs different than when I started on my last day of rads. Then about two weeks later the poop hit the fan. Anything I put through my peg tube, I vomited back up. They gave me all kinds of meds and nothing worked. I was so sick. I lost 40 lbs rapidly and went down to 87 lbs. Not good. Finally, I got a gravity bag which delivered one can of food over the course of three hours. That was all I could tolerate. Any more and I would throw it up. My gastro lady suggested that and arranged to get me the pump for over night. That worked well. I would pour the (5) cans in and set the pump rate and the timer would go off in the morning, and I would then run a bag of water though. I was hooked up at least 13 hrs a day, but it worked and I was able to increase the millitres per hour rate gradually. I went from 87 to 97 in about 7 months.

    I have no idea what started that whole vomiting thing, but I know it has happened to a few of us here, and going slowly with the feedings helps. Good luck!
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #4
    Hi Lelia

    Sorry to hear this, I too have a lot of ear problems caused by the radiation treatment, total lost in the left ear and 85% in the right. I was lucky never any nausea except when I was in treatment.

    Hope he gets better
    Hondo
  • Lelia
    Lelia Member Posts: 98
    #5
    Hondo said:

    Hi Lelia

    Sorry to hear this, I too have a lot of ear problems caused by the radiation treatment, total lost in the left ear and 85% in the right. I was lucky never any nausea except when I was in treatment.

    Hope he gets better
    Hondo

    hearing loss or physical inner ear loss?
    Not sure which you're referring to, hearing loss or ear loss, did you have both ears surgically removed including the inner ear, or is it hearing loss?

    Either way, sorry! If you lost total hearing in one ear and 85% in the other that leaves you with just 15%, are there any remedies?
  • Lelia
    Lelia Member Posts: 98
    #6
    sweetblood22 said:

    I cannot speak to the ear
    I cannot speak to the ear thing. Don't know about that. I do know about the post tx nausea and vomiting. I held my weight all through radiation. The doctors were so impressed with that I was not even 5 lbs different than when I started on my last day of rads. Then about two weeks later the poop hit the fan. Anything I put through my peg tube, I vomited back up. They gave me all kinds of meds and nothing worked. I was so sick. I lost 40 lbs rapidly and went down to 87 lbs. Not good. Finally, I got a gravity bag which delivered one can of food over the course of three hours. That was all I could tolerate. Any more and I would throw it up. My gastro lady suggested that and arranged to get me the pump for over night. That worked well. I would pour the (5) cans in and set the pump rate and the timer would go off in the morning, and I would then run a bag of water though. I was hooked up at least 13 hrs a day, but it worked and I was able to increase the millitres per hour rate gradually. I went from 87 to 97 in about 7 months.

    I have no idea what started that whole vomiting thing, but I know it has happened to a few of us here, and going slowly with the feedings helps. Good luck!

    That's something I hadn't considered, thanks.
    I figured those who do well with regular tube feeds at the beginning just stay that way. It hadn't occurred to me that he may have developed a sudden intolerance.

    Thanks for the feedback!
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #7
    Lelia said:

    hearing loss or physical inner ear loss?
    Not sure which you're referring to, hearing loss or ear loss, did you have both ears surgically removed including the inner ear, or is it hearing loss?

    Either way, sorry! If you lost total hearing in one ear and 85% in the other that leaves you with just 15%, are there any remedies?

    Oh, I think I understand
    Oh, I think I understand now. I wasn't getting that. So he had his ear surgically removed? This can cause the nausea because of the lack of the inner ear or the disturbance of the inner ear? I have had inner ear problems and I definitely understand that nausea and dizziness that goes along with that. It's awful. I had trauma to my left ear. I also once had a serious ear infection and the vertigo was horrendous. I had to stay in bed with my eyes closed. I was so sick and nauseous. I couldn't even walk. I used to have a sleep walking problem when I was younger. I still might, I don't know, as I don't hardly sleep anymore, but I got up in the night I guess, when I was so bad with that ear infection, and fell down the steps! I'm lucky o didn't kill myself.

    Pam's idea of changing foods is a good idea too. Not sure if the slow feeding will help, but it surely cannot hurt.
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #8
    Where to start?
    It could, indeed, be a sudden intolerance to something in the cans; that could be a tough one to sort out, as you don't have too many to choose from (other than homemade) and they all probably have similar ingredients. Can he tolerate plain water? That would help sort out whether it's intolerance to a food or intolerance to anything in his stomach.

    I knew someone who had his inner ear destroyed by illness; he eventually went to a scopalamine patch (similar to ones prescribed for bad motion sickness) and that helped. Something to think about since the valium doesn't seem to help enough (doctors should know that everyone's response to antinausea/vertigo drugs is different, so you can't just go with the same drug all the time).

    About the new hiccups - when they came back for Doug, they seem to have been a side effect of acid reflux. A daily dose of Prilosec (the generic form) helped with that (and he did get some nausea with the reflux, which went away).

    Lastly, just to make sure we don't overlook the obvious - constipation can cause nausea and vomiting, particularly the kind that happens the second you try to put food in your stomach. I was amazed at how much difference it made, even after only a few days.

    Good luck - it can be really frustrating to have new things crop up, but you'll overcome this one, too.
  • Scambuster
    Scambuster Member Posts: 973
    #9
    Lelia said:

    hearing loss or physical inner ear loss?
    Not sure which you're referring to, hearing loss or ear loss, did you have both ears surgically removed including the inner ear, or is it hearing loss?

    Either way, sorry! If you lost total hearing in one ear and 85% in the other that leaves you with just 15%, are there any remedies?

    Intolerance
    Lelia,

    I was intolerant to the Hospital supplied supplements (Ensure Boost etc).

    I found a plant based supplement which gave me 100% or daily requirements and I mixed it with organic Rice milk and it went through the PEG no problems. My condition improved immediately. I also later added MCP and L-Glutamine and Phytonutrient powders (Supergreens) for the PEG feeds.

    Getting the proper nutrition is very important for recovery and prevention (in my view).

    The inner ears can also be affected by the Chemo (& rads) and possibly contribute to the nausea but that would probably be accompanied by some deafness and dizziness. ENT is the one to figure that out.

    PM me if need some source of the non-dairy Nutrition.

    Scam

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