Any cures for cramping?? **UPDATE** :-)

LivinginNH

Hi all, Would anyone happend have a remedy for cramping? Rick is having a really rough time after being disconnected from the pump on Wednesday (Folfiri/Avastin). He was barely able to get any sleep at all last night and is currently curled up in his chair. The doctor gave him a new anti-nausea med, Zofran, which I'm thinking might be the culprit... Any suggestions would be appreciated.


*UPDATE*

All of the kind responses to my original post got me thinking about the possibilities of what's causing the cramping - dehydration, constipation, etc.. So I him him drink more water and gave him a few crackers, but the pain kept getting worse. At the same time, we were watching a TV survival show called "Dual Survivor" (the two guys were stranded on a tropical island), when one of the guys found a coconut on the beach and started tell us that the COCONUT WATER had 15 times the electrolytes of Gatorade and more potassium than three bananas. All of sudden it clicked with me that it simply had to be dehydration since Rick had diarrhea yesterday and not too much to eat or drink. So, I jumped off the couch, grabbed my keys and headed to the grocery store in search of coconut water (I found it in the juice aisle). I gave him a full glass, and within 20 minutes - ALL cramping was completely GONE!! :-) He just now woke up and told me that he was pain free all night and slept soundly. I'm going to keep a couple of boxes of coconut water in the cabinet from now on since this problem will undoubtedly happen again. I hope that this simple solution can help others out here from suffering like Rick. All my best, Cynthia

tommycat

Is it possible he's
Is it possible he's dehydrated? Those medicines take a toll and usually cause diarrhea. If so, is there an urgent care or a place like that he could go and get an IV of fluids? Sounds like the way things are are very painful.

Nana b

tommycat said:

Is it possible he's
Is it possible he's dehydrated? Those medicines take a toll and usually cause diarrhea. If so, is there an urgent care or a place like that he could go and get an IV of fluids? Sounds like the way things are are very painful.

Hot water bottle, massage.
Pepto bismo? Hot water bottle, massage. Lay on stomach, then on side, back, other side, alternating every five minutes or so to get things moving? We need to help thing move along. Be careful that he is not getting constipated, if he isn't going as usual get a handle on it right away. Constipation is so painful. I had to use suppositories to finally go. And had to use stool softeners. That pain was unbearable!

abrub

Zofran is known to cause constipation
so it could be plugging him up. However, with any questions, pick up the phone and call the dr.

LivinginNH

Thank you all. He just told


Thank you all. He just told me that the cramping started right after his last BM yesterday and it just won't stop. It calms down for a few minutes, then spikes with lots of pain, but then calms back down again. He looks like heck right now. I managed to get some juice in him this morning, then a little turkey a half hour ago, but the pain started back up again. I also gave him Gas-X and a hot water bottle as suggested, so he's currently holding it against his belly - hopefully it will help a bit. He's also going to hold off on the Zofran, unless the nausea comes back. It's times like this that I wish I had become a doctor - I feel so helpless... :-(

Thank you again for all of your suggestions, much appreciated.

Hugs,

Cyn

Nana b

LivinginNH said:

Thank you all. He just told


Thank you all. He just told me that the cramping started right after his last BM yesterday and it just won't stop. It calms down for a few minutes, then spikes with lots of pain, but then calms back down again. He looks like heck right now. I managed to get some juice in him this morning, then a little turkey a half hour ago, but the pain started back up again. I also gave him Gas-X and a hot water bottle as suggested, so he's currently holding it against his belly - hopefully it will help a bit. He's also going to hold off on the Zofran, unless the nausea comes back. It's times like this that I wish I had become a doctor - I feel so helpless... :-(

Thank you again for all of your suggestions, much appreciated.

Hugs,

Cyn

You know my Nana and Mom
You know my Nana and Mom always gave their coliicky babies a mild tea made from cumin seeds, My mama says give it a try. I would make it a but darker then the babies had.

Lovekitties

LivinginNH said:

Thank you all. He just told


Thank you all. He just told me that the cramping started right after his last BM yesterday and it just won't stop. It calms down for a few minutes, then spikes with lots of pain, but then calms back down again. He looks like heck right now. I managed to get some juice in him this morning, then a little turkey a half hour ago, but the pain started back up again. I also gave him Gas-X and a hot water bottle as suggested, so he's currently holding it against his belly - hopefully it will help a bit. He's also going to hold off on the Zofran, unless the nausea comes back. It's times like this that I wish I had become a doctor - I feel so helpless... :-(

Thank you again for all of your suggestions, much appreciated.

Hugs,

Cyn

Dear Cyn
If things are not better today, perhaps a visit to the ER is in order.

Pain is a symtom that something else is wrong, so a doctor might be the one to figure it out, plus get his pain under control.

Hugs and best wishes to you both,

Marie who loves kitties

LivinginNH

Lovekitties said:

Dear Cyn
If things are not better today, perhaps a visit to the ER is in order.

Pain is a symtom that something else is wrong, so a doctor might be the one to figure it out, plus get his pain under control.

Hugs and best wishes to you both,

Marie who loves kitties

Hi Marie,
Thank you for your

Hi Marie,

Thank you for your concern, and I agree, if he was still in pain I would have had him go to the ER. He must have been dehydrated since he was pain free less than half an hour after I gave him the coconut water last night. He's rather wiped out today, so he just went down for a nap, but at least the terrible cramping pain is gone. :-)

Hugs,

Cynthia

(Thank you everyone for trying to help, it means a lot to us.)

Lovekitties

LivinginNH said:

Hi Marie,
Thank you for your

Hi Marie,

Thank you for your concern, and I agree, if he was still in pain I would have had him go to the ER. He must have been dehydrated since he was pain free less than half an hour after I gave him the coconut water last night. He's rather wiped out today, so he just went down for a nap, but at least the terrible cramping pain is gone. :-)

Hugs,

Cynthia

(Thank you everyone for trying to help, it means a lot to us.)

Dear Cynthia
So very glad to hear that he is doing much better today. You are an excellent caregiver.

Dehydration is one of those things we seem to be less aware of...if thirsty drink...if not don't...but thirst is not always a good indicator, mores the pity.

Hope hubby is feeling much better after his nap. Now you can take care of you for a little bit.

Hugs,

Marie who loves kitties

maglets

Lovekitties said:

Dear Cynthia
So very glad to hear that he is doing much better today. You are an excellent caregiver.

Dehydration is one of those things we seem to be less aware of...if thirsty drink...if not don't...but thirst is not always a good indicator, mores the pity.

Hope hubby is feeling much better after his nap. Now you can take care of you for a little bit.

Hugs,

Marie who loves kitties

Cynthia
I love your coconut story....good for you. So proud of you for giving that a whirl and hopefully continuing to see good results.

Hope DH continues to feel better.....

have a hug, maggie

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