Gin-Gins Chewy Ginger Candy

Mikenh

I felt Nausous most of today (but got a ton of work done) and stopped off at Whole Foods on the way home. I picked up some ginger root that I plan to slice and put in tea and a bag of Gin-Gins. Gin-Gins come in a few flavors and in chewy or hard candy. I was looking for the low sugar version. I tried one and it cleared up the nauseous feeling. So far, so good. Whole Foods also had crystallized ginger. One type from Thailand with 30 grams of sugar and one from Australia with 20 grams of sugar. I felt that both of those were still too much.

So this migh help those on Oxy for a few days after the infusion.

NewHere

Ginger Snaps

The first three days of each chemo cycle was ginger snaps for me.  My wife says I was more nauseous than I remember, took the anti nausea pills a couple of times at the beginning, but once I started with the ginger snaps, it was pretty controllable.  I have loved ginger my entire life, I think it was the ginger candies my grandmother had at her home.  The strong ones.  They were great.  (I am using ginger now in my herb mixture)

Some information regarding ginger from MSK

"Derived from the rhizome of the plant, ginger is native to Asia and is used both as food and as medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginger is used to expel “cold”, “wind” and “dampness”, and is believed to stop the reverse flow of Qi (energy) (1). Western use has been primarily for gastrointestinal symptoms and respiratory ailments. In vitro and animal studies suggest that ginger has antiemetic (2), anticancer (3) (4) (5) (6), anti-inflammatory (6) (7) (8), anti-drug-dependence (9), and hypoglycemic effects (7). It may also protect against Alzheimer’s disease (10) (11) (12). Ginger influences gastric emptying in healthy individuals (13) and may promote feelings of satiety (14). Systematic reviews of ginger suggest effectiveness of ginger for treating primary dysmenorrhea (55) and moderate efficacy against osteoarthritic and chronic low back pain (15) (16).

Although clinical trials indicate that ginger can effectively reduce nausea and vomiting, (17) (18) (19) (20) it should be avoided perioperatively due to its anticoagulant/antiplatelet effects (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26), and during pregnancy since animal studies highlight concerns regarding embryo development (26) (27). Dietary ginger seems to be without these effects (28) (29) (30), although some studies suggest that high concentrations of fresh ginger have both antiplatelet (31) and antiviral (32) potential.

The evidence for ginger in prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is generally positive (33) (34) (35) (36), although a systemic review of randomized controlled (RCTs) or crossover trials was unable to draw any conclusions (37); aromatherapy using ginger was found ineffective in relieving CINV, but improvements were seen in quality of life (56). Another pilot study suggests that ginger supplementation may have chemopreventive effects for those at increased risk for colon cancer with normal-appearing colonic mucosa (38). More and larger studies are needed to confirm any true benefit with ginger supplementation for symptom control or chemoprevention."

BRHMichigan

Love GinGins

They helped me through chemo and radiation. Spicy Apple is a great flavor. Glad you found them and shared this. You sound strong,  Mike. 

Mikenh

BRHMichigan said:

Love GinGins

They helped me through chemo and radiation. Spicy Apple is a great flavor. Glad you found them and shared this. You sound strong,  Mike. 

I don't feel strong. So this

I don't feel strong. So this is how it works:

Infusion on Wednesday, cold sensitivity for two weeks (which is rough in New England), Nausea on Friday because the drugs wear off. It's worst on Saturday and starts getting better on Sunday (where I am now). Everything goes into the bag as watery so I'm likely not getting enough nutrition and I feel like I'm hungry all the time but I often don't feel like eating. I needed to eat something this morning so I had a Power Crunch bar (high protein, low sugar) so that I'd have something in my stomach to take the Xeloda. I'm already tired of drinking warm drinks all the time but hot chocoloate really helps. I'm going to get another tin of the Equal Trader Hot Cocoa. 70 calories per serving and I can live with that.

I woke up to change the bag this morning and found some urgent emails and I just took care of them. The first couple of days after infusion are awful in trying to get the body to work normally. I really hate this stuff.

airborne72

Encouragement

Mike:

I feel for you.  Hang tough my friend.

Jim 

Mikenh

airborne72 said:

Encouragement

Mike:

I feel for you.  Hang tough my friend.

Jim 

Just weighed myself. Down

Just weighed myself. Down about 6 pounds from infusion day. Not surprising. Coffee definitely helps.

BRHMichigan

Sounds rough

Since I haven't experienced the intense chemo, I can only imagine what it's like. Not sure how you can work full time, but we do what we gotta do. I will look into Equal Trader hot chocolate. Low sugar is important. There are some days I have little appetite. 

Quick update... I am on my second month of Iscador injections. I'll get a scan in mid March. Hopeful that it is at least stalling any growth or spreading. This winter has been horrible. I can't wait to experience warmer weather, walks outside, and I'll drive into the office more often. 

Sure hope you can get some relief soon. Seems you have a great chance of beating this completely. And you have reversal surgery to look forward to!

Trubrit

Chimes

I have ginger and orange chews called Chimes. Sadly, the first ingredient is cane sugar. They taste nice, though. 

Tru

plsletitrain

Mike

I was a bit lucky that my nausea was tolerable but I really had that metallic taste in the mouth which is the cause for my low appetite.  I did not feel like eating anything but I knew I had to so as much as it is not healthy, my craving would be something sweet. I heard ginger really helps with the nausea but I have my problem with hyperacidity so my intake of ginger is quite regulated.

Mikenh

plsletitrain said:

Mike

I was a bit lucky that my nausea was tolerable but I really had that metallic taste in the mouth which is the cause for my low appetite.  I did not feel like eating anything but I knew I had to so as much as it is not healthy, my craving would be something sweet. I heard ginger really helps with the nausea but I have my problem with hyperacidity so my intake of ginger is quite regulated.

Nausea is almost all gone but

Nausea is almost all gone but I still have the metallic taste.  I had a bagel with egg and cheese this morning and didn't feel like throwing up which is a good sign. I had a small bit of ginger ale mixed with a large thermos of hot water.

Mikenh

Picked up some Knudson Apple

Picked up some Knudson Apple Ginger juice (has lemon and orange peel too). Boiling some water to add to it to see how it tastes.

Trubrit

Have you tried juicing?

That way you can get your fruit and veg fresh/homemade and add ginger to taste.  

I use several combinations of fruit (not a big veggie juicing fan) and they are all great. 

Tru

Mikenh

Trubrit said:

Have you tried juicing?

That way you can get your fruit and veg fresh/homemade and add ginger to taste.  

I use several combinations of fruit (not a big veggie juicing fan) and they are all great. 

Tru

My wife tried that with just

My wife tried that with just vegetables and it didn't work that well (most stuff ended in the bag looking undigested).

She did make applesauce for me which worked well (it was hot).

She's out of the country for 7 weeks and she has a great food processor so that may be an option. For now, it saves a lot of work just buying it at Whole Foods.

The thing for me is that I'm looking for hot drinks and most fruits don't work well with hot drinks.

Trubrit

Mikenh said:

My wife tried that with just

My wife tried that with just vegetables and it didn't work that well (most stuff ended in the bag looking undigested).

She did make applesauce for me which worked well (it was hot).

She's out of the country for 7 weeks and she has a great food processor so that may be an option. For now, it saves a lot of work just buying it at Whole Foods.

The thing for me is that I'm looking for hot drinks and most fruits don't work well with hot drinks.

Cranberry juice is GREAT hot.

Thats a favourite of mine when I am sick. 

Tru

Mikenh

Trubrit said:

Cranberry juice is GREAT hot.

Thats a favourite of mine when I am sick. 

Tru

I bought a bottle of

I bought a bottle of unsweetened cranberry juice and it’s too tart. Nobody will touch it. I may toss it.

Mikenh

Halls Menthol Cough

Halls Menthol Cough Suppressant/Oral Anesthetic Triple Soothing Action Honey Lemon - I had one left and it was great. I need another bag of these. They are quite nice.

Grlofgod80

Gin Gins work?

I just finished my second round of chemo and the couple days after disconnect are the worst for nausea. I have quite the appetite but don’t want to eat because of the nausea, I have heard a lot of good things about gin gins and other ginger candies. Where would I find them? Would say target or Walmart sell them or do I need to go to a health food store?

Trubrit

If all else fails....

go to Amazon.com

Tru

Grlofgod80

Trubrit said:

If all else fails....

go to Amazon.com

Tru

I should have about that...

I will do that Tru- thanks.

Mikenh

Grlofgod80 said:

Gin Gins work?

I just finished my second round of chemo and the couple days after disconnect are the worst for nausea. I have quite the appetite but don’t want to eat because of the nausea, I have heard a lot of good things about gin gins and other ginger candies. Where would I find them? Would say target or Walmart sell them or do I need to go to a health food store?

I got them at While Fiids

I got them at While Fiids which is owned by Amazon. I bought a bottle of one of their premium Ginger Ales yesterday. It’s nice and more ginger and less sugar. Not sure if it is worth the cost though.

Lasha12

Raw Organic Ginger Root for Cancer Nausea

Hello, Struggling with constipation and horrible nausea while fighting Endometrial Cancer. Pepcid, Ondansetron help but lately they're not strong enough. So researched alternative organic solutions and found evidence that organic ginger and tumeric root might help. Bought em and been chewing raw bits of ginger root which are REALLY working. I take off the organic ginger root skin, cut of a very small piece, wash and chew like bubble-gum and almost immediately spit out. For me - while chewing my mouth becomes very hot (spicy) so spit out quickly. Then I rinse my mouth with cold water and mouth wash to get rid of the hot spicy residue. 

For me, it reduces nausea and calms the stomach. I've read studies which conclude ginger can be taken with other nausea medications. Anyway, just forwarding some useful information to my cancer friends. I, of course, am NOT a doctor, so please use discretion and consult your cancer team. 

Anyway, am trying other natural options. The organic ginger root is the first that's really worked for me.