Any tips to help with the nausea from Cisplatin?

fisrpotpe said:

Check
You can check for dehydration by grabbing/pinching the skin on back of hand and pulling up, let it go. If it pretty much stands up he is short of hydration, same if it goes down very slow like it looks close to normal. If it goes down quickly and looks normal like if you do to self then hydration is pretty close.

Welcome Samsangle! This is a wonderful place to be, lots of support, information, experience for those like you and your hubby.

Cisplatin is one of the biggest hitters of chemo.

DrMary said:

Ditto the Emend
I'm really surprised it was not prescribed - without it, nausea is indeed immediate. Emend (which is often co-prescribed with Dexamethasone, which boosts it, but sometimes causes hicoughs) very effectively prevents nausea for the first few days after Cisplatin. Talk to your doctor about using those both for the next cycle. Some doctors don't prescribe Emend because it is so expensive, but your insurance company should OK it, given the bad nausea he had with the first one. (Emend right now would not be effective, but the dexamethasone by itself might, so ask about that as well - the hiccoughs are annoying, but go away after a few days.)

Ask now about daily IV fluids - we were able to do this both in the radiation doctor's office and as outpatient in the infusion center. It really helps.

Also, if his digestive system is that bad, he might not be processing the antinausea pills - ask about the phenagren suppositories also (can be used with Zofran, but you might need to stop the compazine while doing phenagren).

I'd skip the ginger - it works by speeding gastric emptying, mostly by causing mild irritation of the stomach, so it really only helps with mild nausea (like motion sickness).

Lastly, I will sing my usual song. Compazine and dehydration cause constipation - if he has not had a bowel movement in 2 days (even though he has not been eating, he should be passing something) talk to the doctor - he will likely recommend stool softeners (like Miralax) and possibly stronger. Don't wait on this one - constipation can aggravate nausea and can get serious fast. Folks sometimes have to be hospitalized for it, and the longer it goes on, the less fun the treatment is.

Keep us updated - Doug had just about the worst nausea his doctors had ever seen; none of the standard antinauseas worked and it cut his chemo from 3 to 2 treatments. If his doctors hadn't been flexible about trying odd combinations of drugs, he would have lost more than the 40 lbs. Keep after your doctor until you get something that works.

Redbanker said:

Cisplatin and Nausea
My boyfriend was knocked for a loop by Cisplatin and missed his second and third rad treatments. I hauled him in for his next treatment and he was unable to stay on the table. The doctor told him he was having a panic attack--this was not well received--and gave him an Ativan sublinqually. He tried again after 15 minutes and lasted just a little longer. Another Ativan was given and then he made it through.

What he found was that the Ativan was extremely effective in taking care of his nausea. He had tried the Compazine, the Emend, and, at my suggestion, also gave Marinol a whirl. Nada. But the Ativan was a godsend and had he not exhibited those panic attack symptoms we would never have had it offered. Out radiologist's nurse had been a medical oncology nurse and had a lot of experience with Cisplatin and was a big booster of the anti-nausea properties of this drug.

I should also mention that after his first Cisplatin treatment his medical oncologist reduced the dose and his next two treatments were easier to tolerate.

He's been out of treatment for almost three weeks now and is struggling with intense throat pain. Still uses the Ativan to lull himself into sleep.

You are going to get through this though I can guarantee that there are going to be many days when you'll wish you could volunteer to take it on yourself. Keep strong and don't take anything personally.

Nancy