Ginger & Nausea

osmotar
osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My daughter went to a natural helath food store and apparently bought everything and anything that had ginger in it. She read some where that ginger helps with nausea, she also bought some kind of bracelet that has pressure points. Has anyone here tried ginger for nausea? Gotta love my structural engineer daughter, she is bring all this stuff tomorrow from MD, I guess she doesn't think we have health food stores in the wild wild west. :p)

Comments

  • adventurebob
    adventurebob Member Posts: 691
    #2
    ginger
    I made ginger tea all through chemo to help with my weird stomach. I would dice fresh organic ginger and make a strong tea that was nice. I also used dried organic ginger root to make an instant tea. It helped. I found fennel seed tea and holy basil tea to be the most powerful though. I didn't have nausea so much as just unsettled stomach. For nausea nothing even came close to working as good as marijuana. It also stimulated my appetite to help me eat. Exercise was also a very powerful medicine at every stage of treatment. The pressure point wristband worked well for me for motion sickness at the times when I couldn't drive myself back and forth from treatment. I also wore them during the chemo infusions. Is your nausea from chemo?

    AB
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #3
    adventurebob said:

    ginger
    I made ginger tea all through chemo to help with my weird stomach. I would dice fresh organic ginger and make a strong tea that was nice. I also used dried organic ginger root to make an instant tea. It helped. I found fennel seed tea and holy basil tea to be the most powerful though. I didn't have nausea so much as just unsettled stomach. For nausea nothing even came close to working as good as marijuana. It also stimulated my appetite to help me eat. Exercise was also a very powerful medicine at every stage of treatment. The pressure point wristband worked well for me for motion sickness at the times when I couldn't drive myself back and forth from treatment. I also wore them during the chemo infusions. Is your nausea from chemo?

    AB

    Hi AB,
    I have my first chemo
    Hi AB,

    I have my first chemo treatment on Aug 8th, my daughter is trying to get things for me in the event I do have nausea, I already have scripts filled for that from the oncologist office.

    Linda
  • sweetblood22
    sweetblood22 Member Posts: 3,228
    #4
    Ginger
    Ginger can help some people relieve nausea. Just keep in mind that depending on what form it's in, it could burn a mouth that is already hurting with mucusitis. Like Ginger-ale, Ginger-beer, Ginger Root, powdered Ginger. I suppose it could work if it were in a capsule, and you were able to swallow the capsule. I couldn't. You may be able to open the capsule, and run it through a peg tube if you had one of those.

    I don't think I have ever tried the pressure point band. I know people that have used them, but only for motion sickness.
  • osmotar
    osmotar Member Posts: 1,006
    #5
    sweetblood22 said:

    Ginger
    Ginger can help some people relieve nausea. Just keep in mind that depending on what form it's in, it could burn a mouth that is already hurting with mucusitis. Like Ginger-ale, Ginger-beer, Ginger Root, powdered Ginger. I suppose it could work if it were in a capsule, and you were able to swallow the capsule. I couldn't. You may be able to open the capsule, and run it through a peg tube if you had one of those.

    I don't think I have ever tried the pressure point band. I know people that have used them, but only for motion sickness.

    SB....thanks,I said the same
    SB....thanks,I said the same thing to my daughter about the bracelet, I just thought they were for motion sickness as well. Heck can't hurt trying
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #6
    osmotar said:

    SB....thanks,I said the same
    SB....thanks,I said the same thing to my daughter about the bracelet, I just thought they were for motion sickness as well. Heck can't hurt trying

    Toy car vs Mack Truck
    Ginger helps with nausea mostly by speeding gastric emptying (cuts down on things sloshing around in there) which is why it is particularly effective for motion sickness and mild stomach distress. Most folks find this to be insufficient to deal with chemo nausea - my husband found it to be too much of an irritant (he was also having acid reflux).

    You've likely been prescribed the preventive drug, Emend - dexamethasone is often co-prescribed as it boosts the effect. These tend to prevent nausea for the first 3 days, and then a different type of nausea kicks in. Don't avoid taking any other antinausea drugs prescribed just because you feel so good those first few days - you're not safe until you're at least 7 days out. ("Hey, this isn't so bad," can come back to haunt you.)

    They also likely prescribed Zofran - that is another preventive one (they might say "as needed" but some doctors think it's better to take it around the clock) that folks sometimes skip or stop taking because they feel so well. It doesn't have any strong side effects, so there's no good reason to skip this, unless your doctor doesn't want you taking it for some reason.

    Lastly, you should have some real "as needed" ones - the most common one is Compazine, but folks also have used Ativan and Phenargan. Those are the ones that help relieve active nausea after it has started, and they will also make you sleepy. If you find yourself taking these a lot, make sure you are also drinking a lot of water and consider asking about fiber supplements or stool softeners, as they can cause constipation (which, when combined with low food intake and dehydration, can make you quite miserable).

    Not everyone needs all these drugs and some folks sail right through - but it helps to know what to expect and how the drugs work, just in case. Good luck!
  • Toni08
    Toni08 Member Posts: 39
    #7
    DrMary said:

    Toy car vs Mack Truck
    Ginger helps with nausea mostly by speeding gastric emptying (cuts down on things sloshing around in there) which is why it is particularly effective for motion sickness and mild stomach distress. Most folks find this to be insufficient to deal with chemo nausea - my husband found it to be too much of an irritant (he was also having acid reflux).

    You've likely been prescribed the preventive drug, Emend - dexamethasone is often co-prescribed as it boosts the effect. These tend to prevent nausea for the first 3 days, and then a different type of nausea kicks in. Don't avoid taking any other antinausea drugs prescribed just because you feel so good those first few days - you're not safe until you're at least 7 days out. ("Hey, this isn't so bad," can come back to haunt you.)

    They also likely prescribed Zofran - that is another preventive one (they might say "as needed" but some doctors think it's better to take it around the clock) that folks sometimes skip or stop taking because they feel so well. It doesn't have any strong side effects, so there's no good reason to skip this, unless your doctor doesn't want you taking it for some reason.

    Lastly, you should have some real "as needed" ones - the most common one is Compazine, but folks also have used Ativan and Phenargan. Those are the ones that help relieve active nausea after it has started, and they will also make you sleepy. If you find yourself taking these a lot, make sure you are also drinking a lot of water and consider asking about fiber supplements or stool softeners, as they can cause constipation (which, when combined with low food intake and dehydration, can make you quite miserable).

    Not everyone needs all these drugs and some folks sail right through - but it helps to know what to expect and how the drugs work, just in case. Good luck!

    Tried ginger
    We tried a store bought Ginger tea and a tea made by boiling ginger in water. Both were too irritating because of mouth sores and acid reflux. My dad said he felt that it made the reflux and nausea worse. But it definitely cannot hurt to try as the chemo affects everyone different. I wish you the best in your upcoming fight!
  • Greend
    Greend Member Posts: 678
    #8
    All of the above
    I tried ginger and it may have helped some.

    Zofran - I had this but kept vomiting up the pills...very frustrating and expensive in 1996

    Marijuana - Used this to settle my stomach, then I took the Zofran and it would stay down. Hate to say it but it did nothing for my appetite and I guess I was too sick to get a buzz off of it. A couple of puffs and the stomach would settle down. Big problem is/was that Alabama is not a medical marijuana state. I also had fun explaining this when it came time to renew my security clearance but that is another story in itself (they did approve it by the way.

    Now they have the newer meds (my mother is undergoing chemo) and they seem to work much better. I understand there is a Zofran supository which would have helped me I assume.

    Bottom line is do whatever you can to alleviate the nausea. If Doc says take every 10 hours then I took every 8.
  • DrMary
    DrMary Member Posts: 531 Member
    #9
    Greend said:

    All of the above
    I tried ginger and it may have helped some.

    Zofran - I had this but kept vomiting up the pills...very frustrating and expensive in 1996

    Marijuana - Used this to settle my stomach, then I took the Zofran and it would stay down. Hate to say it but it did nothing for my appetite and I guess I was too sick to get a buzz off of it. A couple of puffs and the stomach would settle down. Big problem is/was that Alabama is not a medical marijuana state. I also had fun explaining this when it came time to renew my security clearance but that is another story in itself (they did approve it by the way.

    Now they have the newer meds (my mother is undergoing chemo) and they seem to work much better. I understand there is a Zofran supository which would have helped me I assume.

    Bottom line is do whatever you can to alleviate the nausea. If Doc says take every 10 hours then I took every 8.

    Security Clearances and such
    When I went for mine (an FBI job that I did not take, as we had to go overseas instead) it was fun to hear the definition (before I got hooked up to equipment) of what it would mean when they asked me if I'd ever used illegal drugs (it meant specifically within the last "X" years and nothing else). That one, as long as you don't seem addicted, they can deal with. If you'd been gay, it might have been another matter.

    The suppository is Phenargan - it works very well; we had the same issue with Doug not digesting pills, even if he did swallow them. If his rad doctor had thought MJ would work, we would have tried it, but his experience was that it irritated more than helped. I did have offers from my students, however, in case we needed to get some. . . .
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
    Ginger
    Ginger is known to help with nausea, doesn't mean it will in all cases. Dawn has some very good points as does the anti-nausea meds that DM and others mention....

    Bottom line, communicate well with your MD's. They should have an entire arsenal to get you through it....you shouldn't need outside help on maintaining during treatment.

    Also, communicate with your MD's anything that you are planning on taking, especially non-traditional remedies or substances. Some things can be counter productive with the meds that you are taking and prescribed.

    Everyone wants to help, but sometimes it may not be the best mix with what you are already being prescribed.

    Best,
    John

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