Nausea & treatment

Candace Hill
Candace Hill Member Posts: 4
in Colorectal Cancer #1

 

Candace - 63 years - living in central Maine.

I was dx with satge 3 with 3 nodes in 9/2012. Resection. 11 rounds of Folfox and I stayed "clean" until 8/2014 when 3 medium size tumors showed up in ovary, cul de sac, and close by. Total hysterectomy. 10 rounds of Folfiri till 3/2015, and while I know I have the disease, nothing showed on CT till 7/15 and they were small. CT scan and colonoscopy now show tumors in liver, lungs, and colon. Started on Folfiri again 9/15.

I have always gotten second opinion, the last in September 2015 at Dana Farber. Doc there suggested Folfuri as well and we have a pretty good cancer center in Augusta, Maine so getting treatment there. Trips to Boston long and exhausting.

 

Some questions: Nausea is a big problem and I'm familiar with and tried many drugs and pot tincture.  Ativan works best, but does have some side effects that I'm uncomfortable with. I'm set up to try guided meditation / hypnotheray - any one ever had luck with that?

I have KRAS mutation so not an option for some immunotherapy. What else is out there for newer therapies ?

I don't want to chase a cure or crazy alternative, but was wondering if It would be woth a visit to MD Anderson or Mayo to get a more involved and comprehesive approach? How far does one go ? (which of course is a personal choice)  While I'm smart, ask question etc. I still don't get the comprensive picture that I want. Of course I understan onco's reluctance to be too specific.

I'm keeping busy, getting some exercise, eat healthfully, do acupuncture, massage, etc but looking to see what else helps with energy boosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    #2
    Welcome to the forum, Candace

    I am so sorry to read your story, you have been through the ringer for sure. What a ride!

    I cannot answer most of your questions, but I can tell you that I did do guided meditation during chemo, and it REALLY REALLY helped. I did not suffer from nausea, but pain from the Neupogen shots was definietly helped, as was the running brain caused by the steroids in my FOLFOX mix. 

    I used a guided imagery CD called Meditation To Help You With Chemotherapy (Health Journeys) with Belleruth Naparstek. 

    I am glad that you have found this forum, and hope that others can help you more. 

    Sue - Trubrit

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #3
    Add Ginger capsules twice a day

    There have been excellent studies that show that ginger capsules (one twice a day) help with nausea due to chemo.  You could also sip ginger tea.  I personally found that atarax (Hydroxyzine HCl - most commonly used as an antihistamine, similar to Benadryl) helped me a lot.  It can make you sleepy, but I eventually got used to that effect.

    Good luck!

    Alice

  • Candace Hill
    Candace Hill Member Posts: 4
    #4
    Nausea

    Thanks for your suggestions and support. Figure I'l be checking in regularly.

  • NewHere
    NewHere Member Posts: 1,428 Member
    #5
    Candace Hill said:

    Nausea

    Thanks for your suggestions and support. Figure I'l be checking in regularly.

    To Add Ginger

    I found that gingr snaps were also good to settle things.  (I was mildly queasy though and never really nauseous).  I took Zofran pills if I started to feel queasy and sometimes just to prevent that during the first week of the two week cycles.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    #6
    NewHere said:

    To Add Ginger

    I found that gingr snaps were also good to settle things.  (I was mildly queasy though and never really nauseous).  I took Zofran pills if I started to feel queasy and sometimes just to prevent that during the first week of the two week cycles.

    Just the name 'Zofran' makes my stomach churn

    I felt fine until I took the Zofran, and then I started to feel nauseous.  

    I wish I'd known about ginger snaps. 

    Sue - Trubrit

  • NewHere
    NewHere Member Posts: 1,428 Member
    #7
    Trubrit said:

    Just the name 'Zofran' makes my stomach churn

    I felt fine until I took the Zofran, and then I started to feel nauseous.  

    I wish I'd known about ginger snaps. 

    Sue - Trubrit

    Sorry Sue

    Argh, did not mean to make you feel bad.  

    The ginger snaps were something I ate during each of the "on weeks"

  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #8
    MJ

    Sorry to hear about your nausea. I'm on Xeloda now which isn't causing nausea but when I was on other treatments I used good ole pot. Not any type that was modified, I just used a vaporizer. They had given me Emend but that was useless as well as costly.
    One thing with the pot is that it's not the best thing for energy boosts...

  • annalexandria
    annalexandria Member Posts: 2,571 Member
    #9
    Welcome to the forum, Candace,

    tho I am sorry you have to be here!  I found Ativan the most effective too, but it does make you very sleepy.  Seems like most of the anti-nausea stuff has that drawback.  You could ask your doc about prescribing Adderall.  It's an ADHD drug that is a stimulant, and I know a couple of people who have had it as an energy booster during treatment.  It did help, and you might be able to use it to mitigate the effects of the Ativan.

    Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing~AA

  • janderson1964
    janderson1964 Member Posts: 2,215 Member
    #10
    annalexandria said:

    Welcome to the forum, Candace,

    tho I am sorry you have to be here!  I found Ativan the most effective too, but it does make you very sleepy.  Seems like most of the anti-nausea stuff has that drawback.  You could ask your doc about prescribing Adderall.  It's an ADHD drug that is a stimulant, and I know a couple of people who have had it as an energy booster during treatment.  It did help, and you might be able to use it to mitigate the effects of the Ativan.

    Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing~AA

    I found that Ativan which is

    I found that Ativan which is actually an med for anxiety works good for nausea. Actually I had read that somewhere and I had some Ativan at home for anxiety so I took one when I was having a rough time with nausea and it worked better than Zofran. I talked to my oncologist about it and he sai Ativan is being prescribed more often by oncologist to treat nausea.

  • annalexandria
    annalexandria Member Posts: 2,571 Member
    #11
    janderson1964 said:

    I found that Ativan which is

    I found that Ativan which is actually an med for anxiety works good for nausea. Actually I had read that somewhere and I had some Ativan at home for anxiety so I took one when I was having a rough time with nausea and it worked better than Zofran. I talked to my oncologist about it and he sai Ativan is being prescribed more often by oncologist to treat nausea.

    I only heard about the Ativan

    from an old chemo nurse who had been around the block a few times.  I was on the super-expensive Emend and it wasn't working at all, so she recommended ativan, said most patients had really good luck with it.  And she was right.  Kind of frustrating that my doctor didn't think to suggest it.

    I hope you're on the mend, Jeff...saw in the other thread that the pain and fatigue were still a challenge.  I know my big surgeries kicked my butt in a serious way.  Took several months to start to feel even kind of normal (just in time to start up the chemo again...whee!).  Anyway. you're in my thoughts, and I'm really hoping you'll be back to your usual, take no prisoners, self soon.

  • NewHere
    NewHere Member Posts: 1,428 Member
    #12
    janderson1964 said:

    I found that Ativan which is

    I found that Ativan which is actually an med for anxiety works good for nausea. Actually I had read that somewhere and I had some Ativan at home for anxiety so I took one when I was having a rough time with nausea and it worked better than Zofran. I talked to my oncologist about it and he sai Ativan is being prescribed more often by oncologist to treat nausea.

    Yup

    That is the one they started adding for me I think.  In the hospital for the spasms after surgery, then during some chemo treatments.  Helped with nausea and with feeling pretty okay dokay during hook-ups and for a day or so after.

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