Can't get rid of nausea

Suez39
Suez39 Member Posts: 165 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

I'm in week 3 of my treatments and I have nausea almost every day. The nurses keep prescribing meds that don't work. As soon as I take them I throw up. I have a peg n just started using liquid food. But needless to say the food doesn't stay in me. Nurses are'not listening to me. They just keep telling me to take the nausea meds that don't work. Now they are worried about my kidneys because I cant keep liquid in me. I'm feeling defeated. Think of asking them for patch or meducal marijuana which takes away nsusea. Not thrilled about that but something has to be done to alleviate nausea. I'm on low dose chemo once a week and have another 5 to go. Anyone have any suggestions for me?

Comments

  • SuzJ
    SuzJ Member Posts: 446 Member
    #2
    Try Ginger?

    Not sure how you can, but ginger is supposed to be a natural anti emetic.

  • swopoe
    swopoe Member Posts: 492
    #3
    Do you go for hydration in

    Do you go for hydration in addition to chemo? My husband went once a week for several hours of hydration other than the hydration on the chemo day. There are lots of nausea meds to try. What have you tried so far? Hope you feel better soon!

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    #4
    Medical marijuana.

    Medical marijuana.

  • Dean54
    Dean54 Member Posts: 160 Member
    #5
    per a previous post

    Like I said before, the only thing that worked for my nausea was the scopolamine patch but up until then they kept telling me to take all this other crap that absolutely didn't work like Zofran, Promethazine, and a few others I can't recall. The worst was a schizophrenia med called Zyprexa and it made me feel so bad I would rather be throwing up.

    Hang in there Suez, you are going to get thru this.

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #6
    Everyone hold hands and think positive for Suez39

    Suez39,

    I am sorry about your current situation.  I believe you will get over this awful bump and manage through your treatments.  Some H&N members (as you know firsthand) do get very nauseated, but most find a different medicine which helps.  Your team should make these meds (mentioned by members) and others readily available to you.  You should not feel guilty about ANY of the meds you need to get right with treatments.

    That all being said, you need to drink more fluids and keep yourself hydrated.  This can become very burdensome, BUT it is extremely important.  Nutrition and hydration can be one of the deciding factors in your success.  I want you crossing that treatment finish line with a smile and skip in your  step ( who am I kidding, I want you past  the finish line and I don’t care how you do it).

    Advice does not make things better, but your actions will.  Focus your efforts on the immediate problems and things will hopefully fall into place.

    Matt

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    #7
    I used medical marijuana

    I used medical marijuana (patches and creams) and never threw-up once. Also works great for anxiety and to keep me wanting food. Plus, none of the side effects or addiction. I didn't have a PEG tube. 6 omnths out I'm back to 100%.

  • nancytc
    nancytc Member Posts: 70 Member
    #8
    Hi Suez,

    Hi Suez,

    I had terrible nausea off and on from the peg tube, and chronic mucous coming up which would stick to the base of my tongue and make me vomit if I did not gargle constantly with salt water/baking sold dilutions to loosen it up. I took the anti nauseau Zofran and some others around the clock to stay on top of it. My kids used a mortar and pestle to grind my pills to powder then mix it with water, then put it into the syringe for the Peg Tube. I would also wait about an hour to try peg food after taking the anti nausea. I learned that I had to do very small and frequent feedings or I had difficulty keeping it down. I also noticed that for me, if I put food in via peg before about 1-2 pm, I would throw it up. I had better luck in the afternoon. I would also stay very still after feedings so as not to vomit and that worked most of the time.

    We also always asked for any meds to be either in liquid form or under the tongue if available.

    It was REALLY hard, but you can do it. You will find little techniques that work for you. Stay on top of the hydration especially. Do not get dehydrated. My nurse also gave us Gravity Bags for feedings or hydration which was very convenient, and you can control the flow.

    Praying for you!!!

    Nancy

     

  • Suez39
    Suez39 Member Posts: 165 Member
    #9

    So glad to hear from my H&N mentors. Well I went in today for my rad treatment and told the chemo nurses they better come up with a suitable plan for my nausea. They changed the meds to liquid form to be put in my peg tube. But unfortunately they are the same ones - Zofran and Ativan. Back up Compazaine. So will try thier"plan" once more. Also I did make a request for medical marijuana. Head chemo nurse said she will put in urgent request fir me but might take awhile since they gave a high volume of orders. Imagine that! So many patients bodies cannot tolerate several varieties of nausea meds. By the time you might find the right one ur treatment might almost be done. I did ask about the scopolamine patch but they told me that is only for excessive secretions like mucuos. So they won't give me that. They have increased my IV infusions to 2x a week cause of dehydration. On those days I almost feel halfway decent. (Have more energy).  I take small sips of water during the day but only helps me throat muscles. I'm going to increase my warm water intake through the peg for hydration. But stomach shrunk due to weight loss sooo don't know how much will fit between water n liquid food. Oh... this wonderful life of cancer sickness - sooo much fun and joy!! I credit All of you for getting through this grusome ordeal! Can't wait to be my wonderful funny self again! Lol And they tell me weeks coming up? (Week 4-6). Thought I am already experiencing those. Unreal. I just take things day by day and it's real hard to be in a great mood. But I'm trying. I will keep ya posted cause I know you can't wait to hear from me! Lol

  • swopoe
    swopoe Member Posts: 492
    edited April 2018 #10
    I am Glad to hear you made

    I am Glad to hear you made some progress. The hydration really helps. As for meds, my husband had Emend put into his IV on chemo days, have you tried that one? 

  • Hygienist97
    Hygienist97 Member Posts: 13
    #11
    Virubi

    Hello, I was just read your post about the nausea. My husband is 6 weeks out of treatment Chemotherapy low dose Cisplatin 6 weeks , 35 rads . They had him on Virubi ... it’s a pill you take every 2 weeks before chemo works for delayed naseau , vomiting and then he would also still have to take Zofran , compazine and Ativan alternating them every 3-4 hours. Crazy how many drugs you have to take. This Virubi medication is new and is similar to Emend I believe. I feel like it really helped because he had 1 week of radiation left after the Virubi wore off and he was really sick for about a week so we have a suspicion they should have given him one last dose and that would have helped. I’m sorry you are going through this , it was really horrible to help my husband through treatment and he ended up with the PEG tube in the end which was a lifesaver btw. The suffering is terrible but his oncologist just kept saying it’s all temporary and he was right 6 weeks out he is doing so much better. I hope you find relief soon for your symptoms!

  • oceangoer
    oceangoer Member Posts: 15
    #12
    I second the Emend

    I second the Emend that worked for me for several days after IV. Keep looking at the goal Suez you'll get there.

    Tim

  • 68PBK
    68PBK Member Posts: 3
    #13
    My husband just finished 7

    My husband just finished 7 weeks of radiation and Cetuximab , he  had major nausea issues as well for the whole time, preventing him from getting more than about 500 calories per day ( was not on a feding tube) . Nausea meds made him delerious ( literally) and did not work.Medical marijuana was the only thing that helped.

     

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    edited April 2018 #14
    68PBK said:

    My husband just finished 7

    My husband just finished 7 weeks of radiation and Cetuximab , he  had major nausea issues as well for the whole time, preventing him from getting more than about 500 calories per day ( was not on a feding tube) . Nausea meds made him delerious ( literally) and did not work.Medical marijuana was the only thing that helped.

     

    Wish more people had access

    Wish more people had access to or the confidence to ignore the law and get medical marijuana. It is illegal in my state (Oklahoma) but I bought it anyway and it was a God send. No throwing-up, anxiety gone and appetite back. Plus, i didn't take any pain meds and therefore had no addciton issues or side effects like constipation.

  • Postal59
    Postal59 Member Posts: 8
    #15
    SIMILAR PROBLEM

    I am so sorry you are having such a hard time with nausea. My husband went through the same thing and they tried all kinds of meds for nausea, including suppositories, but nothing helped. He lost over 30 pounds. Everything was coming back up. We were at our wits end and were having to go to the hospital for fluids every few days at one time. Then one day, his cancer doctor referred him to a gastreanologist just to see if maybe something else was going on. It was there that it was discovered that he had severe erosion in his stomach, esophasgus, and part of his small intestines. They did a procedure under sedation where they went in and looked around and took pictures. Did not have ulcers but it was pretty bad. the gastro doc said that was what was causing his nausea and the stress from cancer treatments and other stressors was what was causing the problem. Prescribed a protonic and after a few days, he gradually got better. After a few weeks, no more throwing up. Might consider talking to docs about this possibility. Hope you get relief soon.

  • pitszal
    pitszal Member Posts: 1
    #16
    Sorry for those that

    Sorry for those that experience nausea. My husband is on Chemo and has nausea. He takes 8mg of Zofran under the tongue and it works. Pepto also works for him most of the time.  Hope the meds works

     

Discussion Boards