Emend dosage pack

Buzzard
Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My treatments of Oxil/leuco/5fu would be easy if not for the nausea. I have tried Compazine,Zofran,Anzemet , all to not much avail. I am staying nauseated from the day I start the treatment until 7 days later. Yeah I know my diet is not exactly perfecto but yuck, Im still having to run outside every once in a while to talk with "Ralph"...Has anyone had any dealings with the Emend Dosage pack ? I am to pick it up at the pharmacists before I go in for treatment Monday and they will administer it to me. Any help would be appreciated.....thanks in advance
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Comments

  • changing2
    changing2 Member Posts: 118
    #2
    YES!
    Emend is the only one that gave me some relief! It comes 3 pills to a pack (extremely expensive but my insurance did cover it...hope yours does too!).The first dose is 125mg and is given the day of chemo (I took mine 1 hour before treatment). The next two are 80mg each and you take 1 on day 2 and then the other on day 3. In between I did take Zofran if needed. Now her's what's strange, I repeated this same chemo regime 4 months later but wasn't so ill. I had a diffferent MD who gave me Decardon 20mg IV, Emend and Aloxi prior to chemo AND started me on Neupogen shots before my white blood count got too low! I tolerated everything 80% to 90% better! Praying for you bud!
  • Craig S
    Craig S Member Posts: 11
    #3
    Emend
    It worked for me as well. After 2 folfox treatments I told my doc if he couldn't give me anything better for nausea, I wasn't doing any more. We went with Emend. Take the first pill about an hour before treatment, then one each the next two days. It did't make me feel great, but it was more tolerable. According to the literature with the meds, it won't work after you're sick, so you can't wait to see if you need it. Its more of a pre-emptive med. Didn't have too many side effects for me, but who can tell what causes what when you're taking so much different stuff? It did make my hair thin a bit.
    One funny thing, on the package, one of the listed possible side effects is nausea...lol.

    Good luck, hope it works for you.
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #4
    Emend and Decadron, can't beat it!
    The ONLY thing that did it for me. After I was in AGAIN for fluids due to vomiting and stuff they put me on this combo and I wasn't nauseated or vomiting again! Actually, on my last treatment I did have to take phenergan once, but that was it! One less disheartening side effect and chemo was so much more tolerable! When they added magic juice (Sandostatin) to the mix, I no longer got horrible diarrhea (again, trips to the office for fluids) and even felt more perky on days 2-5! Prior to the Emend, it was Aloxi IV and home with compazine, zofran, Kytril, phenergan ... you name it and they just didn't do the trick. Good luck, you are such an inspiration here, I am sure you will get this nausea thing under control.
    mary
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #5
    msccolon said:

    Emend and Decadron, can't beat it!
    The ONLY thing that did it for me. After I was in AGAIN for fluids due to vomiting and stuff they put me on this combo and I wasn't nauseated or vomiting again! Actually, on my last treatment I did have to take phenergan once, but that was it! One less disheartening side effect and chemo was so much more tolerable! When they added magic juice (Sandostatin) to the mix, I no longer got horrible diarrhea (again, trips to the office for fluids) and even felt more perky on days 2-5! Prior to the Emend, it was Aloxi IV and home with compazine, zofran, Kytril, phenergan ... you name it and they just didn't do the trick. Good luck, you are such an inspiration here, I am sure you will get this nausea thing under control.
    mary

    Thanks to you all
    Its nice to type in a question and before you get finished typing it you already have an answer.............I love this place............Im ready for next week....#7 of 12 coming up......Im rounding 2nd base heading to 3rd....Its gonna be an in the park homerun for me.........I guess ya just have to be here to understand my little analogies of life..... :-)

    The key word here is life.....God Bless all of you
  • pamness
    pamness Member Posts: 524 Member
    #6
    Nausea was my middle name during chemo
    Starting with my third round they gave me Emend with decadron - I took the Emend for three days along with the decadron and zolfran the first day and attivan and zolfran, compazine and attivan for breatkthrough nausea. I was basically OK with the Emend and decadron with occasional use of zolfran and ativan and compazine after the first few days. It allowed me to be able to tolerate the chemo. It got easier after each round because I started to know what meds I needed.

    As I did it, I took the Emend, decadron, zolfran prior to the treatment starting - I usually took ativan before going home. That got me through to the next day where I took Emend and decadron - for days two and three with Zolfran if I needed it. On days 4 to 6 or 7 I took Zolfran or compazine and attivan depending on the nausea level, it varied.

    My nausea usually lasted, to some extent, for 6 to 9 days.

    The Emend with decadron was great for me, I was high as a kite from the decadron but the nausea was controlled. I had a particularly hard time. I had a fundoplication 10 years ago (for heart burn - hiatus hernia, etc.) and can't throw up, no matter what. So I had to get it controlled or risk perforating my esophogus.

    Try the emend with decadron, etc. it works really well. I don't know about the Anzemet.

    Pam
  • keepnthefaith
    keepnthefaith Member Posts: 36
    #7
    My MD changed me to Emend,
    My MD changed me to Emend, Kytril (IV each day of chemo) and decadron after my first round of chemo. Done with chemo now and I never had much nausea after the change - if I did it was very mild. Hope you find this to be the case for you. I hate to throw up!!!!!
    Good luck.
    Felicia
  • Mike49
    Mike49 Member Posts: 261
    #8
    Decadron seems to help
    I get the Decadron and Zofran IV , premedication before they start the Oxil/leuco/5FU or leuco/5FU on day two. The Decadron mixture kept me up all night and they added Ativan. I slept like a baby and last night. My nausea this second round has been much improved. Today they will give me Avastin for the first time. Dr. is being agressive that the PET scan results which we both questioned as scare tissue, active healing and resulting remnents of my wound infection. He wants to repeat the PET in 3 months but push on to AVASTIN just in case the Pet really did see something. I told him " mix it up, I have faith in you". I am glad I am going in today with some sleep.

    If they haven't been given you Pre dose Decadron, you might ask. It was explained to me that this steroid helps effectuate the antinausea drugs which they also give me IV prior to infusion (Zofran in my case). To use your Baseball anology, I think the Emend is just what you need to squish that nauseating shortstop impeding the baselines. Run man and even if its just for effect Slide in to home.
  • kmygil
    kmygil Member Posts: 876 Member
    #9
    Buzzard said:

    Thanks to you all
    Its nice to type in a question and before you get finished typing it you already have an answer.............I love this place............Im ready for next week....#7 of 12 coming up......Im rounding 2nd base heading to 3rd....Its gonna be an in the park homerun for me.........I guess ya just have to be here to understand my little analogies of life..... :-)

    The key word here is life.....God Bless all of you

    Oh Yeah!
    Howdy. Emend is the way to go! It made the nausea almost go away completely, and I got phenergan for the remainder. I know it's costly, but it is so worth it!!! You're up to number 7, and you are right--rounding 2nd, heading to 3rd! You go, Buzzard!

    Hugs,
    Kirsten
  • neon356
    neon356 Member Posts: 137 Member
    #10
    natural herbals can be of great help
    Emend just came out when I was first being treated, and it certainly worked. However it is very expensive and, like many drugs, loaded with serious side effects. I found that the most effective drug for nausea was Marinol (a marijuana derivative), and even better was marijuana itself taken as either a tea or smoke. I know there are many people on this list who have used it with great success. It was also of great benefit in helping to keep up my appetite, and to minimize weight loss.
    Carl
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #11
    neon356 said:

    natural herbals can be of great help
    Emend just came out when I was first being treated, and it certainly worked. However it is very expensive and, like many drugs, loaded with serious side effects. I found that the most effective drug for nausea was Marinol (a marijuana derivative), and even better was marijuana itself taken as either a tea or smoke. I know there are many people on this list who have used it with great success. It was also of great benefit in helping to keep up my appetite, and to minimize weight loss.
    Carl

    Great if you can get it!
    At my age, trying to locate marijuana without winding up in jail is a daunting task! I know I considered it when I remember how well it handled nausea during the flu in my younger wilder days!
    mary
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #12
    msccolon said:

    Great if you can get it!
    At my age, trying to locate marijuana without winding up in jail is a daunting task! I know I considered it when I remember how well it handled nausea during the flu in my younger wilder days!
    mary

    Natural
    Yep in my younger days it took me a truck load of it to realize I didn't like it anymore, and now days I have a little more sense and a random drug testing job... but thanks anyway... :-)
  • Madre
    Madre Member Posts: 123
    #13
    I took it
    They would give it to me in my IV as a pre-med the day of chemo, then I had 2 pills (1 a day for the next 2 days) I also took decadron steriod with it. I still kept taking the compazine and adivan. I only got sick once the entire 12 rounds. Good luck to you. OH--- I also got an ulcer and reflux from the chemo. I would get severe pain just under my ribs. Maybe that is some of your problem too. They gave me protonix and tagament. It helped.
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #14
    Madre said:

    I took it
    They would give it to me in my IV as a pre-med the day of chemo, then I had 2 pills (1 a day for the next 2 days) I also took decadron steriod with it. I still kept taking the compazine and adivan. I only got sick once the entire 12 rounds. Good luck to you. OH--- I also got an ulcer and reflux from the chemo. I would get severe pain just under my ribs. Maybe that is some of your problem too. They gave me protonix and tagament. It helped.

    AMEN FOR EMEND
    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.........I finally found an anti-nausea med that actually lets me walk out of the treatment and not puke......I don't even feel bad at all.....Thanks Lord........and all Semi colons here :-)
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    #15
    Buzzard said:

    AMEN FOR EMEND
    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.........I finally found an anti-nausea med that actually lets me walk out of the treatment and not puke......I don't even feel bad at all.....Thanks Lord........and all Semi colons here :-)

    Naked Happy Dance!
    I swear, people trash the pharmaceutical companies, but when something that works this well comes along, you want to thank that pharm rep that comes into the onc office looking so pert and professional! I am so glad it's working for you! What a difference a drug makes, huh?!
    mary
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    #16
    msccolon said:

    Naked Happy Dance!
    I swear, people trash the pharmaceutical companies, but when something that works this well comes along, you want to thank that pharm rep that comes into the onc office looking so pert and professional! I am so glad it's working for you! What a difference a drug makes, huh?!
    mary

    exactly
    This is my second day and beside a little gag every so often my stomach isn't squeamish, I have no feeling of nausea at all. Life is good again.......tomorrow will end #7 of 12 total..and counting down.............. :-)
  • kmygil
    kmygil Member Posts: 876 Member
    #17
    Buzzard said:

    exactly
    This is my second day and beside a little gag every so often my stomach isn't squeamish, I have no feeling of nausea at all. Life is good again.......tomorrow will end #7 of 12 total..and counting down.............. :-)

    So glad
    Hey there. I'm so glad the Emend is doing it for you! That nausea fights dirty. Good thing Emend goes below its belt! Proud of you--# 7!!!!!

    Hugs,
    Kirsten
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #18
    kmygil said:

    So glad
    Hey there. I'm so glad the Emend is doing it for you! That nausea fights dirty. Good thing Emend goes below its belt! Proud of you--# 7!!!!!

    Hugs,
    Kirsten

    Emend?
    I never heard of the Emend for anti-nausea, the pills they gave me for when I start chemo are called Prochlorperazine 10mg -- has anyone ever heard of those?? hell, if these don't work, then I want something that does!

    And also, for anti-anxiety drugs, they gave me something called Lorazepam... and get this, it's only 0.5mg!!! that's not even a milligram! I think I may need to take at least 10 of these to even feel something!
  • pamness
    pamness Member Posts: 524 Member
    #19
    Emend and decadron can't be beat
    I did folfox treatment and was so sick after the first treatment - they cut the oxali by half after the second treatment it was not better - the switched me to Emend for three days along with decadron and zolfran -compazine and attivan as needed. I generally continued the zolfran, compazine and attivan until day seven or eight and tapered off. The crash from the decadron was unpleasant but better than the alternative.

    I had treatment in 2007. I have notice as I have visited friends during chemo, etc. Emend is the anti nause drug used most often. It is expensive but worth it.

    I don't know if I could have finished treatment without the Emend.

    Pam
  • tahichkad
    tahichkad Member Posts: 4
    #20
    Shayenne said:

    Emend?
    I never heard of the Emend for anti-nausea, the pills they gave me for when I start chemo are called Prochlorperazine 10mg -- has anyone ever heard of those?? hell, if these don't work, then I want something that does!

    And also, for anti-anxiety drugs, they gave me something called Lorazepam... and get this, it's only 0.5mg!!! that's not even a milligram! I think I may need to take at least 10 of these to even feel something!

    You may have taken care of
    You may have taken care of this already. I'm new to this site and not quite a survivor yet. I was searching for weight gain and Decadron and came here.

    I have 6 weeks of low dose Cisplatin to boost the effects of daily external radiation for IA2 cervical cancer with one affected lymph node. I get Emend, Compazine (prochlorperazine) and Zofran via IA at chemo and was sent home with just Zofran and Compazine. Weeks 1 and 2 were managble but still nauseas. Week 3 was awful. I was very nauseaus all day every day and was violently sick once.

    I mentioned this at my week 4 chemo and was given Emend and Decadron to take concurrently for 2 days post treatment. It was an amazing difference! Something about the two drugs, taken together, first thing in the day did the trick for me. I follow up later in the day on days 2 and 3 and then as needed days 4-6 with Zofran and Compazine.

    I just had my 5 week so hopefully the drug cocktail works as well this week!! You mention anti-anxiety drugs. I went on 50mg of Zoloft when I was diagnosed in December. It worked for my postpartum so I figured I've earned with with cancer!
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #21
    neon356 said:

    natural herbals can be of great help
    Emend just came out when I was first being treated, and it certainly worked. However it is very expensive and, like many drugs, loaded with serious side effects. I found that the most effective drug for nausea was Marinol (a marijuana derivative), and even better was marijuana itself taken as either a tea or smoke. I know there are many people on this list who have used it with great success. It was also of great benefit in helping to keep up my appetite, and to minimize weight loss.
    Carl

    Herbals do the trick
    They have been around for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. I've tried Emend and it doesn't hold a candle to the herbal remedy (plus it's $185 for 3 pills). Funny how alcohol and countless other "drugs" are perfectly legal yet easily grown herbal ones are not. Gee, I wonder if the pharmaceutical companies are behind it. Nah, that's like saying Big Oil is against Electric Cars. What a ridiculous thought!

    I think this has little (or nothing) to do with "good sense" at all. Smoking marijuana in ones youth and smoking, or eating it in baked goods, has everything to do with common sense. If you're puking your guts out and nothing from the pharmacies is doing the job, then I see nothing wrong with using something that does the job. Some people see it as it being a horrible crime. If only those in power knew the horrors of cancer and chemo they night sing a different tune. It's sort of like how Nancy Reagan came out in favor of stem cell research where Ronnie was hit with Alzheimer's. Then she became an advocate for it.

    A good site about the facts concerning the medicinal use of marijuana is here. Hopefully The new (much improved) President has had his family stricken with this disease so there could be hope for some common sense in this matter. Yet, the DEA hasn't read the memo it seems.

    I suppose we could go back and forth on this issue. Whatever works for you, then use it but if there is something that is not harming anyone but in fact helping them, then they should be allowed to use it.

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