Which Anti Nausea Meds Work Best?

Nausea Medication
My oncologist gave me a prescription for Emend, which is taken the day of chemo, and for two days following. It worked the best, as I did have major nausea problems starting with the first treatment. This is an easy drug to take, and didn't have any side effects. You may want to ask about this. It is rather expensive, but well worth the money when it comes to being comfortable. I send good wishes for your upcoming chemo, and hope all goes well for you. Hugs
Judy

nausea meds
Kelly:

I would recommend Emend. Like Judy says, Emend is very expensive. When I went to the pharmacy it was something like $350. I went to the Emend website and found they offered financial assistance. Here is the link:

http://www.emend.com/aprepitant/emend/consumer/assistance/index.jsp

I wasn't able to work during chemo, and I made over 60% of our income, so there was no way I could afford that every 2 weeks. I filled out the forms, and so did the physician's office and I qualified to get the Emend for free. They mailed it to me. I had to call the week before treatment to reorder it and it always came in about 2 days.

I also had compazine, (which didn't work for me). It actually made me more nauseated and sleepy (took me 2 weeks to figure that one out). I took Zofran, Reglan & Ativan by mouth. They also gave me IV Aloxi & Decadron before my treatments. I sometimes had to have IV Zofran given also between treatments or after. I had some phenergan left over from surgery and used that by mouth too. I can't imagine what it would have been like without these medications. I still had a lot of nausea, but I am prone to nausea, for example: I had morning sickness; was nauseated whenever I wore my bifocals for the first couple of months; get motion sick; was nauseated by my dental partial when I first got it. Even though I was nauseated from the chemo, I didn't vomit much, and mostly it was either just gagging or dry heaves.

I hope whatever you takes works well for you. Just keep asking for a different med if yours doesn't work. I know there were more available that I didn't try, for example: Kytril.

Take Care;

Cathy

mmontero38 said:

Hi Kelly, My doctor gave me
Hi Kelly, My doctor gave me Anzamet which is quite expensive but well worth it. The compazine did nothing for me, I actually felt sicker with it. Just make sure to take it before you start feeling nauseas because if you wait until your sick then you will always be behind the eight ball. I would take it before I went in for the drip and would take it every 4 hours as directed for the next 4 to 5 days after treatment and it worked for me. Good luck and keep us posted. Hugs, Lili

Kelly, the Emend was
Kelly, the Emend was partially paid for by my prescription insurance, so it cost about $75.00 per treatment. I didn't start the Emend until my third treatment, and suffered through the first two with just compazine....did nothing to help. I stayed sick through most of the first six weeks of chemo. You take two of the Emend about one hour before you start your drip, and one tablet in the morning for the next two days. I didn't have any nausea after I started taking Emend. It is well worth the money to be free from sickness, and as stated above, if you need assistance, the website for Emend will do what they can to get the meds to you. Good luck, and let us know how things go for you. Judy

My husband did well with a
My husband did well with a metoclopramide (maxeran) drip before chemo and I liked the Zofran the best with gravol on the side as needed. I haven't heard of emend before, but I'm going to see if we carry it in our pharmacy for our chemo patients. Sounds like something good to have around. Best of luck to you sweetie, it won't last forever.
love
jan

Yes to Emend
The Zofran didn't work so great for me, but it helped. Same with Compazine. The Ativan helped and it put me to sleep on my worst days which were Sat. and Sunday - my Chemo was on Wednesday. I always felt great Wednesday and Thursday and most of Friday. By Friday afternoon I started petering out and feeling a bit whoozy. Monday I was on the mend, and by Monday night I was fine. I used a special relaxation CD made for chemo patients and that helped too. You CAN do chemo. It will be OK. Oh, if you have a port, ask for lidocaine cream - I forget the name. You apply it an hour before your port is accessed - it makes port access painless.

Sigh....nothing worked for me....BUT!
I drank Ginger Ale, and even ate small pieces of candied ginger...mmmmm

My best trick was to eat small, but often. Scalloped potatoes was my best comfort food. I drank gallons of water....3-4 quarts the day before, the day of, and the day after chemo...it flushed all the other organs that didn't need treatment...lol!

Hugs, Kathi

tasha_111 said:

anti nausea pills
Hi, My "care Team" put me on dexamethosone. Unfortunately none of them 'Cared' enough to tell me to only take them for the first few days after chemo. (it said on the bottle, every four hours). So there I was, Chemo'd out and setting the alarm so I got up every 4 hours to take these wonder-pills, I wasn't just climbing the walls by week 3, I was CHEWING HOLES in them.. they make you very hyper.

Nausea
I was getting queazy at the smell of the clinic when I went for a treatment. So, I started taking a Reglan prior to going. Worked wonders. I have a couple of careful eating days but no real nausea.

Teresa