Nausea meds

tnstudent
tnstudent Member Posts: 45
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Can you all help me with something? What are you taking for Nausea? In the hospital they gave my hubby Zolfran and it worked good. When he started the FOLFOX and pump for 46 hours they gave him a prescription for Compazine. This crap scares me when he takes it. The first time he took it for nausea he was laying in the bed and just rocking his whole body back and forth. He was shaking the whole bed. He kept saying that he was not moving. It was really scary, I even cried and was going to call the ambulance. He never took it again. We talked to the doc and asked if he could take Phenegran because we had some on hand and he tolerates it well. The onc said Phenegran was fine if he did not have problems with it. However this cycle #3 has been different than the first two. His treatments start on Tuesday with FOLFOX and then the pump for 46 hours is disconnected on Thursdays. He usually would get diarrhea on Friday and then a very little nausea on Saturday. This time he was sick on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the diarrhea started and nausea. Today is Friday and he has been very nausea all day long with 2 doses of Phenegran. He has not eaten or drank much this week. Tonight he started throwing up, so I suggested that maybe he try the Compazine again maybe it was stronger than the Phenegran. Same results he was sitting on the couch just jerking his whole entire body. I am really scared of this med. Just wondering what else he can do or other meds that might have worked better for you all. Oh and I know about the green stuff too. He wasn't even able to tolerate that today.

Amy
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Comments

  • nmlandlady
    nmlandlady Member Posts: 37
    nausea
    Hi Amy. I am very new here and will take my 3rd treatment Tues (same as your husband). I too was having trouble with the nausea and I do not like Compazine so on treatment 2 I told the nurses and they got me Ativan and dexamethasone. I also take Aloxi prior to my treatments and Zofran. I continue with the Zofran until I don't need it any more that week. The dex and Ativan helped some along with the Zofran, I have not vomited yet. There are plenty of others that will post their responses. This is a wonderful bunch of people I have recently tapped into. They are very knowledgable, caring and compasionate. Call the Onc in the morning if he is still nauseated or your pcp and get something else. Keep on until it is at least tolerable.
    Sharon
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342

    nausea
    Hi Amy. I am very new here and will take my 3rd treatment Tues (same as your husband). I too was having trouble with the nausea and I do not like Compazine so on treatment 2 I told the nurses and they got me Ativan and dexamethasone. I also take Aloxi prior to my treatments and Zofran. I continue with the Zofran until I don't need it any more that week. The dex and Ativan helped some along with the Zofran, I have not vomited yet. There are plenty of others that will post their responses. This is a wonderful bunch of people I have recently tapped into. They are very knowledgable, caring and compasionate. Call the Onc in the morning if he is still nauseated or your pcp and get something else. Keep on until it is at least tolerable.
    Sharon

    I...
    ....Don't take just one pill for nausea, I take a combo of like 3-4 pills. The best is called Emend for me, which is expensive, but my insurance covers it. I also take Dexamethasone, Zofran, compazine, and Ativan, and I will take them all together. Emend is only a 3 day supply pill, and the dexamethasone I take along with it, one pill would never hold me.

    I remember my first time on chemo I was soooo sick, they only had me on Zofran and Compazine, and it barely worked, I was laying in bed so lifeless, my hubby thought I was dying, I just couldn't move, the nausea was horrible! the nurses called me for my follow-up, and asked how I was, and I said awful!!! I couldn't move! I never threw up though, but they said that they will give me something better next time, and they did..the Emend and Dexamethasone (I think it's Decadron, the generic kind), but tell your onc you need better anti-nausea meds, and more then one, because one never did the trick for me, I had to do a combo. I swear I thought, "If this cancer doesn't kill me, this chemo sure will."

    Sure enough I haven't had any problems since, alittle queasiness here and there, but nothing debilitating, I take it even though I don't feel nauseous, and that's the ticket, don't wait till he's nauseous to give it, just stay on top of it, and take it, even if you don't even feel nauseaous, because you leave it too long, and once you throw up, it will be hard to keep the pills down to take them.

    I hope he feels better, and just next time, they pull out their big guns for that nausea!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna


    P.S. I will also honestly say, some good ole maryjane, (Just a couple of hits) works faster then those pills also, it's good for the nausea and the appetite as well...all those munchies :)
  • PamPam2
    PamPam2 Member Posts: 370 Member
    Nausea
    Hi Amy. I am so sorry that your husband is so sick. They tried me on several nausea medicines and the one that worked best for me was kytril (sp?). I hope they can find one that works better for him. It sounds like he has some type of allergy to the compazine and better stay away from it, his reactions to it sound pretty scary. Hoping he gets to feeling a little better and wishing the best for you both.
    Pam
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45
    Shayenne said:

    I...
    ....Don't take just one pill for nausea, I take a combo of like 3-4 pills. The best is called Emend for me, which is expensive, but my insurance covers it. I also take Dexamethasone, Zofran, compazine, and Ativan, and I will take them all together. Emend is only a 3 day supply pill, and the dexamethasone I take along with it, one pill would never hold me.

    I remember my first time on chemo I was soooo sick, they only had me on Zofran and Compazine, and it barely worked, I was laying in bed so lifeless, my hubby thought I was dying, I just couldn't move, the nausea was horrible! the nurses called me for my follow-up, and asked how I was, and I said awful!!! I couldn't move! I never threw up though, but they said that they will give me something better next time, and they did..the Emend and Dexamethasone (I think it's Decadron, the generic kind), but tell your onc you need better anti-nausea meds, and more then one, because one never did the trick for me, I had to do a combo. I swear I thought, "If this cancer doesn't kill me, this chemo sure will."

    Sure enough I haven't had any problems since, alittle queasiness here and there, but nothing debilitating, I take it even though I don't feel nauseous, and that's the ticket, don't wait till he's nauseous to give it, just stay on top of it, and take it, even if you don't even feel nauseaous, because you leave it too long, and once you throw up, it will be hard to keep the pills down to take them.

    I hope he feels better, and just next time, they pull out their big guns for that nausea!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna


    P.S. I will also honestly say, some good ole maryjane, (Just a couple of hits) works faster then those pills also, it's good for the nausea and the appetite as well...all those munchies :)

    Thanks for the help. I need
    Thanks for the help. I need to research and see because he is on the state health care something like Medicaid what they will cover for Nausea. Then since it is the weekend not sure about getting anything done. However will see how he is in the morning. It just scares me the side effects of the Compazine but really I guess it is tolerable since all he is doing is just shaking for about an hour after taking it then it gets better. Thanks for the help.
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member

    nausea
    Hi Amy. I am very new here and will take my 3rd treatment Tues (same as your husband). I too was having trouble with the nausea and I do not like Compazine so on treatment 2 I told the nurses and they got me Ativan and dexamethasone. I also take Aloxi prior to my treatments and Zofran. I continue with the Zofran until I don't need it any more that week. The dex and Ativan helped some along with the Zofran, I have not vomited yet. There are plenty of others that will post their responses. This is a wonderful bunch of people I have recently tapped into. They are very knowledgable, caring and compasionate. Call the Onc in the morning if he is still nauseated or your pcp and get something else. Keep on until it is at least tolerable.
    Sharon

    Get rid of the compazine.......
    Flush it down the toilet or take it to the Oncologist and see if they will dispose of it for you ( sometimes they will or it might fall into someone elses hands that may need it and not have insurance..wink wink) but chunk it. It is having an ill effect on hubby. The compazine works off of neuro-transmitters in the brain......zofran,anzemet,and emend don't and are absorbed into the stomach lining. This may be the reasoning for the effect compazine is having on hubby. In any circumstance I would be gone of it. Now , if he is on Folfox the Oxaliplatin is a cumulative chemo in which it will accumulate as it is infused, the body doesn't rid itself of all of it before the next round (normally in 2 weeks) is introduced. The cumulative effect will show up as heavier nausea, being sicker longer each infusion, tingling feeling in extremities such as feet and fingertips...and a very bad intolerance of cold sensitivity. Be sure to keep the Onc and all of his assistants up to date on everything you feel or any problems at all you have...There should be no reason to suffer to much through this with all the meds they have although the Folfox is a butt kicker it will do the job, I puked in my shoes plenty of times because of nausea and gagging but I just figure that if it was that awful, it must be doing some good......Good Luck to you both and keep the chins up....Clift
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45
    Buzzard said:

    Get rid of the compazine.......
    Flush it down the toilet or take it to the Oncologist and see if they will dispose of it for you ( sometimes they will or it might fall into someone elses hands that may need it and not have insurance..wink wink) but chunk it. It is having an ill effect on hubby. The compazine works off of neuro-transmitters in the brain......zofran,anzemet,and emend don't and are absorbed into the stomach lining. This may be the reasoning for the effect compazine is having on hubby. In any circumstance I would be gone of it. Now , if he is on Folfox the Oxaliplatin is a cumulative chemo in which it will accumulate as it is infused, the body doesn't rid itself of all of it before the next round (normally in 2 weeks) is introduced. The cumulative effect will show up as heavier nausea, being sicker longer each infusion, tingling feeling in extremities such as feet and fingertips...and a very bad intolerance of cold sensitivity. Be sure to keep the Onc and all of his assistants up to date on everything you feel or any problems at all you have...There should be no reason to suffer to much through this with all the meds they have although the Folfox is a butt kicker it will do the job, I puked in my shoes plenty of times because of nausea and gagging but I just figure that if it was that awful, it must be doing some good......Good Luck to you both and keep the chins up....Clift

    Yeah I am not going to let
    Yeah I am not going to let him try the Compazine again. I just wanted to be certain that was the culprit and it was. However, the Phenegran was not helping and that was the only alternative tonight. I had read where the Oxi was cumulative and have seen that this is the case with hubby. #1 was only unable to drink cold didn't have problems with hands or touching cold, #2 unable to drink cold or touch anything cold, #3 he can't drink cold, touch cold, and the diarrhea and nausea were sooner and worse this time also. He likes to be up doing so this is hard for him to just lay on the couch and be sick. I am going to see how he is doing tomorrow and then call the number for the oncall onc if he is not any better. I am also going to look into the insurance (like Medicaid) and see what is covered. I finally found his gloves today. :) He is freezing all the time so hooked back up his heated mattress pad also.
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    PamPam2 said:

    Nausea
    Hi Amy. I am so sorry that your husband is so sick. They tried me on several nausea medicines and the one that worked best for me was kytril (sp?). I hope they can find one that works better for him. It sounds like he has some type of allergy to the compazine and better stay away from it, his reactions to it sound pretty scary. Hoping he gets to feeling a little better and wishing the best for you both.
    Pam

    Probably not freezing..
    The oxal will make him feel cold in his extremities fingers and feet mostly toes...try feeling them with your hands and I bet they will feel normal, although to him they will feel like they are starting to freeze.....a warm bath or heating pad or blanket always made mine feel better.....if they are cold, turn the thermostat up...LOL...just kiddin'..the both of you will be fine...he seems like he has a great caregiver. Good for him and thanks to you..........Clift
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45
    Buzzard said:

    Probably not freezing..
    The oxal will make him feel cold in his extremities fingers and feet mostly toes...try feeling them with your hands and I bet they will feel normal, although to him they will feel like they are starting to freeze.....a warm bath or heating pad or blanket always made mine feel better.....if they are cold, turn the thermostat up...LOL...just kiddin'..the both of you will be fine...he seems like he has a great caregiver. Good for him and thanks to you..........Clift

    Actually was freezing yesterday
    Yesterday he actually was freezing. We had to drive an hour away to get the pump disconnected because the local office 10 minutes away was not going to be open on their regular day. :( He didn't take his coat with him and it is already getting colder here. He did ok driving down. However after they disconnected him and we were getting ready to drive back he started getting sick again. He pulled over and I drove the hour home. We had all the windows up and he had the heat on. I was sweating and having a hard time breathing because of asthma but he was freezing. He was covered in chill bumps and was cold to the touch. I tolerated the heat because I didn't want to roll the window down and let anymore cold in. Needless to say when I got home I peeled off and put shorts on and he switched to long johns top and bottom, heavier socks, heavy comforter and heated mattress pad turned on. I get hot just thinking about it. Today he must still have been cold because he had the long johns on plus sweat shirt, sweat pants, and socks and then when he went outside a coat and gloves on. I hope the sickness is just from the chemo and nothing else. I think I have checked his temps like 5 times already. They are all normal. I guess I am just a worry wort. Thanks for the support.

    Amy
  • Kathleen808
    Kathleen808 Member Posts: 2,342 Member
    Hi Amy,
    Hi Amy,

    I'm sorry your husband is feeling so sick. I know how hard it is to watch those we love suffer like that. My husband was on the same regime as your husband. Hook up on Tues off on Thursday. He got some nausea meds through IV when they hooked him up. By the 6th treatment he needed some nausea meds. The Emend seems to work for him too. Our insurance covers it, some don't.

    I'm sure they checked your hubby for fever since he is so cold. Have you called the onc and told him/ her that?

    Best to both of you.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45

    Hi Amy,
    Hi Amy,

    I'm sorry your husband is feeling so sick. I know how hard it is to watch those we love suffer like that. My husband was on the same regime as your husband. Hook up on Tues off on Thursday. He got some nausea meds through IV when they hooked him up. By the 6th treatment he needed some nausea meds. The Emend seems to work for him too. Our insurance covers it, some don't.

    I'm sure they checked your hubby for fever since he is so cold. Have you called the onc and told him/ her that?

    Best to both of you.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen

    I have been checking his
    I have been checking his fever every so often today but all have been very normal. I haven't called the onc for anything yet. If he is not better some tomorrow then I am going to call and ask about nausea meds to help. I think some of it is because there has been a drastic change in the weather with colder temperatures and the fact that he lost like 30 to 40 pounds with the surgery. He has always been colder than me because I am so heavy set and he is not.

    By the way, I added a picture. This is James' caretaker, nurse, helper, daughter, doctor, and side kick. She really stays right by his side and takes care of him. She watches over him. She is really a big help to me as well.

    Amy
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    tnstudent said:

    I have been checking his
    I have been checking his fever every so often today but all have been very normal. I haven't called the onc for anything yet. If he is not better some tomorrow then I am going to call and ask about nausea meds to help. I think some of it is because there has been a drastic change in the weather with colder temperatures and the fact that he lost like 30 to 40 pounds with the surgery. He has always been colder than me because I am so heavy set and he is not.

    By the way, I added a picture. This is James' caretaker, nurse, helper, daughter, doctor, and side kick. She really stays right by his side and takes care of him. She watches over him. She is really a big help to me as well.

    Amy

    Hi Amy....
    ....that is one cute nurse/caretaker in that pic he has :)

    Do you have any home health care nurse who can go to your house and disconnect him, so you don't have to drive that hour? I have a home health nurse who comes to my house for the disconnects, maybe you can look into that as well, they take state care and all usually.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • just4Brooks
    just4Brooks Member Posts: 980 Member
    Shayenne said:

    I...
    ....Don't take just one pill for nausea, I take a combo of like 3-4 pills. The best is called Emend for me, which is expensive, but my insurance covers it. I also take Dexamethasone, Zofran, compazine, and Ativan, and I will take them all together. Emend is only a 3 day supply pill, and the dexamethasone I take along with it, one pill would never hold me.

    I remember my first time on chemo I was soooo sick, they only had me on Zofran and Compazine, and it barely worked, I was laying in bed so lifeless, my hubby thought I was dying, I just couldn't move, the nausea was horrible! the nurses called me for my follow-up, and asked how I was, and I said awful!!! I couldn't move! I never threw up though, but they said that they will give me something better next time, and they did..the Emend and Dexamethasone (I think it's Decadron, the generic kind), but tell your onc you need better anti-nausea meds, and more then one, because one never did the trick for me, I had to do a combo. I swear I thought, "If this cancer doesn't kill me, this chemo sure will."

    Sure enough I haven't had any problems since, alittle queasiness here and there, but nothing debilitating, I take it even though I don't feel nauseous, and that's the ticket, don't wait till he's nauseous to give it, just stay on top of it, and take it, even if you don't even feel nauseaous, because you leave it too long, and once you throw up, it will be hard to keep the pills down to take them.

    I hope he feels better, and just next time, they pull out their big guns for that nausea!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna


    P.S. I will also honestly say, some good ole maryjane, (Just a couple of hits) works faster then those pills also, it's good for the nausea and the appetite as well...all those munchies :)

    I to had a reaction to compazine
    I too had a reaction to the compazine. My neck and haed locked up like a snake ready to strike for four hours. OMG it hurt. That was the last compazine I ever took and I've had no problems like it sence. My doctor changed me to Emend and I have not been sick once. Some pot seem to work good too
  • Fight for my love
    Fight for my love Member Posts: 1,522 Member
    Hi Amy,I remember some
    Hi Amy,I remember some people on this board said they found ginger is really helpful with controlling nausea.If your hubby can drink ginger extract(500mg/day)starting 3 days before the treatment,this is going to be very helpful.You can also use fresh ginger (the size is like a thumb),juicing it.If you don't like the plain ginger flavor,you can add a little lemon juice in.Good luck to you guys,hope your hubby will feel better soon.
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45

    I to had a reaction to compazine
    I too had a reaction to the compazine. My neck and haed locked up like a snake ready to strike for four hours. OMG it hurt. That was the last compazine I ever took and I've had no problems like it sence. My doctor changed me to Emend and I have not been sick once. Some pot seem to work good too

    I am not letting him take
    I am not letting him take the compazine any more. I am going to ask his onc at his next treatment to prescribe something different for him to take. I had heard that pot worked too. It is not legal here in TN medical or otherwise.
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45
    Shayenne said:

    Hi Amy....
    ....that is one cute nurse/caretaker in that pic he has :)

    Do you have any home health care nurse who can go to your house and disconnect him, so you don't have to drive that hour? I have a home health nurse who comes to my house for the disconnects, maybe you can look into that as well, they take state care and all usually.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    Donna,
    We don't have home

    Donna,

    We don't have home health. They told us this was an option in the beginning. However, now they say that they can not set up home health for him. I was frustrated to say the least. Normally we only have to drive the 10 minutes to the local office. This week though the doctor decided to take the day off and the clinic was not seeing patients. So therefore we had to drive an hour away to the next nearest office. I tried to get them to set him up with home health and they said they could not because he is not home bound. He has to be completely home bound and not able to drive or go anywhere before they can set it up. So basically they were saying he has to be half dead and not able to get around at all. That was so crazy. Thanks for the suggestion though.

    Amy
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342

    Hi Amy,I remember some
    Hi Amy,I remember some people on this board said they found ginger is really helpful with controlling nausea.If your hubby can drink ginger extract(500mg/day)starting 3 days before the treatment,this is going to be very helpful.You can also use fresh ginger (the size is like a thumb),juicing it.If you don't like the plain ginger flavor,you can add a little lemon juice in.Good luck to you guys,hope your hubby will feel better soon.

    Amy,
    That's a bunch of bullcrap they told you, I'm not homebound at all, and a nurse comes here every other week just to disconnect me, and they also came when I had a colostomy, and a wound vac, to change my dressing. Maybe you need to talk to the Home Health directly and not the doctors. Home Health isn't just for homebound people, not in my area anyway, maybe it's all different everywhere though.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • nmlandlady
    nmlandlady Member Posts: 37
    tnstudent said:

    Donna,
    We don't have home

    Donna,

    We don't have home health. They told us this was an option in the beginning. However, now they say that they can not set up home health for him. I was frustrated to say the least. Normally we only have to drive the 10 minutes to the local office. This week though the doctor decided to take the day off and the clinic was not seeing patients. So therefore we had to drive an hour away to the next nearest office. I tried to get them to set him up with home health and they said they could not because he is not home bound. He has to be completely home bound and not able to drive or go anywhere before they can set it up. So basically they were saying he has to be half dead and not able to get around at all. That was so crazy. Thanks for the suggestion though.

    Amy

    home health
    Amy, home health depends on your payor source. So you have to ask the people who pay the bill. Example-private insurance usually pays if it is in your plan, Medicare-you must be home bound but not necessarily on your death bed- I am not sure about yours but you should have a customer service number to call and talk with the case worker. They should tell you yeah or nah. Hope his nausea is better today.
    Sharon
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    Shayenne said:

    Amy,
    That's a bunch of bullcrap they told you, I'm not homebound at all, and a nurse comes here every other week just to disconnect me, and they also came when I had a colostomy, and a wound vac, to change my dressing. Maybe you need to talk to the Home Health directly and not the doctors. Home Health isn't just for homebound people, not in my area anyway, maybe it's all different everywhere though.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    During our snowstorm I had the neighbor (which is a nurse)
    take my 5fu needle out when it ran out. I wasn't going to wait til the following Monday so I asked her can you and she said yes and the rest is history. You are your own advocate and if you want it out take it out if you can stomach it. What are they gonna do fire ya ? LOL...or simply find a nurse close to you that you trust and have her do it with nothing said......
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    Buzzard said:

    During our snowstorm I had the neighbor (which is a nurse)
    take my 5fu needle out when it ran out. I wasn't going to wait til the following Monday so I asked her can you and she said yes and the rest is history. You are your own advocate and if you want it out take it out if you can stomach it. What are they gonna do fire ya ? LOL...or simply find a nurse close to you that you trust and have her do it with nothing said......

    So True!!
    I've had friends who are RNS who said if I ever needed shots or disconnections or anything to let them know, and they would do it as well. I Just hate to ask them LOL...

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • tnstudent
    tnstudent Member Posts: 45

    home health
    Amy, home health depends on your payor source. So you have to ask the people who pay the bill. Example-private insurance usually pays if it is in your plan, Medicare-you must be home bound but not necessarily on your death bed- I am not sure about yours but you should have a customer service number to call and talk with the case worker. They should tell you yeah or nah. Hope his nausea is better today.
    Sharon

    Home health
    Sharon,

    Thanks for the reply. He has the equivalent of Medicaid. He does have case management and I think I will just give her a call on Monday and ask her about the home health. It sure would make things a lot easier. His nausea is a lot better if not gone today. He don't feel the best but we went to a dinner today and he was able to eat Barbecue sandwich x2, bag of chips, and 2 chocolate chip cookies and some pop. I was so excited when he asked for 2nds because he hasn't eaten much all week. Then he also ate dinner a little while ago and ate pretty well then too.

    Amy