Nausea

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Jbrooks
Jbrooks Member Posts: 43
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hi everyone... Hope everyone is doing well ! I have a wquestion about radiation treatments and nausea. I am on #13 of a total of 30 treatments. Almost immediately I started to feel some nausea. When I have brought this up to my radiation doctor ,he says radiation does not cause nausea only chemo ( I am not doing chemo) so I am perplexed as to what might be going on. My taste for food is really yucky and there is a bad taste in the back of my throat. Is this perhaps the cause? Has anyone experienced this and what can be done? I am miserable and worry what the next 3 weeks will be like. Help!!!

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  • corleone
    corleone Member Posts: 312 Member
    #2
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    Nausea

    You can tell (politely) to the radio oncologist that nausea was experienced by a few patients (including myself) starting from the first few radiation sessions (while no chemo was administered, and taste was not modified yet). It may not be in the books, but the reality is that a few have experienced that. Also, the ozone smell that comes during radiation, when the beam is around the nasopharynx, also increases the sensation. However, it didn't increase significantly over time (of course the chemo, especially cisplatin, is very emetogenic).

     

    Your oncologist is not the first to deny that nausea may be caused by it.

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    #3
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    There are lots of causes for

    There are lots of causes for nausea, so I'd consider it naive for the radiation doc to dismiss your concerns. I know people that experience nausea just from certain smells. 

    Chemo mostly made me want to sleep and feel like I had the flu. It also created a bad taste in my mouth. The radiation though also causes it's issues in my mouth; heavily mucous, dry mouth, sores, etc. Any of those things can make people experience nausea - just depends on the person.

    While i never threw-up, I did experience nausea. Usually it came from my mucous and all liquid diet.

  • Jbrooks
    Jbrooks Member Posts: 43
    #4
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    Thanks OKCnative...some days

    Thanks OKCnative...some days with the nausea are better than others.  I am currently having all the issues you just listed about radiation side effects so maybe that's what's causing the problem.  Ativan seems to help a little.  Looking forwards to this all ending ...I am starting week 4 out of 6 today. Thanks for responding and hope all is well with you .

  • JAL23
    JAL23 Member Posts: 88
    edited January 2018 #5
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    Radiation most definitely

    Radiation most definitely causes nausea for me. In fact, my speech therapist says it was to do with all the sensitive stuff inside of the throat swelling up. I‘ve been taking Ativan 3 times a day to curb it. It only helps to a degree. If I don’t brush my teeth carefully, it also can cause some dry heaving. Yuck.

    Mentally, there’s a big difference between the chemo and radiation nausea.

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    edited January 2018 #6
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    Some regular things I did

    Some regular things I did were; the salt and baking soda mouth rinse (up to 7x a day), I used disposable sponge mouth swabs (Amazon) soaked in medicated mouth wash to clear the mucous from all the hiding spots in my mouth, I practiced meditation (breathing techniques learned on YouTube) to keep me relaxed (lower anxiety often meant less nausea), and I also unapologetically used THC edibles and patches - I don't like and didn't take pain meds, but found THC edibles and patches to relax me, aid in sleeping, lessen nausea and made eating so much easier.

  • Jbrooks
    Jbrooks Member Posts: 43
    edited January 2018 #7
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    Thanks JAL and OKCnative for

    Thanks JAL and OKCnative for all the good suggestions! I am not however familiar with "THC patches and edibles"??? Thanks...

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    #8
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    Jbrooks said:

    Thanks JAL and OKCnative for

    Thanks JAL and OKCnative for all the good suggestions! I am not however familiar with "THC patches and edibles"??? Thanks...

    Legal (in some states)

    Legal (in some states) marijuana.

  • Jbrooks
    Jbrooks Member Posts: 43
    #9
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    OKCnative...I think they are

    OKCnative...I think they are legal here in my state. Thanks.

  • OKCnative
    OKCnative Member Posts: 326 Member
    #10
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    Jbrooks said:

    OKCnative...I think they are

    OKCnative...I think they are legal here in my state. Thanks.

    They are not in my state -

    They are not in my state - but I didn't care. It was life or death.

    If you have them available, I highly recommend them over opiods that can cause all kinds of other issues like addicton and constipation. The patches and creams are excellent. The edibles are good too if you can eat.

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