Treatment Against Nausea

Nausea's usually one of the worst side effects of chemo, although it seems to affect everyone to a different degree and some not at all. I read that younger women are typically more affected.

The good news is that an array of powerful medications are available for fighting nausea, so if one combination doesn't work, then others can be tried until the right one is found. But in addition to that, there are a lot of other natural ways to fight nausea:

1) Sea bands, which use acupressure and can be found in any drug store in the U.S. I did indeed notice a difference when I put these on, but not enough to give up my anti-emetics.

2) Ginger: candied or raw or cut up into tea with some lemon & honey or in ginger beer (make sure the ingredients list real ginger, rather than ginger flavoring)

3) Marijuana: the indica variety (as opposed to sativa) is supposed to work wonders against nausea, appetite, and vomiting. A friend of a friend, who found the side effects of anti-nausea medications too debilitating, smoked 30-45 minutes before every chemo treatment and as often as needed afterwards. I tried smoking a few tokes around Day 10 after my first chemotherapy, but I didn't like the feeling of lightheadness and dizziness that went along with being high. It reminded me too much of my first few days after chemo.

4) Eating: eat many small meals per day instead of three large meals, eat bland foods, chew slowly, drink lots of water

5) Eating, Part II: make sure you eat, even if you have no interest in eating. Otherwise, the nausea will just get worse.

6) Pills: if the pill taste increases the nausea, try crushing them in food (usually meds that are not slow-release meds may be crushed) or enclosing them in gelcaps you can buy at the pharmacy.

I'm still looking for my nausea magic bullet. I still feel extremely nauseous and vomit-prone on Day 1 of chemo and then progressively less nauseous until Day 10. But my anti-nausea drug regimen -- taking granisetron (kytrol) during Days 1-3 and metoclopram preventively from Days 4-7 -- in addition to following the tips above, have helped a lot.