Your Anti-Nausea Arsenal
Many people can avoid nausea while undergoing ovarian cancer treatment:- Effective medications are available to combat chemotherapy-induced nausea
- Doctors can help prevent nausea with pre-treatments
- Appetite, taste, and food preferences may change while you’re undergoing chemotherapy
“In addition to hair loss, nausea is the thing that people most associate with chemotherapy,” says Dr. Stephanie Wethington, a gynecologic oncologist at Johns Hopkins University. “Everybody has visions from TV shows, movies, cartoons, and some quite dramatic images.” But those images don’t necessarily reflect what real patients always experience. In fact, if chemotherapy patients do experience severe nausea, they should let their doctor know immediately.
Read MoreOf course, the degree to which appetite and taste change is unique to you and your particular treatment protocol. But in almost every case, your hunger level is likely to change and you may feel queasy come meal time.
Prevention and Treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea
Chemotherapy can be tough on the gastrointestinal tract, but with today’s arsenal of tools, doctors can mitigate the hit with a variety of medications before, during, and after treatment.
“Chemotherapy treatment includes pre-medications to help reduce side effects, given before the actual chemotherapy drugs,” Dr. Wethington says. “Some of those pre-medications are geared toward nausea. And there are several medications doctors can prescribe for you to take after you go home to reduce the risk of chemotherapy-associated nausea.”
Common anti-nausea medications include:
- Compazine
- Granisetron (Kytril)
- Odanesetron (Zofran)
- Olanzapine
- Phenergan
Most of these anti-nausea medications last for more than eight hours. In fact, one of the infusions that’s commonly used reduces the degree of nausea for up to three days.
Complementary approaches may also be helpful. A few favorites:
- Ginger: Studies consistently show that ginger helps alleviate chemotherapy-induced nausea. The powerful herb appears to have an anti-spasmodic effect in the gut. Not a fan of raw ginger? Suck on ginger candy, sip ginger ale, or make a steaming cup of ginger tea.
- Pressure bracelets: usually available at your local pharmacy, these bracelets provide consistent pressure on a particular acupressure point on the wrist to reduce nausea.
- Deep breathing: Moving air in and out of your lungs with a few deep breaths can help relieve nausea, particularly if you pair deep breathing exercises with meditation. It can also help you relax and release stress and anxiety.
Queasiness and changes in taste and appetite are more typical side effects of ovarian cancer chemotherapy than severe nausea and vomiting. “If you do experience vomiting, call your doctor,” advises Dr. Wethington. There’s no reason to women undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer to suffer unnecessarily: nausea can be prevented and treated.
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