anti nausea medications

Mustard
Occasional Contributor

anti nausea medications

Hi All, I started chemo (Temozolomide (Temodar)) and radiation for a GBM on Thursday and for the first 2 days I was nauseous but I could still eat, and on Saturday and Sunday I was sick at night but I could eat a bit during the day, but today after every meal I was sick. I've been given Zofran and Metoclopramide Actavis for the anti nausea medicine and I don't think they are working. Has anyone else found something that works better. Thanks, Paul
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topenddownunder
Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Gday Mustard.. I too have had nausea after Chemo, The first chemo I was on was Gem/Carbo and I was given pramin tablets to take 4 times a day.I found that Ginger tablets (travelwell 1000) worked very well and also drinking ginger beer helped in between. I am on new chemo and am finding the nausea is worse than before and have started taking the Pramin half hour Before meals and am finding this better. Greg
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Mustard
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Thanks Greg for the info I'll try the ginger tablets and see how they go. Thanks, Paul
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pmcpmc
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

I found Pramin to be the most helpful (12 weeks FEC chemo / 8 weeks Taxol) and always took them regardless as a precautionary measure. It seems to be a lot easier to try and prevent the nausea than to help it subside once its struck if that makes sense. Ginger tea and small sips of whatever fluids you can tolerate (even water tasted putrid for me) was helpful as well.
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totoro
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Hi I hope you are feeling better. During my Dad's battle with pancreatic cancer he used an anti-nausea medication called Ondanzetron. It will require a script from your GP and can be expensive if you are not on a concession card, but boy is it good! It comes as a small wafer, which you place under your toungue. A very quick route for medication to work, so you feel better, quicker.It's also long acting. Its used routinely in the hospitals for post operative clients and has few side effects. Best wishes Totoro
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topenddownunder
Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Gday Totoro..Thanks for your help here...It has been a while since i posted this...and since then have been on 3 different Chemo`s, and an Immunotherapy and about to start my last ditch attempt Chemo, as everything else has failed or knocked the body around too much.With every different Chemo/Immuno there has been different degrees of nausea,and have tried a few now, with Ondanzetron being one of the best (the tablets were for some reason better for me than the wafer..?) Trouble being ,of coarse, you dont get many per packet, so use Pramin,Domperidone, Ginger Tablets, Drinks, tea etc...whatever helps.I`m enjoying a short Chemo holiday at the moments, so the changes in the body are gradually getting back to normal (?).I will start new Chemo in two weeks...so will see what happens when I get onto that..Am hoping this is THE ONE....:-) Greg
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nello
Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

When I had chemo I found that nausea and vomiting were the most distressing side effects. For my first cycle I was given metoclopramide tablets (Pramin is the brand name) to take at home. I spewed all night and ended up in emergency the following morning. For the remainder of treatment I used a combination of ondansetron wafers (Zofran), stematil tablets, and phernergan tablets. I also had an intramuscular stematil injection. My aunt is a nurse so she was able to administer it. I got pretty good control using this cocktail but the nausea and vom wasn't completely alleviated. I did avoid going to emergency again so that was a huge plus! Some alternative ways to manage nausea and vomiting are ginger (as already mentioned) and acupressure wrist bands. I recently looked at some studies about both of these as part of a uni assessment and the researchers found that they were effective. Anything that ends in 'tron' is the good stuff! I recently discovered that granisetron comes in patch form which is great because it completely bypasses the gut. Dexamethasone can also be useful. I was definitely guilty of under reporting nausea and vomiting to my specialist.. I thought that if I didn't spew all night like the first time then I was doing pretty well. I think that maybe if I had reported the severity of nausea and vomiting to my doctor, then maybe I would have been given different antiemetics and achieved even greater control over it. So I guess the moral of the story is, make sure you tell your dr how much nausea and vomiting is affecting you. Goodluck soldier!
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Karenquilter
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Hi I have found Ativan really good for nausea. Also wanted to say that when I used Maxolon I had a rare but known reaction of Parkinson's disease type uncontrollable leg shakes. They were dreadful. Maxolon isn't a particularly strong anti-nausea drug but is usually safe unless you have this reaction.
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Karenquilter
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Hi I have found Ativan really good for nausea. Also wanted to say that when I used Maxolon I had a rare but known reaction of Parkinson's disease type uncontrollable leg shakes. They were dreadful. Maxolon isn't a particularly strong anti-nausea drug but is usually safe unless you have this reaction.
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Karenquilter
Occasional Contributor

Re: anti nausea medications

Hi I have found Ativan really good for nausea. Also wanted to say that when I used Maxolon I had a rare but known reaction of Parkinson's disease type uncontrollable leg shakes. They were dreadful. Maxolon isn't a particularly strong anti-nausea drug but is usually safe unless you have this reaction.
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