Hi All
i had my second round of chemo yesterday and have been struggling with awful horrible vomiting and terrible nausea. I have take. The anti nausea tablets issued to me but they haven’t helped me at all. I’m struggling to eat and drink. This didn’t happen to me on my first round, I did experience nausea but I was able to continue doing things and able to eat bland food. Do symptoms get worse with each round?
Louise x
I found the symptoms lestened each time, although I ate very little until the second and, more so, the third week after infusions -the first week was like a week long hangover. Fortunately for me, the Emend was very effective ( I couldn’t take the other anti nausea meds as they clashed with an anti depressant I take) and so I managed with Sea Bands and ginger on the occasions when I needed something extra.
My second round of FEC was more nauseating just kept taking meds . Chocolate lemonade and when I started to feel better bland food like beans on toast and lentil soup
Unfortunately, Louisa, chemo does have a cumulative effect. In addition, the dosage is extreme, much like hitting an egg with a sledge hammer. This is so that the cancer cells are well and truly hammered. You need to phone the unit and tell them how poorly you are so that the dose can be adjusted for next time, and also ask them to prescribe a more effective anti nausea med for you. I was given Emend which worked really well. Bit sickly but The Monocloppo stuff knocked that on the head! There is also new drug around which is time released , but I couldn’t tolerate that one. Everyone’s body is unique so reacts very differently. Make sure you keep well hydrated and try ginger tea, ginger biscuits and mints to help ease the nausea. Good luck. You will get through it. X
Hi Louise. Seems to me you’ve been very unlucky. I almost refused to have chemo for this reason. However, as you didn’t get it the first time, have you considered you may have caught a bug? Keep taking that temperature and keep drinking water at the very least cos constipation comes with EC and you can’t afford to be dehydrated.
First thing I did was but Sea Bands and wear them as often as possible. They may work, it may be psychosomatic but my friends swear by them for travel and pregnancy nausea so why shouldn’t they work? I started with 3 x EC chemos every three weeks. I have suffered from emetophobia (obsessive fear of vomiting) all my life and I wasn’t bothered about anything except the possibility I might be sick. And I made sure they knew it! As a result, each session started with an anti-emetic capsule, a dose of steroid (plus tablets to take for the following three days as part of the anti-nausea regime) and something else to help. I was given Metochlopramide tablets to take home and use if I felt nauseous, alongside the Cyclizine my GP prescribes for crises. I didn’t use the Metochlopromide but initially did use the Cyclizine as prescribed, just in case. Imaginary nausea is just as terrifying as reality 
I was also prescribed Lorazepam to take just before chemo but have needed that less as time has passed.
I then moved on to 9 weekly sessions of Paclitaxel. Again, a pre-chemo combination of the steroid (none to take home sadly), an antihistamine and something else to counter common reactions. But no pill. I almost refused the treatment, I was so shocked, but I was told I could use my Cyclizine if I wanted - so I did. I’m having my final chemo next Tuesday and I can honestly say I haven’t experienced any real nausea and certainly no vomiting from start to finish. Even imaginary nausea has been far less frequent than in my life before cancer. So we know the medicines are there and available and definitely work. My advice would be to contact the oncology nurse/team NOW, before your next session, as a matter of urgency and say you just can’t carry on like this. Ask what additional steps could be taken to prevent the nausea, let alone the vomiting. It may be that something I was given is not in your drug-pack (steroid?). Just don’t take no for an answer and try not to be fobbed off onto your GP (I’ve found my GP most unhelpful once I was in the hands of the oncologist). It’s not in anyone’s interests for you to be subjected to this reaction as it not only affects your weight and immunity but also your mental wellbeing, which is of paramount importance in the coming months,
Good luck. You know what you need so demand it. You are the ‘service user’ and it’s your right.