Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

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MikeManess
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2016 3:56 pm
Location: Forney, Texas

Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby MikeManess » Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:12 pm

I'm stage 4, wass NED for a year and a half, new met to liver. Currently undergoing 6 rounds of chemo prior to liver surgery. I had over a year of chemo previously (along with resection surgery and liver surgery). I had 10 rounds of Folfox + Avastin, then switched to Folfiri + Avastin. I had no issues with Folfiri - just diarrhea. After finding a large tumor in my liver after a scan, I was placed on Folfiri for 6 rounds. I've completed 4.

My issue is that, with the new rounds of chemo, I become extremely nauseous prior to chemo. In fact, I partially filled up a barf-bag while in the chemo chair before they started giving me chemo. Even now, over a week later, I'm nauseous and tried to vomit while typing this - just because I thought of chemo.

Has anyone else experienced pre-chemo vomiting? They call it anticipatory nausea. That means it's all in my head. I experience nausea/vomiting for over a week after chemo …. never did before. This is in spite of having several anti-nausea drugs and even an anti-nausea patch on my arm. It's so bad that, if I didn't have only 2 more rounds to go, I'd strongly consider stopping treatment and letting nature take it's course.


Any advice out there from other pre-chemo nausea folks?
3/11/16 Colonoscopy - 9 benign polyps, 1 large cancerous tumor in right ascending colon
4/19/16 Right colectomy
6/3/16 Two liver spots detected, added Avastin to Folfox
12/20/16 Liver surgery. Pathology shows no active cancer cells
6/7/17 Final chemo
12/5/17 Port removed
05/23/18 Liver tumor discovered in scans
04/04/19 Radiation treatment
08/15/19 Additional radiation treatment
08/21/19 NED again

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby Lee » Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:45 pm

MikeManess wrote:I . . . just because I thought of chemo.

Any advice out there from other pre-chemo nausea folks?


I suspect the thought of chemo is causing your nausea. Have you tried ginger? It's suppose to help with nausea. Ginger snap cookies, Ginger Ale soda or just plain ginger root.

Good luck,

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!

erins
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun May 27, 2018 12:41 pm

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby erins » Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:44 pm

Your brain is incredibly powerful, so something being “all in your head” is pretty much the whole ballgame.

I can’t speak to pre-chemo nausea, but used to get nausea whenever I traveled—mostly it was a mix of adrenaline and exhaustion, but like you, it was “just” in my head. I found that mindfulness meditation helped a great deal, especially the breathing excercises—my teacher related everything to biological processes, which helped me a lot (my favorite bit from her was ‘the brain is digital, the body is chemical’—so an instant reaction in the brain triggers a longer-lasting response in the body). I found just concentrating on breathing helped a lot, as did identifying my triggers. There are apps that can guide you through the steps (I use the ‘calm’ app) and lots of online resources you can find with google.

Also, and this is going to sound weird, I just accepted that this was how I rolled. I got pretty zen about getting nauseous, accepted that it was how I reacted to stress and made accommodations. Of course, once I’d done that I stopped feeling nauseous, because brains are powerful things that like to keep us guessing.

Good luck!
38 yr old female
Rectal bleeding for 1 month—>
5/4/18 colonoscopy found mass in sigmoid colon
5/21/18 LAR
stage 2a, 0/17 lymph, clean margins
T3N0M0 G1
LVI neg, PNI neg, MSS
9/21/18 CEA 0.8
11/16/18 CEA 0.8 & CT clear
12/7/18 iron infusion
2/1/18 iron improved, CEA stable.

martd
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:48 pm
Location: Phoenix, Az

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby martd » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:31 pm

I had a similar situation, on my infusion days when I would open my cabinet to get my infusion pump bag just the sight of it instantly turned my stomach made me feel nauseous. I would shake it off, literally close my eyes shake my head tell myself I'll be fine. Maybe look into acupuncture? I'm not sure if it works for nausea but seems to work good for pain. They offer it as a treatment at Mayo Clinic. The red and white peppermint candy works good for me also, settles my stomach and gives me something to focus on. I hope it gets better for you


Dan
49 y/o male dx 11/2017 crc
Stage 4 with 17 liver Mets, cea 490
RAS, BRAF WT Tp53 LOF
12 rounds folfox , avastin
5/18 cea 2.8 liver resection and pve
7/18 part 2 liver resection, remove right side of liver
Surgical site mrsa infection, wound vac
8/18 cea .9 cCR, rectal tumor is gone
Rectal surgery postponed, watch and wait
10/18 clear scan CEA .7
01/19 clear scan CEA .9
04/19 clear scan CEA .9
07/19 clear scan CEA 1.0

Eleda
Posts: 328
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:28 am
Facebook Username: adele Morgan
Location: Ireland

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby Eleda » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:48 pm

I had a similar response prior to my results after my radiation, to see if it worked enough for me to avoid a permanent colostomy,,, and again the day before results,,,
It's a horrible feeling when u can't control Ur body
Mind over body as I'm a pretty strong person and I was not happy with my body not co operating with my ( calm as I thought ) brain!!!!!!!!!

I again had slightly nausea prior to beginning chemo July 10th

I've researched Manuka honey and found this ,,, I'm still awaiting it from Amazon as I've had a severe reaction to oxaliplatin so was waiting to see if my oncologist was willng to try again ( which he is) so I imagine I'm in for more of the same

Hope this is of help

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/he ... g-dr-chris

I'm n Ireland so this is UK TV

Adele x
SWF, 47
Mom to 3 sons 6/8/12
Dec4th 2017 colonoscopy for minor intermittent rectal bleeding during Summer
CEA 4.4
DX T3 L3C M0 2.5/3 cm above AV.
JAN 3RD started 1650mg Zelda 2xday, with 28 radiation
Did tagamet 800mg daily and 75mg IV VIT C WEEKLY UNTIL SURGERY and
Tumor reduce by 80% 1 LN still remaining
TATME May10th, temp illeostomy
10/07/2018 CEA 3
MMR INTACT
Began FOLFOX July 10th
24/08/2018 Allergic reaction so next infusion lucovorin and 5fu
CEA 4
Second attempt with oxi aug 12th

zephyr
Posts: 363
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2016 7:31 am

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby zephyr » Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:35 am

erins wrote:Also, and this is going to sound weird, I just accepted that this was how I rolled. I got pretty zen about getting nauseous, accepted that it was how I reacted to stress and made accommodations. Of course, once I’d done that I stopped feeling nauseous, because brains are powerful things that like to keep us guessing.


Ditto. I went through a period of pre-chemo nausea and think that is what finally resolved it for me ... because I have no other explanation. Instead of thinking of it as poison, try to acknowledge that for all the side effects, it really is magic juice.
Nov-2009 Early stage CRC, routine colonoscopy
2010-2014 F/U colonoscopies, all clear
Jun-2016 CRC during F/U colonoscopy, surgery, Stage 4, KRAS, MSS
Aug-2016-May-2018 Folfox, 5FU, Folfiri & Avastin
Aug/Sep-2018 YAG laser surgeries (Germany), 11 nodules removed
Nov-2018 clean CT scan
Mar-2019 New lung nodules
Apr-2019 Dec-2020 Xeloda/Avastin, SBRT, cont. Xeloda/Avastin
Mar-2021 Forfiri/Avastin
Mar-2022 Ablation & Thoracotomy
Feb-2023 Folfiri & Avastin
Nov-2023 Xeloda & Avastin

retiredteacher
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:34 pm

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby retiredteacher » Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:08 pm

Yes, the smell of Capecetibine did the same for me. Even thinking about it or talking about it induced dry heaves. Glad you posted the question - did not know it was so common ...
RC F 63 9/17
Adeno 7 cm MSS G2 PET
T3N0M0
2.5K Cap/RT x 25
"Near complete response" PET 1/18
CEA 0.5 10/17, 0.6 10/18
MRI 2/18 yT2N0 12 cm fr AV 3 cm
LAR 2/18 yT1N0M0 0/21 G1 0.3 cm
CAPEOX 3/18, reduced to 80% at cycle 3
Completed 4 cycles; stopped, gut issues, liver enzymes
CT/ colonoscopy 11/18 NED
4/19 NED Sacral fractures/osteoporosis
"Caregiver" to the Iron Man
Hubby CRC Stage 3 2004 NED, Small Cell Lung Cancer Limited 2011 NED, Non-small Cell Lung Cancer 2019 NED October 2019

margiej
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 8:46 am

Re: Nausea/Vomiting BEFORE Chemo?

Postby margiej » Tue Aug 21, 2018 10:35 am

Yup. The smell of the pills and even seeing the bottle of Capecitabine could make me heave. Made it pretty difficult to get them all down and keep them down. A couple times I couldn't get every pill down at the end of the two week cycle, but I did my very best. It's all we can do.
Dx CC 12/2015, age 57 at Dx
Stage IIIb: T3N1b
Adenocarcinoma, sigmoid colon, 2.5 cm - low grade, moderately differentiated
3/6 positive lymph nodes
laparoscopic colectomy 1/20/2016
Capox started 3/4/16 - Six rounds
CT-suspicious lymph 2/22/16
PET scan 2/24/16 clear
CT 6/8/16 clear
Clear Colonoscopy 3/2017 and 1/2020
CT 10/3/17 clear
CT 10/17/18 clear
CT 10/17/19 clear
CEA 12/17 1.7
5/16 3.8
7/16 1.9
3/17 1.3
10/17 1.2
4/18 1.6
11/18 1.2


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