The Colon Club

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?

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

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!

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

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

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.

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 ...

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.