Dr Pam Brown continues our series on complementary medicines by looking at how they can help reduce or overcome the feelings of sickness that can be caused by some anti-cancer treatments.
Nausea is when you feel sick and vomiting is when the contents of your stomach actually empty.
If there is no obvious cause for your nausea or vomiting, always ask your doctor for advice. Some causes of nausea and vomiting need urgent treatment, and some other causes can be treated easily, so there is no need to suffer these distressing symptoms.
Conventional treatments for nausea and vomiting
Eating small light meals may help. Dry crackers and low fat foods are easy to digest. Avoid citrus juices and fizzy drinks. If you are vomiting, instead of eating take frequent sips of water or an electrolyte solution (such as Dioralyte or Rehidrat) to help put back the fluid and salts which you have lost.
Anti-sickness medicines
* Metoclopramide
* Domperidone
* Cyclizine
* Prochlorperazine (Stemetil)
* Newer, very effective anti-sickness drugs such as ondansetron are used before and during chemotherapy.
Sometimes you will need a combination of different types of anti-sickness drugs to stop you vomiting.
Always ask your doctor for advice if you notice blood in the vomit, the vomiting is accompanied by abdominal pain which doesn’t settle after a few hours, or the vomiting continues for more than 12 hours.
Which complementary therapies can help?
Acupressure on pericardium point 6 (P6) can be effective in all types of nausea and vomiting. Point P6 is located on the inside of the wrist, 3 finger breadths up from the wrist crease nearest to the hand. Press on this point in line with your ring finger for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side with the thumb of the other hand. Alternatively you can wear acupressure bands (‘Anti-nausea bands’) sold for travel sickness. Acupuncture treatments from a therapist may also help.
Peppermint, spearmint, lavender, sweet fennel and chamomile aromatherapy oils are soothing and can ease nausea. Add a couple of drops to the bathwater, add to a diffuser or burner, or mix a couple of drops into a spoonful of vegetable oil and massage into your chest so that you can inhale the aroma easily.
Ginger can help with all types of nausea, including that associated with chemotherapy, but should be avoided if there is any problem with the clotting of the blood. Check with your doctor before taking ginger capsules if you are pregnant. Ginger appears to have a calming effect on the gut. You can drink ginger ale (but make sure it is made with real ginger), eat ginger biscuits or crystallized ginger, or grate fresh ginger and infuse it with boiling water to make a tea. For more severe nausea, ginger root powder or standardised ginger extracts are available as capsules. Always follow the dosing directions on the pack if taking capsules. Studies which compared ginger capsules with conventional anti-sickness treatments found ginger was just as effective for seasickness and sickness after surgery, but with no side effects. Ginger started to work after 20-30 minutes, and the effects lasted for about 4 hours.
Green tea is helpful when nausea and vomiting are due to food poisoning. Drink a cup as needed. Camomile tea can be used twice daily for its soothing properties both on the stomach and the nerves, and peppermint tea may also aid digestion and settle nausea and vomiting. (Avoid peppermint if you are pregnant.) Cinnamon tea contains catechins which help with nausea.
Homoeopathy offers three main remedies for nausea and vomiting. Ipecacuanha is helpful for intense, continuous nausea and sweating which is unrelieved by vomiting. Arsenicum album can help when there is burning pain and acid vomiting, with diarrhea, coldness, chills, weakness and anxiety. Nux vomica works best when there is a heavy, bloated feeling in the stomach with belching, heartburn and nausea, and symptoms are worse in the morning and after food. Let a 6c tablet dissolve in your mouth every 15 minutes to an hour, up to a total of 6-10 doses, or use three times per day. Leave about 30 minutes after taking conventional treatments or cleaning your teeth before you take a homoeopathic remedy.
Reflexology may be helpful for nausea. If you explain to your reflexologist that you are feeling sick much of the time, s/he can work carefully on the stomach and bowel areas to make sure these are as healthy as possible. This may help your nausea.
Always check with your doctor first before using any complementary therapy.
Cancer support awards planned
What kind of cancer is life better price?
Like what type of cancer has the best price that is likely to succeed and live.
Basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
