Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Nausea Treatment

Question:
I am experiencing severe nausea with Hydroxyurea. I have tried Motolium, Domperidone and Ondansetron(Zofran). Motolium was never effective against Hydrea, but Domperidone seemed to handle it better at higher doses. Unfortunately I had to stop Hydrea for a couple of weeks, and upon restarting the nausea seems to be much worse and lasts most of the time I'm awake. Domperidone seems to be much less effective for some reason and I was prescribed Zofran. This seems to handle the nausea better, but the script is only for two weeks. My Doc. extended it to another two weeks, but this drug is not intended to be given over an extended period of time. Does anyone have experience with Zofran, or any other drugs to counteract nausea.

Answer:
Zofran (Ondansetron) or Kytril (Granisetron) are serotonin blockers, and are not intended for extended use. Normally, after 3-4 days of use (one tablet in the morning) after a cycle of chemotherapy, you should be able to stop the anti-emetics. While I was receiving cisplatin/5-FU, I was nauseated for the first 3-4 days, but this was controlled well with Zofran. One side effect was drowsiness. After this initial period, nausea was gone, and I was able to eat again. For milder nausea, Compazine can be tried. I am having intensive chemo for small cell lung cancer at Christie in Manchester, and they prescribed ONDANSETRON tablets, taken twice per day, for two days after treatment (They are expensive) followed by METOCLOPRAMIDE to counteract nausea. They seem to work quite well.