It is not a failure nor is it a sign of weakness to take anti-nausea medications, called antiemetics, during cancer treatment. In fact, when warranted, you should take anti-nausea medications so that you can maintain caloric intake and stave off nutrient deficiencies.
Common drugs that may be used to prevent or control nausea and vomiting include:
- Ondansetron
- Dexamethasone
- Lorazepam
When nausea strikes and food intake declines, it is important that you try and get easily digestible, nutrient dense foods and liquids in to your system to maintain weight and nutrient intake.
There are many natural strategies that you can use either individually or in combination to help you through this time.
Tips for Supporting Cancer Patients Who Don’t Feel Like Eating
Here are some tips that you can use when nausea strikes and you just don’t feel like eating:
- Increase intake with fluids and electrolytes. Adding a pinch of himalayan salt to water is a quick strategy to increase electrolytes
- Cook vegetables and eat at a warm temperature
- Decrease intake of raw foods as these can be harder to digest
- Include nutrient dense smoothies in to your diet
- Include bone broth in to your diet to increase intake of important minerals and gut healing nutrients
- Consume ginger i.e. in tea form, in crystallized form, added to stir a fry and in homemade juices
- Use peppermint i.e. in tea form, essential oils
- Drink Chamomile tea to soothe an upset stomach
- Avoid greasy or fried foods
- Avoid foods with strong odours
- Avoid spicy foods
- Eat smaller more frequent meals
- Acupuncture
- Hypnosis
- Muscle relaxation with guided imagery
Along with the above mentioned tips, I also recommend that you keep a food journal. This can help you to identify and keep track of food that has both worked well in your diet and foods that have not.