Michele,
We are 8 months from end of chemoradiation and the phlegm is still a major issue. It's a really thick mucus that gets stuck in the throat and triggers the gag reflex. I have to agree with Nelie. At this point we feel that the phlegm is the cause of the nausea since all treatments have ended.
We use a lot of Robitussin which has Guafesenin (spelling ?) which is supposed to make the phlegm thinner and easier to swallow. But then the mucus accumulates in the stomach and again it triggers nausea.
Some on this forum have suggested taking a daily water intake in ounces equal to the person body weight divided by two. So if the person weighs 180 pounds the water intake should be 90 fluid ounces. This should be done in conjunction with doubbling the daily dosage of Robitussin which would then cut the amount of the mucus by half. Of course this should be discussesd with the doctor.
Regarding the slow feeding, our chemo doctor advised us to feed in small daily does as this would be easier on the stomach. We do one can of Jevity per feeding and sometimes a half can but there seem to be no change with respect to the nausea. Sometimes I just give water and meds though the tube and it is immediately followed by vomiting.
At one time I used to keep daily records of Jevity intake, water intake and meds given to try to understand what triggered the nausea. For us the nausea comes and goes. It seems to be erratic. But I feel the causes are the mucus and the lingering side effets of the radiaton and chemo. One of the forum members said and I will quote him "Radiation is the gift that keeps on giving." It's absolutely true.
Regarding your question as to weather radiation can cause nausea, I will tell about our experience.
When we were during the 7 weeks of treatments (radiation and chemo), our Radiation Oncologist would tell us that the nausea was caused by the chemo and Chemo Oncologist would tell us that the nausea was caused by the radiation.
Both the chemo and radiation have a poisoning effect on the body which can trigger the nausea.
My wife also had XRT in conjunction with cisplatin for chemo. She had both nausea and vomting after and during the infusions.
We never tried Dexamethasone. Our experience with hiccups has been just about nil.
Michele, there is something that doctors do not tell you that may happen after the end of the treatments. We thought that there would be a gradual improvement in health. Instead the opposite happens as experienced by other members on this forum. For some as in our case, there is a gradual decline in health followed by a gradual weight loss for several months following the end of the treatments. At times we got very worried because we had no idea why this was happening.
But then I posted our experience and I was reassured by other members that they also got sicker following the treatments. I sincerely hope that this does not happen to your husband. Thank you for sharing your experiences we appreciated.
Vin
