Hello,

After 4 weeks of inductive chemo Penny had not experienced any nausea (thankfully), until today!Pen had been having some side effects;hairloss,fatigue but no nausea. She had her first dose of IMRT yesterday and is now extremely tired-more so than during the past 4 weeks- and since last night she is nauseous and indeed vomitted this a.m.. Has anyone else been okay with the nausea until the radiation started and then all hell broke loose. Is it possible all this from just her first treatment? Tks for any responses-

This is more likely the result of accumulated assaults on the body finally taking place and manifesting themselves, perhaps combined with natural anxiety over the beginning of new treatments. Radiation sickness does cause nausea, but after one treatment, I find that unlikely as the cause. There is no reason that I can think of for IMRT radiation to have this effectso early on. Though clearly anyone that has been through radiation treatments will tell you that lack of energy and lethargy is a common side effect starting about week 2-3. Anti nausea meds are certainly necessary if the problem continues, partunlarly during hte treatments. I was un bolted from my mask more than once towards the end of my radiation treatments to fill up a bucket next to the machine. Make sure that your doctors are on top of providing the appropriate meds, but expect them to also create more sleepiness.

I was given chemo once a week and radiation 5 days, but at the same time, so I'm not sure this is the same as your sister. But, I suffered nausea after radiation treatments. Maybe it was the after affects of the chemo kicking in (they give you anti-nausea drugs during treatment) a couple days later. I'm not sure. Towards the last 2 weeks of radiation, I was taking anti-nausea pills a half hour before treatment. If not, on the drive home from treatment I would get real sick. Hope this helps.

Hi Sarah, whatever the cause it's still a problem that needs to be addressed. Jack got ethyol shots before each radiation session so he was on an aggressive anti-nausea medication regime that included zofran BID, compazine for breakthrough, and emend for chemo days. There are other heavy duty anti-nausea drugs that can be prescribed by the MO. Chemo can have cumulative effects that cause nausea after it's finished. Dehydration is another culprit if she's not drinking 2-3 quarts of water each day - or putting it through a peg tube. Getting outside in fresh air helped Jack's nausea, we used to sit in our yard running the gravity bag for tube feeding or hydration. Also Ativan helped his nausea, not to mention his anxiety. Hope she feels better. Regards JoAnne