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Many effective treatment options

It is possible to control and even eliminate nausea and vomiting during your cancer treatments. Doing so can help you stay active, sleep better, enjoy food, cope better with your cancer, and have a better quality of life overall. Your oncologist's goal is to prevent nausea and vomiting, using the least amount of medicine needed.

Drugs that help prevent nausea and vomiting are called antiemetics. This section discusses them based on how they work.

Nondrug options (such as acupuncture) exist to help control nausea and vomiting. Those types of treatments are used with antiemetic (antinausea) drugs. Techniques such as acupuncture and guided imagery can help relax you, distract your attention, and help you use "mind over matter" to feel more in control and less nauseous before or during your treatment sessions.

A combination of drugs frequently is used to control nausea and vomiting. Your oncologist will determine which combination is best for you based on the type of cancer treatments you are getting, other medications you are taking (such as pain medications), and other factors related to your health.

How these medications work

The pharmacologic treatments for nausea and vomiting work primarily by binding to four main types of chemical receptors in your body so that signals for nausea and vomiting are interrupted between the gastrointestinal tract, nervous system, and brain.

Treatments that don't involve drugs include various complementary medicine techniques, such as acupuncture, relaxation therapy, and guided imagery. These treatments are helpful adjuncts to medications.

This section talks about the most current treatments for nausea and vomiting. The ONS Web site lists clinical studies conducted on these topics.

Most Helpful

Behavioral therapy, which includes techniques such as relaxation, hypnosis, guided imagery, and acupuncture, may be effective in decreasing your urge to vomit.

Many types of drugs treat nausea and vomiting in various ways.

  • Some drugs act directly on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to calm it down and normalize peristalsis-the rhythmic, wavelike motion that moves food through the digestive tract.
  • Other drugs block signaling between the GI tract and the "vomiting center."
  • Other drugs block neurotransmitters so they don't send messages to the brain.
  • Many drugs block chemoreceptors from binding chemicals that could send messages to the brain to trigger nausea and vomiting.

Talk to your healthcare provider about special considerations for any drugs that you are given.

Likely to Be Helpful

Many forms of complementary medicine fall into this category.

  • Acupuncture uses hair-width needles on specific body points to restore the body's energy meridians. Acupressure does the same, using direct pressure on those body points.
  • Guided imagery helps a person visualize an image to bring about a desired physical response; in this case, stress reduction and minimization of nausea.
  • Music therapy uses music to help relax you and induce physical and psychological well-being.
  • Relaxation therapy is a series of techniques to help you progressively relax all muscle groups. Music therapy and guided imagery may be used with relaxation therapy.
  • Educational support teaches you about cancer, how to deal with disease-related crises, and how to manage symptoms throughout the course of your disease.

These techniques are used with antiemetic drugs.

The ONS Web site lists clinical studies conducted on these topics.

May or May Not Be Helpful

Virtual reality uses computer-generated images to engage you in a "new world" and to block out the situation around you, such as during cancer treatments.

This technique is used with antiemetic drugs.

The ONS Web site lists clinical studies conducted on this topic.

Not Enough Evidence

A variety of treatments fall into this category.

  • Acustimulation uses the same principle as acupuncture and acupressure to stimulate certain points on the body and restore its energy meridians. Acustimulation involves a small e-stim unit contained in a wristband. The e-stim produces a low electrical current to stimulate certain body points.
  • Exercise helps combat fatigue from cancer treatments, flushes the body of toxins, and has been found to help reduce feelings of nausea.
  • Ginger, a spice, has been used in various forms (tea, capsules, etc.) for centuries in Chinese and Indian medicine to calm nausea and vomiting.
  • Hypnotherapy guides you into a relaxed state where you are more able to accept and use therapeutic suggestions for controlling nausea, anxiety, pain, etc.
  • Massage with aromatherapy manipulates the body's soft tissues to improve circulation of blood and lymph, calm the nervous system, reduce muscle tension, increase metabolism, and enhance tissue healing. Aromatherapy often is used with massage therapy, as various essential oils can have calming effects on the nervous system.

These treatments are used with antiemetic drugs.

The ONS Web site lists clinical studies conducted on these topics.

 

Acupuncture

use of slender, hair-width needles at specific points on the skin to normalize the body’s energy meridians. Low electrical current or magnets also may be used on the needles to stimulate those points.

 
 

Guided imagery

various techniques to help a person visualize an image to bring about a desired physical response (reduce stress or pain, minimize nausea, etc.). Relaxation techniques and music may be used with guided imagery.

 
 

Adjuncts

treatments given in addition to a main treatment; in this case, antiemetic drugs

 
 

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that are released from a nerve when a nerve “fires”; the chemical carries the message to the next nerve.

 
 

Chemoreceptors

sensory nerve endings that react to certain chemical stimuli; these nerves are located outside the central nervous system and are found in taste buds, olfactory cells of the nose, etc.

 
 

E-stim

electrical stimulation; use of a low current can help heal muscles, bones, and nerves.