Digestive Tract

Eating Issues / Lack of Appetite

Traditional intravenous chemotherapies can cause nausea and vomiting, thus making it difficult to eat or can decrease your appetite. Despite this issue, it is very important to maintain your weight during these treatment regimens as you need your reserves to help your body recover.

Recommendations

• Meal Replacement shakes. Instant Breakfast plus: Add a scoop of whey powder (protein) to an instant breakfast mix, add cold milk/ice cream/yogurt, fresh or frozen berries or banana or chocolate, etc. Use ice cream if you are trying to keep weight on. Blend and drink; keep cold as it’s soothing on a sore throat. You can take in a lot of nutrition and calories in a small portion.

• Baked custard; it’s delicious, full of protein, calories and is easy to digest.

• Mashed potatoes are tasty and go down easily.

• “Bone” broth is an excellent way to get collagen, nutrients, minerals and protein into your system and is easy to digest. Home made version is full of nutrients but it takes awhile to make, has a lot of ingredients

• You can put anything in a blender and make an easy-to-drink meal,  cooked foods are easier to digest than raw.

• Try eating small portions more frequently throughout the day.

Acid Reflux

Certain cancer treatment oral drugs can be hard to digest or infusions can also exacerbate acid reflux. It presents as a burning feeling in your upper chest or throat, often occurring after eating or when you have an empty stomach. It can also kick up while you are sleeping and can disrupt your sleep. It's a good idea to consider treating it as the stomach acid exposure can cause throat, esophagus issues over time

Recommendations

• Avoid the following foods and drinks at night, later in the day; cooked tomatoes, spicy foods, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate can be contributing factors

• Finish last meal, snacking three hours before going to bed

• Take Tums or other calcium based acid reducers when you get that burning feeling in your throat or chest

• Elevate the head of your bed

• If reflux becomes an ongoing issue or occurs more frequently, ie you're taking a lot of Tum’s, discuss with your GP about being prescribed one of a number types of acid controlling medications; Pepcid is one example.
  
  

Halitosis or “Horridly Bad Breath”

Some oral targeted treatment regimens can cause terrible bad breath, which periodically occurs and may come from the stomach or gut. It is typically at its worst in the morning. It could be an acid reflux-like issue or possibly from the intestinal lining cells that are dying off from the treatment regimen. Lack of saliva secretion can also add to this issue. Acid reflux could also be a contributor to this issue so if bad breath continues discuss the issue with your GP or Oncologist

Recommendations

• Brushing the tongue well with a soft toothbrush and good oral hygiene can help.

• Biotene Oral Rinse: gargle periodically (ie before going to sleep helps stimulate saliva production).

• Try gargling with mouth wash (ie Crest Pro Health) but some seem harsh as they include alcohol as a main ingredient.

• Floss!

• Taking Probiotics may help the intestinal tract get back into balance. (Reference Probiotics section)

• Eat mild foods during these episodes.

• Stay hydrated (Reference Hydration Section)

• Try taking calcium/antacid after eating if certain foods give you indigestion. NOTE: Some antacids can interfere with the effectiveness of your cancer drug treatment. Best to wait at least an hour or two after taking your oral targeted treatment.

• Talk to your GP about acid reflux if you are taking antacids a fair amount. He/She might prescribe something that will better help manage that condition.

Nausea

Some treatments can cause nausea. Traditional intravenous (IV) chemotherapies are often the biggest culprit. Patients may experience nausea the following day or once the dampening effects of steroids start to wear off after a couple of days. Take prescription nausea medications on a regular schedule as recommended. It’s much harder to combat moderate nausea once you’re already feeling sick, thus physicians highly recommend being aggressive with anti-nausea meds if you are prone to this reaction.

Recommendations

• Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer containing real ginger, not just flavoring (ie Natural Brew “Outrageous Ginger Ale”, ”FeverTree” or other brewed ginger ales).

• Candied ginger

• Ginger tea (ie “Prince of Peace Ginger Honey Crystals”).

• Eat protein instead of crackers (ie hard boiled eggs, nuts) for nausea.

• Zofran is a prescription anti-nausea drug. Use the under-the-tongue formulation if you’re already nauseated. Be careful not to over medicate while taking Zofran. Zofran often causes constipation as a side effect.

• If nausea is a big problem, even with the use of Zofran, ask your doctor for a prescription for Emend.

Vomiting

Obviously you want to avoid getting nauseated and vomiting. Take anti-nausea drugs early on before you become too nauseated. It can be difficult to stop retching once it starts.

Recommendations

• Zofran is a prescription anti-nausea drug. There is also an under-the-tongue formulation if you are already nauseated or can’t keep it down (unfortunately, this formulation is pricey.)

• Rinse your mouth out with ¼ teaspoon of baking soda in 1 cup of warm water; don’t swallow.

• Drink fluids and include some fluids containing electrolytes to keep your body properly hydrated.

•  Reference the Hydration section for more tips