Nausea or vomiting is one of the many conditions that patients getting treatment for cancer have to often face. Nausea mostly results after chemo therapy. A patient may feel fatigue in addition to nausea and vomiting which in turn leads to dehydration and added weakness. A patient should take certain measures before and after chemo therapy to decrease the incident of nausea as much as possible. To begin with, you should try and notice what aggravates or reduces the feeling of nausea before chemo therapy. People often find that eating or not eating food on day of treatment lessens the intensity of nausea later. You should also try and be as relaxed as possible before the treatment, so try to listen to some music or read a book.
After the treatment, you should be careful about what you eat as your stomach will be extra sensitive to food. Have foods that are not too spicy and hard to digest. Try to include more of clear soups or chicken broth in your diet. You should consume lots of liquids in addition to having at least 8 to 10 glasses of water a day to flush out your system. You could try having grape or cranberry juice. Have ginger ale or plain soda instead of other fizzy drinks. Needless to say, you should avoid alcohol altogether. Instead of having coffee, try to switch to tea, preferably green tea. Avoid having red meats that are hard to digest as part of your meals. Have lean meats instead. You could make a chicken breast steak with mashed potatoes and lots of steamed vegetables. You could also include steamed white rice, noodles and toast as well as cream of wheat or rice cereal to your snack list. If you feel that having something cool makes you feel less nauseous, try having some cold fruit yoghurt. Some cool sherbet and popsicles can also provide some relief from post treatment nausea.