Hey there to everyone,
Does anyone have severe nausea and vomitting that comes along with their pancreatitis? And if so, do you know a good way of dealing with it? I am taking good antinauseants, i try to chew my food well and eat slow but it doesnt seem to be helping. Open to suggestions if someone has the time to write back. Take care and remember “pain and suffering are 2 different things”… you can be in pain and choose not to suffer 
Steph
That is my main complaint with my CP. I have found that smells have really
contributed to my N&V. I can smell something that is heavy in garlic and it
can make me nauseous for hours. I try to go upstairs if my husband is
cooking something spicy. When he is done he immediately washed by hand the
pot etc. he has used and then sprays the downstairs with a room freshener or
Oust. I also have found that you can survive on slim-fast or boost. If I
am nauseous and it won’t stop I do not eat solids. It liqiuds or nothing if
need be. I have also found that remaining still when the nausea hits helps.
If I feel nauseous I take an anti-nausea pill and lay down taking slow deep
breaths. It is hard to not eat when you are hungry but liquids take the
edge off. Hope this helps! I hope you are having a peaceful and pain-free
day.
Love and Hugs,
Angela
I have been nasue/vomitting for 3 days know. I hate feeling like this it is hard to work and deal w/ the daily things. I have not come up with anything that helps (meds help sometimes) I will just stay on a liqued diet until it supsides some. I am always nasue
Lisa
Hi, all–
I still have days w/some nasty nausea, but for me, I’ve learned that at the point I’m vomiting, it means I’m really flared, usually in excessive pain (like regular CP pain is fun:)) and need to be completely NPO (no food or drink and unfortunately back in the hospital and likely on TPN-- IV nutrition and hydration). I use Zofran w/Ativan for nausea I can manage at home-- and have usually had blocked pancreatic and/or biliary ducts/sphincters if I start vomiting, losing more weight, etc.
Hope this may help–
Hugs,
Lisa
hey, thanks to everyone who wrote back to my discussion.
the nausea is what has been making me so miserable lately. i just wish i could have one day where im not extremely weak/nauseous/ or in pain.
Angela,
thanks for the advice about staying still. its so true. i actually learned that myself the other night so im glad you confirmed it for me. i thought for sure it was going to be the first time i kept a meal down in a while and then i went for a walk and threw up :(… so i shall for sure keep that in mind from now on.
you know, some days i swear its the nausea that makes me depressed about the pancreatitis, the pain isnt 100% of the time and when its really bad i take pain killers, but the nausea, you cant escape!!
anyways, lots of love and thanks for responding
cager21,
see thats the weird part for me, i dont have to be in pain to be nauseous. sometimes the act of throwing up food causes a bit of a flare but it seems to me that the nausea is completely unrelated… what do you think? do you know what causes our nausea? i take zofran too, what is that other nthing you were talking about ativan?..
thanks again for replying guys. take care, hugs talk soon luv luv
Most with pancreatitis do suffer from a lot of nausea. I use Zofran for my anto-nauseal med and it keeps it down but does not stop it, so I have. on a scale of 1-10, about a level 5 of nausea most of the time with wild runs up to the 12’s and 15’s! If you are on phenrgan, reglan or compazine or any anti-nauseal of that family, a long-term reaction to those meds is a parkinson’s-like affliction. Mine ws that I could not talk without a lot of severe stammering and repeating a single syllable 5 or 6 times and then the same with the next and so on. My head felt very cloudy. So, watch out if you are taking those others. Zofran is not known for any long term side effects.
What kind of pancreatitis do you have?
I have acute chronic necrotizing pancreatitis.
Anyse
14 year expert on pancreatitis.
Steph–
I take Ativan (a benzodiazapene) with the Zofran b/c I was getting the shaky/jerkey stuff some of us get with the other anti-emetics. I get it worse with the others but get both dyskenesia and akasthesia from it-- and the Ativan usually keeps it controlled. All my symptoms sort of come and go-- and the nausea is there at least somewhat most days. It may or may not be the pancreatitis causing it-- I was just diagnosed with some other stuff, like laryngopharngytis that could also be contributing (It’s called LPRD). The pain is all the time and just gets way worse when it flares wildly-- like it has been all day out of control.
Hang in there–
Hugs,
Lisa
Like the pain isn’t bad enough but I feel like the nausea and vomiting is the worst part. I get sick for hours on end and like every 20 seconds and it’s the worst thing ever. I can’t believe at times i have that much bile in my body to get sick so much! It’s very frustrating because your body is so exhausted from it but can’t stop and it feels like time is still! when i have those attacks, i do have pain sometimes, but sometimes not. I do get nausea on a daily basis and don’t know why. it happens even if i’m not in pain. my lifesaver is my zofran that dissolves on your tongue. It works instantly and it is the only thing that can stop my from getting sick. I used to have liquid phenergan and all different things including the patch behind the ear, which does work quite well, but it made my eyes dilate and had a migraine for days from it, so i would recommend getting the zofran dissolving tablets. i have the generic and it’s called ondansetron. i take 8mg and take it whenever i get nauseous. it really helps. i wish there was something else that could take this away but this is the only thing that i’ve found to help. good luck. i know it’s awful.
Hi Nicole,
I have been talking to Angela, and we share the same doctor. I talked to her earlier, and she was on her way out the door to the hospital. She sounded pretty rough. I also use Zofran, and love it. I got sick at my stomach for a long period of time for no reason it seemed. I fought with my insurance for nine months to get them to pay for the Zofran, and a couple of months after they finally approved it, I stopped getting sick!! Go figure. I have pain everyday, sometimes just triggered from cooking and/or smelling food. Then, about two weeks out of the month I am having full blown pancreatitis. I have oral pain med, but when it gets bad it is not enough. I went to my old pain doctor today, and he gave me FENTORA, which is basically the same thing as the Fentanyl patch, but dissolves under the tongue, and works more like an IV–says it works very fast. I am not able to get it until Friday, because it had to be ordered. The patches make me VERY ill, so he is not sure if I will tolerate this or not. If not, then he is sending me to a pain doctor that will order home IV pain meds during flare ups, which I know will work! But, I would rather not access my port if I don’t have to, since there is a high chance of infection with every time it is accessed.
I hope you are feeling ok. I am actually feeling a little better today.
Karen
kspeer1-
have you tried the fentanyl lozenges? they are called actiq. that’s what i take and they work within 2-3 minutes and last for a while! maybe try those if you can’t tolerate the fentora. they really help with the sharp, breakthrough pain that is unbearable. good luck! let me know how the fentora works!
Nicole, Karent, et.al.–
I’m still using the Zofan, too-- only at 4mg ODT (the ones that dissovle) but when I take 1-2mg oral Ativan with it I not only avoid any side-effects but the Ativan can also be used to help with nausea.
As for the Fentanyl options-- the Fentora should not replace the patch, which is meant for the long-lasting chronic pain. The Fentora can replace the Actiq, but the doses may be different. It actually gets in even quicker than the Actiq, but won’t last any longer-- about 2-3 hours at best. You shouldn’t take either of these short-acting break-through pain meds unless you are on the patch or another morphine/opiate-type long-lasting and continuous med or you could have problems. Just some FYI per the pharmacists who deal with CP and chronic pain a lot. One more note, the Actiq is pretty tolerable taste-wise and I’ve been warned the Fentora just tastes like medicine-- but it does get in there fast.
Best of luck and many hugs,
Lisa
Hi Nicole,
I tried the lollipops, and couldn’t stand the taste! I am hoping this is better. I have used the patches in the past, but they make me deathly ill. I am hoping this form of the medicine won’t make me sick, but the doctor said the only way to know was to try it.
Karen
hey to everyone,
how are you all doing? well i hope?.. i just wanted to write again to say thanks, i talked to my doctor and he did have me on zofran, i guess the generic name is ondansetron… well he upped my dose to 8 mg, and for 3 days now i have been taking it every morning with my usual pills… i have found that an increase in the dosage has helped DRAMATICALLY… i cant even believe it, i am keeping my food down, i went out for dinner with a friend last night and we ate greek food, i had a small chicken souvlaki dinner and i kept it down, i am so happy. maybe things will get better from here :)… now if only i could get the pain under control…
take care everyone.
love steph
Hi Lisa,
I will be trying the Fentora after it is delivered tomorrow. I would rather stick with using home IV Dillaudid, which I know works, and fast. It is hard to find a doctor to write for it, but I am looking. I don’t want to be in the hospital every other week when I have full blown pancreatitis!! Too much of a risk to catch something that would make my Cystic Fibrosis worse. One regular doctor of mine said he would write for it, until it came time, and then he changed his mind!! Whats up with that. I think he says what we want to hear when I am in the office, and then does what he wants after I leave. That really helps me a lot!! Hope you are having better luck with pain control than I am, because I am getting tired of fighting it.
Karen
I too can get the nausea without any pain and sometimes the nausea is so awful. I would almost rather throw up then have long bouts of nausea. My dr. has given me compazine for the nausea but it doesn’t seem very effective any more. Many on this forum seem to prefer zofran. I am going to ask my dr. to prescribe it. I do get some relief from ginger snaps (be sure there is ginger in the ingredients), from candied ginger and from ginger chews that I get from our food co-op. Hope this helps. I just got out of the hospital from a bout of pancreatitis and have found that listening to a cd by Belleruth Naperstack using guided imagery to deal with the pain really helps me a lot. Let me know if you would like more info. Betsy
Hi Betsy,
I also use Zofran, and it works well for me. I use the disintegrating tablets, they work the fastest. I have used many methods to get through pancreatic attacks. Many times I will try and walk through the pain, but I can’t go too far, or I end up on the ground blocks from home. I found this one out the hard way!!! My little dog is dying from end stage liver and kidney failure. I feel so bad for him. I love that little guy to death, and now he will soon be gone. I just can’t stand the thought. I have to get off here now, and check on him. I’ll talk to you later.
Karen
My husband and I were visiting a friend who is a nurse anesthetist and we were talking about the horrible nausea with cp. She suggested trying the patches and wrist bands people use for seasickness…she said they can be very helpful for other types of nausea…has anyone had success with these. I figure they might be worth a try…Betsy
I have had success in controlling the nausea - most of the time - with meclezine aka dramamine or bonine. My PCP keeps telling me that these are for motion sickness bu tmy answer is that they are working and I am trying not to take anything that will make me groggy as I want to keep functioning. It’s worth a try.
I am using an over the counter med called Emetrol. It works really well for me.
Vonnie
Hi Everyone,
I have a question I have been nauseous for three weeks and I had blood work done yesterday which was perfectly normal.
I hate this I have pain and feel sick and I would like to know has anyone
had this happen?
p.s I feel like Im a nut
Kathie