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Self Care
Reviewed: December 2006
In addition to taking your anti nausea medications, you can try one or more things that other people have found helpful. By making some simple changes to your diet and eating habits, along with keeping track of what foods caused you to feel nauseous or made you vomit in a symptom diary; you can take control of your symptoms.
- Try eating foods and drinking beverages that were easy for you to take, or have made you feel better when you had the flu, had morning sickness or were nauseated from stress. These might be bland foods, sour candy, pickles, dry crackers, ginger ale, flat soda, or others.
- Do not eat your favorite foods when you are nauseated.
- Do not eat fatty or fried foods, very spicy foods, or very sweet foods when are you are nauseated. If possible, have somebody else make the meals when you are nauseated.
- If you have nausea and vomiting only for a few days after chemotherapy, cook and freeze several meals so that you can reheat them during the times you are nauseated.
- Eat foods that are at room temperature or cold. The smells of hot foods may make your nausea worse.
- Keep your mouth clean; brush at least twice a day.
- Ask your doctor or nurse if they can help you learn a relaxation exercise. This might make you feel less anxious and more in control, and decrease your nausea.
- Ask your doctor or nurse about using acupressure bands on your wrists, which may help to decrease your nausea.
Complementary Therapies for Managing Nausea
Often, nausea and vomiting can be managed without medication, or by following simple steps and combining this with medication. The following are some steps that should be considered if you are experiencing nausea and vomiting:
Eat
- Small, frequent meals instead of three large meals a day
- Slowly and chew food well
- Dry toast and crackers
- Foods that are salty or sweet
Our Food Choices to Help Control Nausea handout contains lots of useful suggestions.
Drink
- Fluids for several hours after anti-cancer treatment
- Drink plenty of clear liquids throughout the day, but not at mealtimes when they may make you feel bloated and increase nausea
Avoid
- Hot, spicy, or greasy foods
- Solid food right after cancer treatment
- Cooking meals that have strong odours because this can increase nausea
- Alcohol and too much coffee
The BC Cancer Agency maintains a database on commonly used unconventional therapies available to cancer patients.
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