Vomiting and sleep problems-Normal?

@denis96, unfortunately, there is nothing normal about being addicted to oxy for over a decade, so your husband's responses are also unusual. Based on what I experienced and what others have told me, most of us sleep a lot after chemo. As a psychiatrist friend told me, "You have to give yourself permission to rest."

As to vomiting, when I asked my oncologist about nausea, he replied, "I won't let that happen." I took 2 4mg Dexamethasone pills the day before and after chemo, plus the first bag they hung during chemo was Dex. I never experienced any nausea at all. However, I slept a lot during the first day and a half following the first treatment and the 3 days following the 4th.

My solution for occasional sleeplessness has always been to get up and walk around the house. After 15 minutes of continuous walking, I'd find my body was ready to relax. I don't know how well your husband moves, but maybe walking will also help him. Hopefully, his next chemo treatment will help him get some rest.

All the best to you both.

Thanks for replying. My husband has not slept for the last 3 or 4 nights. He is vomiting a lot but it is mostly dry heaves. He does have nausea pills but he does not get nauseated. He just goes and throws up. He has not eaten much because when he does, he throws up. I think he kept a vanilla pudding down. That is it. I have called the doctors and they dont offer much help. I know he has lost more weight and the last time he was weighed, he only weighed 109. I am really concerned for him. I feel so bad. the palliative care did call back and were going to prescribe him trazadone for sleeping but he said it would not work for him as he tried it before. He takes xanax for anxiety and sleep but that does not help him either. If I take a half of a xanax, I am out. But then again, I did not take pills all of my life just for the high. I don't know what to do for him to help. He wont take anything unless it is a prescription drug. That is on him. But I feel so helpless. I will probably call the doctor again later. Have a good day.

When I was on chemo my doctor prescribed me an anti-nausea medication called Emend. It was taken the day before, the day of, and the day after infusions. I was never nauseous (although it occasionally gave me a bad case of hiccups). Re: sleep, I also had difficulties with it. I was only able to sleep in short increments, and would often wake up in the middle of the night and be wide awake after only three or four hours of sleep. It was a strange combination of restlessness but feeling very tired at the same time.

His doctors gave him nausea pills to take one at 7 and then again at 11 the night before chemo. But his first treatment has been almost 3 weeks ago. He says he doesn't have nausea, he just gets the feeling that he is going to throw up and he does. He has hardly been eating at all the last three days. Well, the palliative care went ahead and ordered the trazadone and also remeron. He was on remeron before but they doubled the dose this time. I hope he sleeps tonight. HIs next chemo is on Thursday Jan 2. He does also have something for nausea so he doesn't think they will help. I told him to take them anyway. How are you doing today? Are you done with all your treatments? Well, God bless you and have a Happy New Year!

Hi @denise96. Sometimes he may need to prove to the care team that what they are suggesting won't work. If he refuses to take the medication, the team may through up their hands and deem him non-compliant. If he takes the medication and still doesn't sleep, they may continue to look for other solutions. If he's not willing to work with them. There's not much else they can do. I'm sorry that you are stuck in the middle, that's a terrible position to be in.
Is he stubborn enough to want to prove the doctors wrong? I know a few family members of mine own that may be up for that type of a challenge, (rolling my eyes as I type).
If he takes the meds,
-the meds don't work for him, he proves them wrong, he still feels bad, and gets more help. He feels like he wins the challenge
-or the meds work, and he sleeps and possibly stops troughing up. Making you feel better too.
Please try to take care of yourself, it has to be so difficult to watch his misery.

That's vey sweet of you, thank you, and I hope you guys have a Happy New Year as well! I had chemotherapy/radiation in 2008 when I was first diagnosed with lung cancer and I went 10 years with no recurrences. Since 2018 I've been dealing with small malignant lung nodules that we've been zapping with just radiation. Chemotherapy can be hard... I don't know what drugs he's being treated with, but I was on large doses of cisplatin and taxotere (my oncologist later told me he'd "wrecked me" with chemo!) and it was difficult to get through... but the results were worth it.

The thing that concerns me the most is all that vomiting may have caused him to become dehydrated. It could be dangerous to his health and might make his judgment even more difficult.

If you don't know the skin pinch test this video can teach you.

I'm a retired nurse. The chemo really dehydrated me and I drank a lot of Gatorade while in treatment!

Thank you. Seems as if I have tried a lot of things, but he won't stick with any of them. I bought him gatorade but ended up throwing them out because he would not drink them. Bought him boost which he will drink once in a great while. He drinks no water. I bought ice cream to make him milkshakes. He drank two and did not want any more. I ended up throwing away the ice cream because it got old. All he will drink is coffee and milk. He eats very little because he was vomiting it all up. He had his 2nd chemo treatment yesterday and he weighed in at 94 pounds with his clothes and shoes on. If he does not start eating more, soon there will be nothing left of him. This truly worries me. The doctors tell him to eat more and drink more. I don't know how he can keep going like this.

Is medical marijuana legal where you live? What about recreational marijuana? It would be worth a try. Ask the dispensary about one that stimulates appetite. He seems to fight traditional meds.

Meanwhile, if he uses cream in his coffee, use real cream for added calories.

Time to get real. Stop begging him to let you help him. Start asking him if he wants to be buried vs cremation. Does he want any particular music played? Stories of his life shared?

Hopefully, conversations like this will spark some desire to fight. Once someone has decided that they are going to let the cancer kill then, there is little you can do to change their mind. The nihilism that this disease generated is powerful and difficult to overcome.