Hello Joos, 

It certainly sounds like you were going around in circles hitting your head against a brick wall as you say. How frustrating it must have been for you. It's great you persisted though and kept on ringing and seeing different GPs. I am glad you feel better now after your visit to the chemo day centre. If you wanted to speak to one of our nurses about all this, the number to ring is 0808 800 4040 - it's a free number and the line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

I hope you will meet others here who have been through this before. [@TwinTwo]‍  might be a good person for you to chat to - she too has had her fair share of sickness recently! 

Best wishes,

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Joos,

Can't believe you're hitting such a brick wall getting help, it's not okay to leave you stuck like this.

I have been having awful sickness on Carboplatin chemo, but strangely no nausea, so I feel fine and then I'm just suddenly sick over and over until my stomach is empty.  Originally I was on Ondansetron, then they switched that to the version that melts on your tongue as having to take water with the tablet was causing me to bring the tablet back up.  Then it was domperidone and cyclizine.  In the end they decided I was having what's called 'anticipatory vomiting', in that it's psychosomatic.  Thing is it was happening so often and so randomly throughout the cycle that I didn't think they were right.  However, I looked back over my diary and realised the sickness was occuring most when I had an appointment coming up (i.e. I was going to have to leave the house).  So I think the sickness has mainly been due to anxiety over anticipating being sick while away from the house.

It's difficult though as I don't feel anxious or stressed and I have a supply of sick bags that I keep with me anyway.  In fact my oncologist resorted to prescribing lorazepam (a sedative), but he did so while saying to me over the phone "but you sound rather chilled out".  The lorazepam helped a bit but not enough so I have nozinan now for when it's at its worst.

Still, now that I think it may bepsychosomatic I'm using mind over matter and trying to retrain my brain, as I did with the nausea I had during chemo last year.  I've still been sick this cycle but a lot less than the last cycle.  It's not easy given that I don't feel nausea, so I'm really having to distract myself to not even think about sickness, but it seems to be working a bit anyway.

I don't know if that will be any help to you.  It is amazing the tricks our brains can play on us so it is worth considering that the sickness is down to your brain expecting you to feel sick and, in doing so, making you feel sick.  If that is the case then you can repeatedly tell your brain that you feel fine and it will eventually listen.  But it's not easy and when you're tired of course it's even harder.

Regardless of the cause do persist with your medical team, it isn't right that they're leaving you to deal with this.  Maybe something like lorazepam would help you, but of course it would make you sleepy too.

You mention that you're on your own.  Do you have any support in the form of a Maggie's Centre or MacMillan or anything like that?

Best wishes,

LJx