I had chemo 1 yesterday and helped some with my stomach pain/cramps. What can I eat to help? On low carbs/sugar diet. Anyone have/had this?

[IrishEntertainer]

I have Ovarian and omentum cancer. See question.

[Lyndy]

Hello... well it’s good to eat something rather than nothing. If you are taking ondansetron for sickness this is very constipating... so any fruit and veg you fancy would be good. Take laxatives if you need to and eat little and often. Good luck!

[delia2]

I second Lindy. First take all options for anti nausea and anticonstipation. During frontline I would have shooting pains in my abdomen for a couple of days but worst in the first few cycles—usually days 5 and 6. Some people think it’s the chemo killing the cancer. Nothing really helped but it didn’t last long. Good luck!

[bamboo89]

I don't know if diet can help with stomach cramps/pain, but whatever diet we might be on when not on chemo, its my strong instinct that, when on chemo, anything goes. I normally eat no dairy, eggs, or chicken at all, meat and fish rarely, otherwise largely vegan and high fibre, but during chemo, if I really craved meat, fish, chicken or an egg, or anything else, I ate them. I ate whatever my body seemed to want or that I really fancied, including some sugary things (with the exception of dairy, which gives me migraine) because there were times when I just didn't want to eat at all (especially not many of the things I usually eat) and I was losing weight, with some indigestion as well as constipation; for the latter, I had Movicol, for trapped wind (got a lot of that) or faint nausea, I would sip ginger ale (non alcoholic). Oh, and no alcohol at all... I do remember some relatively minor abdominal pain/cramping periodically, but it didn't last long and wasn't unbearable - if you're getting lots of stomach cramping, ask if Buscopan will help with that. I did get some awful pain in my back, around waist level one side after the third chemo, and needed strong painkillers for about 5 days for that - it might have been caused by the chemo working on the cancerous growth/lymph nodes present in the mesentery, which were very close to my back that side, but I don't really know, might just have been muscle spasm.

I ate more oily fish than I've eaten in the last 2 years, and after chemo number 4, I even did an extra, small supermarket order out of sheer desperation which was nothing like my usual shop - 3 large packs of prawn crackers, a large pack of popadoms, a pack of Pringles and 2 packs of 6 ready salted crisps. I had prawn crackers and pringles for breakfast that day, I had such a craving...and I normally do not like salty things at all. The next day I wanted acid, and the only thing that finally got rid of that craving was a tablespoon of neat lemon juice... 🤔😧 All very weird... but I know that carboplatin and probably other chemotherapies derange electrolytes in the body, so I can only imagine the weird cravings were to do with that. I did, though, manage to mostly carry on with my usual green nutribullet smoothies every other day and a daily banana, and always took my usual magnesium, and calcium, vitamin D and zinc supplements. Which might explain why the chemo nurse marvelled at the fact my magnesium remained good all the way through - the only electrolyte that went a bit 'off' was my potassium, which got borderline high, so I just cut back on tomatoes and berries a bit...

I also switched to plain face and body creams like diprobase, aquaeus or E45 cream instead of my usual ones, didn't use any perfume, anti perspirant or deodorant (I used a deodorant stone instead, but still not pleasant), or any perfumed products including air fresheners and so on, and bought different body wash, shampoo and conditioner and sun block with far fewer chemicals in, as well as always wearing rubber gloves if I desperately needed to use any normal household cleaning products (if bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice or vinegar couldn't do the job) - all those things have to be detoxed from the body by the liver, which is already struggling trying to cope with chemotherapy, so keeping those things off your skin as well as not breathing them in is a good idea. To try to prevent and also treat sore mouth, I used a bit of bicarb and salt mixed in water to rinse my mouth with frequently (I got the 'recipe' for that from an Australian chemotherapy advice site) instead of the Corsodyl the hospital gave me, and changed my toothpaste to oraNurse unflavoured toothpaste 1450 (has no mint flavouring, because I found normal toothpaste and the Corsodyl felt like using a flamethrower on my tongue and lips).

Whether any of that helped the chemo to be more effective if that's what you're asking, I've no idea, but I think it did help me get through the treatment better...

Good luck with your treatment

Miriam

[Newbie_2020]

This is very normal after the first chemo. I have had it, too. It can be scary as one always assumes the worst case scenario. Then when I thought about it rationally.....The chemo not only affect the cancer, it also hit good cells as well as the digestive enzymes. This could be what's is referred to as a 'chemo belly'. Try to eat easily digested low residue food and keep well hydrated (water and herbal teas like mint and chamomile). I have taken a bit of digestive enzymes.

[Goldfishstar]

Hi I am on my second lot of treatment, recurrent after 18 months from stage 4 advanced first time have last one (12th one tomorrow) After trial and error for me little lemon juice in water in the morning and an omeprazole. A protein shake with blueberries an apple and a kiwifruit made in a kiwifruit juice in nutrabullet. Then any soft baby food size like creamed rice etc every 1 1/2 to 3 hours. I use almond/coconut milk no dairy and no fatty food like battered fish or fries. Dinner is very small fish or shredded chicken and salad. I only have to take the ondanestron on day 1and day 2 and also have the smell of my husband cooking shut door. The worst days are day 4 and 5 when I just sleep and chill out. Everyone is different but I do use magnesium cream on my calf muscles at night and take vit d.

[Goldfishstar in reply to Goldfishstar]

Oh and I drink loads of water and brush my teeth with coconut oil and baking soda and have not had any mouth ulcers either time

[Eriksendi]

I used Buscopan for stomach cramps - they really helped through the difficult days.

[LesleyGB]

Hi

I agree with Lyndy. I had terrible constipation after my first chemo with everything in my pelvis becoming increasingly painful over five days. One of the anti-nausea drugs I was had been given was ondansetron, which is known for causing problems. I then had a prescription of Laculose from my GP just in case I needed it in the future. I didn't suffer any nausea from the chemo so decided to drop the ondansetron and had no problems after that. I was lucky that I've never lost my appetite but did get a craving for chocolate!

Good luck!

x