Question:
friend with nausea

I have a friend who had surgery about four weeks ago and is suffering with nausea. She is unable to eat or drink anything. Trys small sips of water just to keep hydrated. Our doctor is out of town and not available. Anyone have any good ideas as to how to deal with this?    — Rose B. (posted on April 5, 2000)

April 5, 2000
Rose: You state; <b>Our doctor is out of town and not available. Anyone have any good ideas as to how to deal with this?"</b> Surely her surgeon's surgical nurse is there or maybe an on-call surgeon while yours is out of town.. Has (he/she been out of town for four weeks?) What was she eating/drinking while in the in the hospital, and was she getting sick there?.. She might be eating to fast, to much at a time..hard to guess.. One thing is for sure she's not getting proper hydration...No matter what she should get in contact with her surgeon or nurse or on call surgeon or her PCP ASAP..
   — Victoria B.

April 5, 2000
Great advice from Vicky, can't add to that..
   — C S.

April 5, 2000
Rose - It's not uncommon for nausea to hit at 3-5 weeks post-op. Some have had success with ginger tea or ginger root (in powder or capsule form). Can she drink warm tea? Maybe an herbal one? That will help with hydration. How about nibbling on crackers? No real protein to speak of, but it's for sure she's not getting any by not eating. And not eating does contribute to the nausea. Lack of protein can also cause nausea. If she can force herself to eat something the nausea may come down to manageable levels, which will allow her to get in more of the proteins and fluids she needs. That worked for me when the ginger failed. The nausea did pass, by the way. At about 12 weeks it was pretty much a thing of the past, but it still returns when I'm not getting enough protein. Check around on this site, others have posted about this problem before, and you may find some helpful advice. But whatever she does, she should definitely follow Vicky's advice and check with someone in her surgeon's office.
   — Duffy H.

April 6, 2000
I have found that generic dramamine works great. I settles the stomach almost imediately. I asked my doctor if it was okay to take it and he said it was a great idea.
   — Jen L.