iVillage

7 Home Remedies to Combat the Side Effects of Chemo

Chemotherapy can kill cancer, but it can also bring in a slew of side effects including nausea, vomiting, dry mouth, digestive problems and more. Try these tips to help - no prescription required (8 Photos)

Julie D. Andrews on Oct 2, 2012 at 1:34PM

chime in now

Single View
View All

1 of 8

7 Home Remedies to Combat the Side Effects of Chemo

Joff Lee/photolibrary/getty images

Ginger

Relieves: Nausea and an upset stomach

If your stomach feels unsettled, you’re not alone: Post-treatment nausea and vomiting are reported by up to 70 percent of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. If you’re among the unlucky majority, give ginger a try to soothe your stomach, says Stewart Fleishman, M.D., author of Learn to Live Through Cancer. It can also help treat nausea anddiarrhea and can stimulate your appetite by kick-starting digestive juices and saliva. A study of mostly women undergoing chemotherapy found that patients who took a daily ginger supplement suffered significantly less nausea, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

How-To: One nausea-preventing dose ranges from 250 milligrams to 1 gram of ginger powder mixed with liquid taken multiple times in the day, not to exceed the maximum daily adult dose of 5 grams, according to the American Cancer Society. You can also sip ginger tea, cook with it or try ginger lozenges, says Fleishman. Be sure to talk to your doctor before taking ginger because it can slow blood clotting.

Filed Under:

Comments See all

Do you have any other tricks for dealing with chemo?