Persistent Nausea Not Related To Medications?

[Eillyre]

Hi all! Just passing along 2 questions from a possible dysautonomia candidate:

1) Have any of you experienced persistent nausea (not medication-related) for several months to the point that you had significant weight loss?

2) If so, what kinds of treatments have you found helpful in managing it?

Thanks!

[Christy_D]

My son has been nauseated daily since Feb 09. We have yet to find anything to help. He has tried every over the counter anti nausea med and a ton of prescription meds. He wakes up nauseated and as the day goes on it starts to diminish. He over compensates by eating a lot in the evenings, so he has not lost any weight. He can even eat when he is somewhat nauseated(that I can't do), but it is usually when he is still laying down.

So I am interested in what anyone else has to say to try. I believe I have even posted this same question in the past.

[spaceorca]

My son definitely suffered persistent nausea unrelated to medications--I think it's quite a common symptom with POTS and other autonomic disorders. One cause is gastroparesis, slowed emptying of the stomach. Because the stomach and intestines don't work normally, they cause feelings of nausea. Another is from the POTS blood-flow problems--feeling dizzy is closely related to feeling nauseous. Some people feel one more than the other.

The best non-prescription treatments my son found were ginger tea and dramamine. Avoiding a lot of movement (especially car rides) also helped. Some people have success with those wrist bracelets that stop motion sickness, but they didn't seem to work for my son.

Some of the prescription drugs he has used are phenergan (very effective, but makes him very sleepy) and zofran (not quite as effective, expensive, but doesn't make you sleepy). He also tried marinol (a prescription derivative of marijuana!), which some people find quite effective for nausea. But it didn't help Dan's nausea as much. Hope some of those ideas help your friend. My son's nausea was so bad at one point before he was diagnosed that I remember him walking around the house with a bowl, stopping occasionally for a few dry heaves. Gross to describe but the nausea was so constant that it had become a commonplace backdrop for him!

[Notgivinup]

When my POTS symptoms first started I was nauseous for almost a year. Zofran eventually took it away. Then one day I woke up with no nausea. Just like that it was gone. I still had/have all the other POTS symptoms.

[potsgirl]

I go through cycles where I'm much more nauseated than at other times. My 'down periods' usually last for several months, though, so I almost always have nausea to some extent and have to force myself to eat or I'd lose weight, which would be unhealthy for me...

[kayjay]

yes. major problem for me. I will say I no longer have the weight loss problem though from drinking coke, gingerale and eating crackers. I feel much worse with an empty stomach. I have a small bucket I keep nearby ( and in the car). I don't vomit very often ( maybe once or twice a month) because I have learned to stop moving when I feel nausea come on.

[songcanary]

Absolutely! Nausea, in fact, was the first symptom I saw my PCP about. Along with it the lightheadedness, fatigue and weakness. I actually lost 10 lbs within three months (without trying) and could not gain it back then because of the nausea. I was a skeleton.

This doctor kept sending me to gastro, always with negative test results. I felt like I was watching myself die. After three years of this garbage I referred myself to Cleveland Clinic Endocrinology who referred me to Rheumatology, where I have been diagnosed with dysautonomia and fibro, and am awaiting a cardio consult and tilt table test. In the meantime, I have been started on doxepin, and THAT is what knocked out the nausea. In three weeks I have gained several pounds and most importantly, I have an actual appetite, which is a known side effect. It has been a godsend.

[Chaos]

I've had periods lasting for months at a time of chronic nausea, sometime on its' own and sometimes along with multiple other GI symptoms. All my GI workups have been negative. The nausea comes and goes and I haven't been able to link it to much of anything. I've lost as much as 20 pounds at a time from this. Then it spontaneously clears up and my appetite returns and I gain some of the weight back.

My GI symptoms in general have been better since I started the MCAD meds (H1 and H2 blockers- Allegra and Zantac). I still have some of the low grade nausea with no appetite but it's not as bad as it used to be.

[issie]

One thing that I've found helps my nausea is homeopathy by Hylands called "Motion Sickness". These are fast and easy to use. They work pretty fast too.

[Rachel]

Here are things that help me to manage my nausea:

- Small, frequent meals. Just crackers and tea when nausea is more severe.

- Peppermint tea

- Ginger root capsules

- Lying down very still on my side

Rachel