The human race will be grateful to science and research for discovering chemotherapy. Many cancer patients hope that it might not necessarily lead to their death.
However, as promising as chemotherapy is, it comes with a few side effects, making life horrible for the patient. In trying to wipe off cancer cells, the drugs sometimes destroy healthy cells, especially bone marrow, mouth, hair, digestive tract, etc. Such damage manifests via nausea, fatigue, hair loss, pain, etc.
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As a result, cancer patients experience various symptoms, which is a matter of the drugs present in the treatment plan. Also, patients must be careful about what they eat and drink during therapy, since, for example, it may be dangerous to drink alcohol during chemotherapy. The good news is that the side effects of cancer treatment do not have to make your life miserable, as there are various effective ways to minimize it.
Here are common and practical tips one can use to minimize the side effect of cancer treatment.
Exercise for Chemo-Induced Fatigue
Almost every cancer patient complains of tiredness because chemo-induced fatigue is cyclic. The exhaustion will set in right after the treatment, which will reduce until the subsequent treatment.
However, an effective way to handle such is going for an exercise. Even though it sounds counterintuitive, it works. This is not about getting a gym registration, but taking a walk can help.
In addition to exercise, you can reduce fatigue through various means like short naps, rest in the day, observing a structured sleep, eating a balanced diet, and drinking up to 10 glasses of water every day.
At times, fatigue could mean that you have low red blood cells to transport oxygen to various body parts – a typical sign of anemia. Ensure to talk to the team at the hospital if you experience extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, or dizziness.
Manage Nausea with Ginger
You might experience nausea and vomiting with some chemo drugs. Typically, you will likely share this from the first couple of minutes to hours after the treatment. Some people might sometimes experience nausea more than 24 hours after the treatment.
Ginger is one of the most effective natural substances that can help alleviate nausea for a chemo patient. According to research in Nutrition Reviews 2013, researchers explored the effects of oral ginger extracts and detected mixed results. Because of variations in dosage and extracts, the authors concluded that they needed more studies to examine the limitations of the present studies.
This ancient herb has been used for several years due to its medicinal properties, mainly because it stands out as an antiemetic. There is evidence that ginger stands out as an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting. One can use 4 cups of ginger tea to reduce nausea. You can make this at home by slicing freshly grated ginger in hot water. Slow sipping of the tea might help reduce nausea.
Use Acupuncture for Neuropathy
Some chemo drugs might affect the nerves, causing pain, tingling, and weakness. People feel these symptoms in various body parts like hands and feet. Others might experience it via muscle cramps and fatigue. Some people also experience dizziness, even though it could be less common, and other symptoms like changes in blood pressure and bladder symptoms.
While you can't prevent neuropathy, one might control it. Acupuncture is one proven method to reduce neuropathy and all its signs.
A particular 2018 research in the European Journal of Cancer explored how effective acupuncture helps prevent neuropathy in stages 1 to 3 breast cancer. Many of the patients tolerated acupuncture as it helped reduce all neuropathy traced to chemotherapy.
Support Your Hair to Regrow
Hair follicles are composed of fast-dividing cells which might be damaged through some chemo drugs. Such hair loss is not restricted to the scalp alone as it can occur in the face, pubic region, legs, etc. Many will experience such hair loss a few weeks after chemo.
At first, the scalp might be tender, hair loss occurs slowly through the treatment stages, or everything falls off at once. However, the good news is the hair will regrow in three months after chemo. Some people buy a wig to hide hair loss. In addition, you can support your hair to regrow in various ways.
When washing your head, be gentle, and use warm water. While outside, protect the scalp from extreme temperature using a scarf or hat. At night, use a satin pillowcase as it reduces friction while sleeping. And above all, stay away from products that might hurt your hair – products that dye the hair, perming product, or the ones that will straighten it should not be used.
Use CBD vape Oil
CBD is a derivative of the Cannabis plant and can help manage some of the side effects of cancer treatment, like pain, nausea, and vomiting. The FDA already gave its consent to use Cannabis-based medication for cancer patients to treat chemo-induced nausea.
The THC present in CBD products is responsible for the nausea-relieving property. You can either use CBD vape oil or go for full-spectrum CBD as they have a THC level below 0.3%.
Animal studies reveal that CBD might help reduce nausea as it reacts with the serotonin receptors.
Conclusion
Chemotherapy has given a lot of people hope that they can overcome cancer and get their life back. However, the side effects of cancer are necessary evil they have to deal with.
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