I am hopefully in the last round of my iv lyme treatment. 50mg IV tygacil. Nauseuos 24/7 2 weeks down, 6 more to go.
I can barely get food down. The only thing I want to eat are carbs. (I'm pretty good about my low carb, no yeast or sugar diet)
What can I eat to get through this? Everything I look at makes me nauseous- Is there any healthy protein drink I can have for 6 weeks. I have to get through this!!!!
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
Do you have any Phenergan? get some!!
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Ask your doctor for Zofran 8mg. Take it 3x per day. You have to be able to eat. It may not be what your used to but eat what sounds good.
Tygacil gave me horrible nausea that did not go away with time. Zofran helped but did not completely relieve it. I did 2 infusions per day, after the evening dose I could not brush my teeth (would make me vomit). I could barely make it to bed sometimes.
If I didn't take Zofran at all I could not get out of bed, ever. It gave me such severe nausea and vertigo that I could not turn my head or open my eyes. Just had to lay there perfectly still in bed. After the Zofran dose I could at least get out up and eat some stuff.
Tygacil also changed my tastes. I hated anything that was remotely sweet, could not force myself to eat it, just the thought of some foods made me sick. Could only tolerate salty or savory things.
It has taken me a couple months to add more variety back to my diet. I can eat berries and apples and baked sweet potatoes again.
That's one tough drug. Maybe it won't be so bad if it's the only med you're on. I was on several meds along with it and have struggled with nausea as a regular symptom so maybe I was more sensitive or predisposed to it. Who knows, I'm just glad to be done with it.
Good luck lyme987. Ask your doctor for help. Don't try to soldier through without being able to eat. It will only make you weaker and sicker. Remember, you want to finish out stronger.
Posted by soleil16 (Member # 16326) on :
It's funny, I also could not eat anything sweet. French fries were the most appealing thing to me for the 5 months I was on Tygacil. The carbs/ salt were the only thing I could stomach.
I gained 15 lbs or so because I could only eat carbs. I tried to eat healthily but ended up eating whatever I could get down.
Zofran and Phenergan were not very useful for me and neither was anything else I tried like ginger. Honestly, the nausea got worse over 5 months. BUT--- it got me to such a better place. It's the most effective drug I've taken yet, so it was worth the nausea.
Posted by lyme987 (Member # 22148) on :
Thanks everyone for the replies. I do take zofran and was able to eat a nutritious dinner this evening. You're right about the nausea getting worse though. I'm going on my 3rd week and it's much worse than my first.
What is phenergan? A drug or an herb? I've tried ginger wonder and arcinicum album-did nothing. The carb thing is totally true- it's the only thing I want to eat
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Phenergan is a prescription anti-nausea med. Tigan is another. I took Tigan with the Zofran for the last couple months.
It might also help to snack on small protein/carb combos throughout the day to help keep your blood sugar stable. Forgot to mention that earlier.
I ate alot of peanut butter and string cheese (not together!) while on Tygacil.
Posted by Erica741 (Member # 15186) on :
Sammy- When you said you've struggled with nausea as a regular symptom, do you mean since before Tygacil?
I'm esp curious because I developed a whole set new GI probs after finishing Tygacil (not nausea until recently). I wonder if Tygacil can cause significant GI complications long past when the drug has left the body?
Posted by Haley (Member # 22008) on :
Erica,
I have definitely gotten GI issues after certain meds. I also had swelling in my legs after IV Tygacil and IV Doxy among others. The flora gets all messed up from these medicines (not just yeast).
I found that I had developed new infections from all the medicine. It is just a matter of figuring out which ones are out of wack. A stool sample sent to a good lab gave me lots of good information.
Posted by Erica741 (Member # 15186) on :
Haley, did your LLMD order the testing? My GI probs have been going on since Feb, but LLMD won't address.
I know a lot of these tests are "alternative"...so do you know of any more mainstream testin my primary MD would know how to order?
Any blood tests you know of? Um, a stool test isn't really possible anymore...which that alone should be of concern to a doctor...
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Hi Erica, to answer your question yes the nausea started back on day one of my illness. It was worse and constant while on Tygacil. Went back to baseline when I stopped the Tygacil infusions.
If you are having serious GI problems or concerns ask your primary care doc for a referral to see a GI doc for evaluation. Some insurance carriers do not require referrals for specialists. If this is the case you could call up a GI doc and schedule the appt yourself.
The GI doc won't be much help for your Lyme but they can help you figure out what is causing your GI symptoms and come up with a treatment plan. It's worth a try and better than worrying.
Posted by blinkie (Member # 14470) on :