The treatment of ovarian cancer typically depends on different factors. These can include the type of ovarian cancer, its stage, and any special situations. Additionally, doctors may recommend that some women with ovarian cancer have their tumors removed surgically. As you may expect, treatment can have side effects that you also have to manage. Sometimes, even the medications that are given to help with treatment have side effects of their own. This is what can happen with the antiemetics that are commonly prescribed to help with nausea. While they can help, they can also cause constipation. The question is: what can you do about it? Let’s look at your options.
Depending on the stage of cancer that you’re dealing with, your doctor may pursue different types of treatment. This can include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted drug therapy, and surgery. However, each option can have side effects you need to know about. When it comes to chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted drug therapy, nausea and vomiting are a real concern.
Of course, they may not all affect you in the same way or with the same severity. The adverse effects of these treatments are generally categorized as being minimal, low, moderate, or high. Treatments in the minimal category are least likely to cause nausea and vomiting after administration. To make things a little more complicated, the risk can also depend on how or where you’re given the treatment.
For example, how radiation therapy affects you largely depends on tumor locations, radiotherapy volume, individual and total dose, dose fractionation, and radiotherapy technique. Additionally, the risk is minimal if applied to the breast or extremities, but low if applied to the pelvis, cranium, head, neck, or chest. The risk of nausea and vomiting grows to moderate if radiation therapy is used on the upper abdomen, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, or neuroaxis. Finally, the risk is highest with total body radiation.
You should note, though, that doctors have options for preventing nausea and vomiting before they administer treatment. This is known as prophylaxis. There are medications that your doctor can give you prior to various therapies that may reduce your risk of having a reaction. Unfortunately, they’re not effective for everyone. In fact, 40–50 percent of patients experience nausea, and 20–30 percent experience vomiting even after being given prophylaxis. That’s where antiemetics come in.
These antiemetics are meant to prevent and treat nausea and vomiting. Several options exist, so your doctor will need to determine which work best for you. If vomiting and nausea are not controlled, vomiting can lead to serious health problems such as dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and weight loss. As you’re undergoing treatment, you need to be as healthy as possible.
Antiemetics also help with prolonged nausea and vomiting, which is important because you can have different reactions. Acute vomiting and nausea can occur within 24 hours after treatment starts, while the delayed or late form can happen one to seven days after treatment. Anticipatory nausea and vomiting happen before treatment begins. Chronic nausea and vomiting are ongoing after treatment ends.
Although antiemetics are an important part of cancer treatment, you can’t forget about the possible side effects. The ones you deal with are directly related to the antiemetics you’re prescribed. Serotonin antagonists, in particular, are associated with headaches, dizziness, and constipation. They’re also commonly prescribed to deal with nausea and vomiting. Here’s what you should know if you feel you’re dealing with constipation.
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The first thing you need to know is what constitutes constipation. Constipation is generally defined as having fewer bowel movements than usual, due to the slow movement of stool through your large intestine. When stool stays in the large intestine longer than usual, it loses fluid and becomes dry and hard. This can make it harder to pass.
Some signs that you’re dealing with this problem are:
If you have these symptoms, you can try managing them in several ways. You should never take any medication without consulting your doctor, but you can try tweaking your routine to see if it helps.
The general recommendation is to drink eight cups of water or clear liquids per day, but your doctor can tell you whether you need more or less. While plain water helps soften stool and support bowel movements, it’s not your only option. Naturally sweetened fruit and vegetable juices, as well as clear soups, can help.
Being physically active can improve constipation symptoms. Of course, you don’t want to overdo it. Talk to your doctor and start slowly to keep everything in balance.
According to one study, when you eat is as important as what you eat. A consistent meal schedule can help regulate processes like your metabolism and sleep. If you’re dealing with constipation, eating your meals at the same time may make a difference.
RELATED: 9 Foods To Beat Constipation
Although this may not directly affect your symptoms, it can help to keep track of when things start to go off course. Catching the issue early may allow you to adjust your routine to ease your symptoms. You can also share critical information with your doctor when you communicate.
While dietary fiber can help manage constipation, it’s not something you want to increase too quickly. Adding too much fiber at once can cause gas, bloating, cramping, and may even make constipation worse, especially if you are not drinking enough fluids. It’s best to talk to your doctor to see whether they recommend adding more fiber to your diet and, if so, make sure to build it up gradually.
Generally, adults should get 22 to 34 grams of fiber a day, but your doctor can tell you what’s best. If you get the go-ahead, then whole wheat bread and pasta, oatmeal, bran flake cereals, lentils, black beans, kidney beans, soybeans, chickpeas, berries, apples with the skin on, oranges, pears, carrots, broccoli, green peas, collard greens, almonds, peanuts, and pecans are some great sources of dietary fiber. Always check with your healthcare team before taking fiber supplements, as they’re not safe for everyone.
Although constipation can be a side effect of your treatment, it’s still important to let your doctor know what’s going on. Tell them your symptoms, what you’ve been doing to relieve them, and whether it’s been effective. To confirm constipation, your doctor may need to perform a digital rectal examination (DRE). In this examination, the doctor or nurse inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the lower rectum to feel for impacted stool or unusual changes.
If you’re diagnosed with constipation, your doctor has several options for treating it. These can include:
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t use suppositories or enemas unless your doctor says they’re okay. In some people with cancer, these constipation treatments may lead to bleeding, infection, or other harmful side effects.
Depending on what your doctor finds during the DRE, it may then be followed up with an X-ray of your abdomen, which can show a tumor or fecal impaction that may be causing constipation. A fecal impaction is a serious condition in which hardened stool blocks the colon or rectum. It can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention, so you should never try to handle this on your own.
Some signs of a fecal impaction include:
If you have a fecal impaction, your doctor may recommend an enema to moisten and soften your stool so that it’s easier to pass. Enemas can be risky for some people with cancer, so they should only be used as and when recommended by a doctor. Sometimes, impacted stool must be manually removed from the rectum by a physician.
Depending on your treatment protocol, your doctor may prescribe antiemetics to help with the resulting nausea. Unfortunately, these medications can also leave you dealing with constipation. Fortunately, there are ways for you to manage constipation. Don’t forget to keep your doctor in the loop, though. Poorly managed constipation can grow into a serious condition that can only be handled through medical intervention.
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