Are you feeling sick?
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You may experience sickness/nausea due to your illness or it may be caused by the treatment you are having. This may only be temporary but will affect your eating.
Here are some suggestions to help manage your symptoms:
• Eat ‘little and often’ rather than having large meals. Always try to eat something as having an empty stomach can make nausea worse.
• Frequent ‘nibbling’ may keep sickness under control. Try dry foods such as plain biscuits, ginger biscuits, crackers or toast.
• If the smell of cooking makes you feel sick, try to keep away from the kitchen when a meal is being prepared or ask a friend of family member to cook for you.
• Try to eat near an open window so there is plenty of fresh air in the room and put away food that is not eaten.
• Avoid greasy, fatty, spicy or strong smelling foods as they may make you feel worse.
• Have plain, bland foods such as potatoes, pasta or rice with plain chicken, fish, or cold cuts of meat, and try milky puddings, ice lollies or ice-creams.
• Salty foods like crisps, salted biscuits, cheese or soup may be easier to eat.
• Try to take a short walk before a meal.
• Sit upright to eat and avoid lying down immediately afterwards.
• Ice cold drinks may help but don’t have lots of fluids just before a meal as it may fill you up.
• Sipping a fizzy drink slowly through a straw often helps, e.g. ginger ale, cola, lemonade or soda water.
• Food and drinks containing ginger may help to reduce the feeling of sickness, e.g. ginger biscuits, crystallised ginger, ginger ale or ginger tea.
• Some people find peppermint tea or mints helpful.
• Cutting down on caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol may help.
• Ask your doctor to prescribe anti-sickness medication (anti-emetics). It is important that you take these regularly as advised. If the medication is not working for you, ask your doctor to change them as there are many types of these medicines available.
• Being constipated can make you feel sick. Speak to your doctor if this is a problem for you.