5 Helpful Tips For Dealing With Chemotherapy Side Effects
Chemotherapy is one of the more common ways to treat cancer. This treatment can be very effective at killing cancer cells, but it can damage your healthy cells in the process. After a chemotherapy treatment, you may experience fatigue, nausea, taste changes and other unpleasant side effects. These treatments can make it difficult for you to do your daily activities. Here are five helpful tips for dealing with chemotherapy side effects.
Avoid Greasy and Heavy Foods
Nausea is a common side effect of chemotherapy and can make you feel downright awful. One way to ease your nausea after a treatment is to stay away from greasy and heavy foods like pizza, burgers and fried chicken. These foods are not easy on the stomach and can make your nausea worse. You should stick to bland foods such as crackers, toast and yogurt.
Wash Your Hair As Little As Possible
Chemotherapy can result in hair loss, which can have a major effect on your self-esteem. You can reduce the amount of hair you lose by washing it as little as possible. If you only wash your hair once or twice a week, you will lose less hair.
Try Yoga
Exercise is probably not on your mind after you get done with a chemotherapy session, but it can actually improve your symptoms. A gentle exercise, such as yoga, can decrease fatigue and improve your sleep. If you have never done yoga before, work with a yoga instructor who has experience with dealing with cancer patients.
Include Fiber in Your Diet
Constipation is another common side effect of chemotherapy and can make you feel very uncomfortable. You can ease your constipation by including more fiber in your diet. Fiber-rich foods, such as oat bran, beans and peanuts, will help you have more frequent bowel movements.
Treat Mouth Sores
Chemotherapy can destroy some of the cells in your mouth, which can lead to mouth sores. When you have mouth sores, eating and drinking can become more difficult. You can reduce some of the pain by cutting your food into smaller pieces, using a straw and avoiding acidic and spicy foods.
Chemotherapy is not easy to go through, but you can manage the side effects. If you follow these helpful tips, chemotherapy will be a lot easier to go through. If your side effects are still unbearable, you should make an appointment to see your oncologist, such as someone from Cancer & Blood Specialists of Nevada, soon.
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