Antiemetic Drugs - Types and Side Effects

These drugs are mostly used to help with the symptoms of vomiting and nausea. These drugs mostly treat the symptoms caused by certain other medications, infections, motion sickness, and stomach flu. These drugs are easily available and can be purchased over the counter. The drugs work by blocking specific neurotransmitters which trigger the impulse of nausea and vomiting due to which the symptoms are blocked. There are different antiemetic drugs which are useful in different situations.

There can be various reasons which can cause nausea all symptoms can be treated by the same medicine. Let us look at various antiemetic drugs.

Certain antihistamine medicines can help prevent nausea and vomiting which is caused by motion sickness. Some of these medicines are available as over the counter medicines and readily works for all. These medicines desensitize the ear to the motion of the head helping the person maintain the balance. In our body, the inner ear plays an important role to maintain the person`s balance. The balance can be affected when the person is sitting in a moving car or on a boat. Some of the common antiemetics for the motion sickness are meclizine, diphenhydramine, promethazine, and dimenhydrinate. These medicines can have certain side effects and should be discussed with a doctor before using this, especially if you have not used this medicine before.

In case of surgeries, antiemetic can be prescribed as well. Certain patients who require anesthesia for surgery can later complain of nausea and vomiting after surgery. There are diverse types of medicine which can assist with this such as dopamine receptor blockers, serotonin receptor blockers, and other corticosteroids. Some of the common antiemetic drugs which a doctor can prescribe after operation are droperidol, ondansetron, dexamethasone, metoclopramide, and granisetron. These can be known by other names as well.

The antiemetic drugs are often prescribed to cancer patients as well. Mostly the patients undergoing chemotherapy can complain nausea and vomiting. The doctor can prescribe the antiemetic medicines before and after the chemotherapy treatment. They can help prevent the symptoms of vomiting and nausea. There are various drugs which may help with this condition. They are serotonin receptor blockers, NK1 receptor blockers, dopamine receptor blockers and corticosteroids. Let us list some of the commonly used medicines for chemotherapy, dolasetron, dexamethasone, granisetron, aprepitant, palonosetron, ondansetron, rolapitant, and prochlorperazine. They may have different names in the market. The medicines from marijuana or prescription drugs also have proved that they can help reduce the symptoms of nausea and vomiting in patients who do not respond to other medicines. The risk of side effects is high with these medicines.

In case of patients with stomach flu, antiemetics can help reduce the and provide relief from the symptoms. One should understand that excessive vomiting can damage the digestive tract but it can also help remove the stomach irritants. Due to nausea, the patient may not feel like eating even though they need the nutrients. This can cause problems and certain over the counter medicines such as citrate/dextrose/fructose can help soothe the upset stomach.