I'm not sure abput appetite-inducing drugs, but depending on the type of chemo you're on you may get high doses of anti-nausea meds. I did. I still didn't want to eat, but I wasn't vomiting all the time.
I did 4 rounds of chemo, one round is a week (5 days) on, 2 weeks off. During the third round the nausea was so bad that I ate a piece of toast and drank some water. That week.
They try to get you to eat anything and everything so you have some strength. It's also a factor to flush the chemo drugs out of your body. Food and fluids help that too.
Thanks for sharing your experience. That sounds brutal and I hope you're on the mend now!
I had heard on a podcast[1] about the Ensure thing quite awhile back, and I asked an MD acquaintance about it before I posted to make sure I wasn't about to post "fake news." The acquaintance is the one that then mentioned the appetite-inducing drugs. They're not an oncologist though so it's possible they're not up-to-speed on current practices, or more likely I misremembered their exact wording and they may have been referring to anti-nausea meds in the first place.
[1]: I think it was the Peter Attia Drive podcast with guest Dr. Rhonda Patrick
Brutal is a nice way of putting it. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I'm also fairly certain that I'd never do it again, but that's another story. Thanks for the kind words. My chemo ended about 2 years ago. I'm feeling pretty good now, other than the long-term/permanent side-effects.
I wouldn't be surprised to know that some oncologists put patients on meds to induce/increase appitite. But, from what I know of the chemo drugs I studied, anti-nausea is pretty much a given.
It may also be a factor for some who don't have much mass to lose and maintain a healthy weight. My oncologist kept up with me throughout the process and asked how I felt as it related to the weight-loss, red blood cell counts and all of those other blood tests. I probably could have gotten those meds too, if I asked. But, I was kinda against putting even more drugs in my body at that point.
I did 4 rounds of chemo, one round is a week (5 days) on, 2 weeks off. During the third round the nausea was so bad that I ate a piece of toast and drank some water. That week.
They try to get you to eat anything and everything so you have some strength. It's also a factor to flush the chemo drugs out of your body. Food and fluids help that too.