Alexa has had nausea upon waking every day. She takes a zofran which seems to work fine and she’s good the rest of the day. I’m thinking the Motrin she takes is rough on her stomach. Anyone else had issues with nausea this far after surgery?
My last surgery was at the beginning of March and I am still having a lot of trouble with nausea. I'm currently not on any medicines so I'm not really sure what is the cause of it. But I also take Zofran and it seems to help a lot. I take 2 or 3, which works well for me. I would ask her doctor if you are concerned about it! although i dont think it is anything to worry too much about.
Thanks for both your replies! I did tell the surgeon at her post-op visit and they didn’t think it was a big deal. He jokingly asked if she were pregnant. Everything checks out neurologically and she is going to PT for muscle stiffness.
She is back to school full time but wants to rest a lot when she gets home. Once a day Zofran seems to keep her stomach fine. I’m thinking it may be psychological and substituting a Zyrtec for the Zofran and see how that goes 
Lindsey Michelle said:
My last surgery was at the beginning of March and I am still having a lot of trouble with nausea. I’m currently not on any medicines so I’m not really sure what is the cause of it. But I also take Zofran and it seems to help a lot. I take 2 or 3, which works well for me. I would ask her doctor if you are concerned about it! although i dont think it is anything to worry too much about.
Joalexa,
Glad you called the doctor...if you go back to old posts you can see ALOT of people went through weeks of nausea after surgery. I was nauseous for almost 2 months after my surgery.
Good luck to you both!
Monique
Thanks again for all the replies! As you can imagine, I have been googling ICP and pseudomengiocele and scaring myself. I guess I have to go by what Alexa looks like, and how she feels. She is certainly NOT 100% and this is a tough surgery to recover from. Her bout with aseptic meningitis took alot out of all of us all since it lasted a week, and the morning nausea she is feeling now is NOTHING like the vomiting she had with the meningitis. So I guess only being 5 weeks out and seeing her going to school and getting a bit better every day is comforting (although I am planning a trip to Valium Island in the near future). I guess I wonder why she only has the nausea in the morning and never after that (she’s eating better now after losing 10 pounds). I will take your advice and if the nausea continues after a few more weeks, I will contact the NS again. By the way, the NS has NO bedside manner whatsoever and honestly, I don’t care about his personality, I only care about his skills as my child’s surgeon. I honestly can’t waste my energy getting mad at him for a stupid comment. In the meantime, her pediatrician said to try the Zantac at night and see if that made any difference in the morning. Also, Zyrtec is one of Alexa’s approved medications (which she hasn’t taken for the past 3 months) so I feel comfortable pulling the old switcheroo on her and seeing what happens 
One more thing…i noticed that Alexa is holding her neck to the left…she’s not one for following doctor’s orders to do the neck exercises. At the PT today, he said the same thing and performed massage therapy and gave her a set of exercises to do (yeah right). Her headaches are MUCH Improved however I think, as does the PT, that some of her discomfort is from the neck stiffness which can cause headaches. Also, the PT thinks it is highly unlikely that Alexa will be back on the tennis court in a month’s time as the neck muscles take a long time to heal properly. I had to fight with the NS to get the script for PT (she doesn’t need it…my reply was “you can’t see how she’s holding her neck?”) and I got the script. I found a Chiari experienced sports physical therapist at Rothman Institute and I truly think he will help speed her recovery.
Pop tart I have to say I am so glad I found this group, and I am amazed at how helpful you are! I can’t thank you enough for all the interest you are taking in Alexa. I already looked up the tilted neck thingie, and now I am so glad I fought for the PT script. It sounds as if we caught it early enough that the PT can resolve it. And no worries about Alexa expressing EXACTLY how she feels to Shaun…she won’t hold back lol. We are reminding her whenever we see the head tilt! As far as the nausea, there is no headache or just a slight one (probably from her neck). No sensitivity to light. Her scar looks nice and flat. She’s down to 400 mg Motrin twice a day and it’s more her neck than her head. You’re probably right about switching the Zyrtec for the Zofran…but I really want her off that med because it causes bad constipation. We already have her on Colace and Miralax after calling the doctor. Hopefully the nausea will go away with the Zantac. I am satisfied that we did the right thing having the surgery because of the extensive syrinx and going through this postoperative stuff comes with the territory. Thanks again for all your ideas and for taking an interest in my child!
Poptart said:
I’ve yet to have a delightfully engaging conversation with a neurosurgeon but I guess one day that may happen. Ask yourself if you daughter is getting any type of positional headache or does she have a headache with the nausea. Does she have any other type of light sensitivity or anything like that. Is she on meds that make her nauseous. Also is she having regular bowel movements. Some of the meds really play havoc on the intestines and sometimes you have to add some like Miralax or a fiber supplement to get everything going in the right way. If things don’t move through exactly right then you can get pretty sick to your stomach. Does she have any dizziness or anything. I would probably try what the doctor recommended and go with the Zantac at night. I don’t think that you probably need to try the Zyrtec thing unless you suspect that it is allergy related. I would almost be that it is not psychological. I imagine that she is legitimately nauseous and unless you treat that or resolve the cause then you may make things worse. Remember that he may be a neurosurgeon, and she is his patient…but you are her mom and you know her a lot better than he does.Good luck
Oh my, you have quite the story. I am so glad you are finally better! You have an amazing attitude! Good luck in your masters and doctorate program...my older daughter completed a doctorate at Temple University and I know just how dedicated you have to be. I hope your daughter also does well and never has to have the surgery. Certainly your knowledge is extremely helpful to everyone here on the board. Alexa's PT didn't mention torticollis, but I will check it out on Tuesday when she goes back to him. Not sure why the NS never mentioned tylenol instead of motrin. Let's see how she does this morning, but I will definitely ask questions if the morning nausea continues beyond another few weeks.
Take care, JoAnne
Ok so we’re going to the beach today and Alexa jumps out of bed, headache free, gets nauseous and vomits. Feels better immediately after and takes no Motrin because she’s headache free(only slight stiffness in her neck). Now I’m thinking this is definitely gastro related because there are no other Neuro signs like dizziness or headache. And she didn’t take the Zantac last night (my bad). Thoughts on this?
Joalexa said:
Pop tart I have to say I am so glad I found this group, and I am amazed at how helpful you are! I can’t thank you enough for all the interest you are taking in Alexa. I already looked up the tilted neck thingie, and now I am so glad I fought for the PT script. It sounds as if we caught it early enough that the PT can resolve it. And no worries about Alexa expressing EXACTLY how she feels to Shaun…she won’t hold back lol. We are reminding her whenever we see the head tilt! As far as the nausea, there is no headache or just a slight one (probably from her neck). No sensitivity to light. Her scar looks nice and flat. She’s down to 400 mg Motrin twice a day and it’s more her neck than her head. You’re probably right about switching the Zyrtec for the Zofran…but I really want her off that med because it causes bad constipation. We already have her on Colace and Miralax after calling the doctor. Hopefully the nausea will go away with the Zantac. I am satisfied that we did the right thing having the surgery because of the extensive syrinx and going through this postoperative stuff comes with the territory. Thanks again for all your ideas and for taking an interest in my child!
Poptart said:I’ve yet to have a delightfully engaging conversation with a neurosurgeon but I guess one day that may happen. Ask yourself if you daughter is getting any type of positional headache or does she have a headache with the nausea. Does she have any other type of light sensitivity or anything like that. Is she on meds that make her nauseous. Also is she having regular bowel movements. Some of the meds really play havoc on the intestines and sometimes you have to add some like Miralax or a fiber supplement to get everything going in the right way. If things don’t move through exactly right then you can get pretty sick to your stomach. Does she have any dizziness or anything. I would probably try what the doctor recommended and go with the Zantac at night. I don’t think that you probably need to try the Zyrtec thing unless you suspect that it is allergy related. I would almost be that it is not psychological. I imagine that she is legitimately nauseous and unless you treat that or resolve the cause then you may make things worse. Remember that he may be a neurosurgeon, and she is his patient…but you are her mom and you know her a lot better than he does.Good luck
Hi Joalexa,
I had Motion Sickness after surgery, because my Mastoid Bone got broken & filled with CSF. The hospital actually brought in an accupuncturist because medication didn't work. The accupuncture was amazing. I still had Motion Sickness for about 6 months but I could open my eyes with out being violently nauseaus.
I really hope Alexa feels better soon. Zofran can make your stomach hurt very bad.
Please let us know how she is doing,
Tracy Z.
Hi Tracy! Did they have to surgically fix your mastoid bone or did it heal on its own? I would imagine you were nauseous all day, not just in the morning? She threw up this morning then spent the day at the beach. Complained of mild headache and neck pain around 4 pm. Gave her 2 motrin and now she’s swimming at a neighbor’s pool. We just wish the morning nauseau would go away! Zofran is very constipating and if possible, we’d like to get her off all meds. Good luck to you, as well
TracyZ said:
Hi Joalexa,
I had Motion Sickness after surgery, because my Mastoid Bone got broken & filled with CSF. The hospital actually brought in an accupuncturist because medication didn’t work. The accupuncture was amazing. I still had Motion Sickness for about 6 months but I could open my eyes with out being violently nauseaus.
I really hope Alexa feels better soon. Zofran can make your stomach hurt very bad.
Please let us know how she is doing,
Tracy Z.