ABH Mystery medication

[skyflutterby]

i am new to the nursing world, just recently graduated in may, and i have become very interested in a medication my mother received while receiving chemotherapy. it was handwritten labeled abh capsules, take one pill q6h for nausea. now, i have found out that, i believe, it is ativan, benadryl, and haldol, however, what is confusing me is that all the information that i have found (which is very little) has been on hard and soft troches and gel or cream...not capsules, and my mom was told to swallow it like a pill (not to let it disolve like a troche). if anyone has any information, please let me know, as i am most curious. it could have been a research drug at the time, and if that is the case, she never signed informed consent either. please help! i know all you oncology and hospice nurses might have an idea! i'd appreciate any direction you can give me! :)

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

Then there is A/B/H/R which is the noted meds plus reglan.... Works wonders for dying patients with unstoppable N/V...

Ativan, benedryl and haldol have been out for a very long time, and are used to prevent nausea. They are neither a research drug nor chemotherapy and do not require an informed consent. They are the same drugs used in regular med/surg...just all combined in one med. Many patients take them routinely to prevent nausea (even noncancer patients).

These drugs would have been covered routinely in your nursing Pharm. class and/or Medsurg class as they are quite common.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

OH here ya go ... I stopped half way through the post to add reglan to the list .. I didnt see your post....

(late entry....just because i just joined the forum today!)

we use this a lot for our patients with severe n/v...however, ours is compounded with an additional ingredient...

ABHR...

ativan/benedryl/haldol/and....Reglan!

works like a charm!

my best,

laura

[tsaint.royal.b]

ABH in the instance I have experience with, was used for care and comfort. I suppose along with cancer treatment ABH works, but I have only seen it used in liniment-form on carotids. Pill form would make more sense for a person dealing with chemo. My patient was near expiration. Pill form apparently is the good form of this medication. Sorry to hear about your loved one.

[abbott1379]

ive also had trouble finding much information on ABH. we recently got hospice for my father. he's in the final end stage of cirrhosis (brought on by many years of alcoholism). one of the items in his admission hospice care package was the ABH cream (in syringes). can you advise as to why this was included in the package? I'm not finding the connection for it to his liver disease. Thanks. :)