Antioxidants and Chemotherapy

Speck218

Antioxidants and Chemotherapy

Speck218

I am about to start my second round of chemo after surgery.  I'm concerned about taking antioxidants during the chemo and then the two-week period after the treatment.  I've read it's not good to take them, don't take small dosages; rather take larger dosages, and they are a life saver and do no harm to interfere with the chemo.

Please give me advise on this subject.

Thanks,

Sheila

TenderIsOurMight

I'm pretty much a traditionalist, Sheila, yet I saw your post and it reminded me of what my oncologist said.

He said no to antioxidants (it came up when I asked about Vitamin C and E) as they interfere with the free radical riddance which are released into the blood stream, stemming from the chemotherapy effect on the cancer cells. He was very straightforward in his tone of voice, and seemed very believable (and of course was very reputable ). I owe a lot to him.

So, I put them aside, and just ate healthy, but not overdoing Vitamin C fruit either.

I had my chemotherapy six and a half years ago.

Good luck with everything. It's good you're checking into things ahead of time.

Tender 

HY66

Hi all,

Just bumping this year-old thread upon behalf of my wife, HY66.  

She had her first FEC last Thursday - we asked her onco about her antioxidant supplementation and he told us told to avoid them just on the actual day of chemo infusion; we also asked the onco nurse (with 13 years experience) for his opinion and he said definitely to avoid high-dose Vitamin C, but couldn't help us with the rest.

The various articles I've found which say to avoid AntiOx supplementation don't specify whether they mean just the few days before and after the infusions, or the entire chemo course, which in this case is 18 weeks, followed by 6 weeks of Rads for a total of 24 weeks!

I think she'll need the AntiOx supps to rebulid her health in-between the infusion days, so my questions are - if you did avoid AntiOx supps, how long did you stay off them for?  Were there any consequences either way i.e. with or without them?

If any of you would like details of her supplements in order to help answer our question, these are what she's taking (and the websites list the contents of each)

Ki by www.zentherapeutics.com.au,

LivaTone Plus by www.cabothealth.com.au,

Blueberry Punch by www.DrRed.com.au,

Women's Ultivite by www.swisse.com.au (every other day)

Flaxseed Oil + Cottage Cheese at breakfast (1 tbsp + 2 tbsp) 

Fish Oil Caps 1000g (2-3 daily) 

Many thanks in advance! 

Husband11

The whole topic of opposition to anti-oxidants and chemotherapy seems to be based on theory, conjecture and fears, rather than the results of studies.  In fact, the studies are entirely equivocal about the impact they have on impairing chemotherapy's success.  Yet, the National Cancer Institute, in commenting on these studies, still insists antioxidant supplements should be avoided.  Puzzling.  Out of an abundance of caution, its probably not a bad idea to just eat as healthy and natural as you can during chemo and get your vitamins that way.

JeninMichigan

I took antioxidants all through chemo and rads with the approval off my oncologist and radiologists.   During chemo I never even had so much as a common cold.  My blood counts stayed decent and I only missed a couple days of work but that was due to mostly chemo brain and not wanting to drive the 45 minute trip to work.    I was NED after 3 cycles of TCH and have completed all 6 cycles.  I am still NED and still faithfully take antioxidants and other supplements religiously.

Jennifer