MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

glennie19

Aralia dasyphyllia Mig. 200 mg = possibly cytotoxic, being studied in Asia

Cucuma zedoria 200 mg =  white turmeric, a rare spice, used in cooking. essential oil used in soap and perfume. No mention of medicial use.

Cyperus rotundus 200 mg = also known as nut grass, java grass, purple nut sedge. Has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as the primary qi regulating herb.  Ayurvedic medicine uses it for digestive problems, fevers, dysmenorrhea & other illness.  Tubers may have antibacterial properties.

Smilax glabra Roxb. 200 mg. = used in Chinese herbology. This one has a mention on the MSKCC website, but it doesn't mention anything about Anti-estrogen properties. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/smilax-glabra

When I'm at work tonight, I'll check the ingredients on a program that I can only access at work and get back to you.

Momine

Glennie, that is what I found too. I also found some health blog which said that some people experience bloating as a side effect of the myomin. On your list there is mention of using one of the herbs for dysmenorrhea. Both things would make me pause if I were hoping to block estrogen with this remedy.

staynsane

Drum roll please.............! We now have 1,000 pages to celebrate!

glennie19

Wow, 1000 pages!!  Pretty cool!  Very close to 30,000 posts too.

Yes, Momine, I would have reservations about taking myomin.

MinusTwo

Hot dog - 1000 pages. After i post this we only need 25 more posts to make 30K. No problem, since we have all week. I know we'd all like to honor Elimar for starting & continuing this thread. She is a gem.

Tomboy

Plus, we have to remember a chemical structure is a chemical structure, weather it grew in the dirt or a lab. We just want you to last, Mac!

macatacmv

of course, my PCP poo pooed the idea of taking myomin since it is not a regulated "drug". She is sending me to a nutritionist. She is concerned because my weight is starting to creep back up. I lost over 50 lbs 2 years ago on a strict "shake" diet. At the time it was easy, I was desperate and not feeling good. Now I don't want to go back on such a strict diet. But I have gained back 10 lbs. She says all the pain I feel is from the fibromyalga which translates into inflammation. So if I lose the weight the inflammation goes down too. She keeps saying remember how good you felt when you weighed less and I search my memory for that memory, but really just remember being hungry alot. But I know it is the right thing to do. And if I felt better I would exercise more. She also wants me to switch my thinking that pain equals something wrong. It is just my body has a lot of pain. Man, that just seems wrong.

Yay!!!! we made it to tne next page whoo whoo!!!!!

Momine

Tomboy, exactly. The taxanes are synthetic versions of a substance in yew trees. The yew trees are endangered, so they make the drug in a lab. Works for me.

I WISH there were some gentle, efficacious remedy that would do the job of the AIs with fewer SEs. In 4 years of reading a lot of cancer stuff, I have yet to come across anything credible. I am also really dubious about claims of "balancing" hormones. I have yet to find anything scientific and credible to back it up or even just explain properly how it is supposed to work.

AIs distinctly UNbalance your hormones. That is how they starve the cancer

elimar86861

Lookie, lookie, lookie and...

...here we are at 1,000 pages. Gosh it only feels like eight hundred and twenty seven!

Yes, this is certain to be a week of convergence as I think it will not be too hard to hit 30,000 posts now.

Then, the big THREAD-VERSARY on Saturday. I will try and check in daily this week and I encourage not only the "regulars," but the "lurkers," "the seldoms," the "Ish-es," and any anyone of "celebrity status" (oh, especially you) to stop in, say hello, give us an update, and par-tay!

But remember, we will STOP on a dime to consider the needs of any distraught Newbies that might wander into our midst during this festive week. Stop long enough to read, inform, support, and hand 'em a snack-size bag o' Cheetos. The usual.

elimar86861

All of our anti-hormonals are not created equal. Some block circulating estrogen at the cellular level, and some block the creation of estrogen in the first place. If one anti-hormonal is intolerable, you could have better luck with another, because the mechanisms are different. But some of the general loss-of-estrogen SEs (like the hot flashes) are unavoidable either way.

The herbal and "natural" supplements certainly may interact with some of our treatment drugs, so best to check with a doc before taking. However, since not many docs are versed in complimentary or alternative, you might just have to rely on your own research. I tend to agree with Momine, that scientific research has not backed up any of the claims about balancing the hormones.

p.s. Mac, your dog has a real "tail" to tell now.

MinusTwo

Perfect header for a count-down week. Large surprises on the way.

I saw a funny play yesterday - Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Nora & Delia Ephron. It that doesn't ring a bell, Nora is the lady who wrote When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, as well as that wonderful book How I Feel About My Neck: And Other Thoughts. The play is 5 ladies telling stories about their clothes through the years, teen clothing arguments w/mums, their senior prom dresses, their first bras, their poodle skirts, their boots, their "I don't have anything to wear" moments, etc. If if comes to a town near you, it's worth grabbing some girl friends and going.

glennie19

Mac,  I have fibro too, so I hear you about the "pain all the time"!!  It sucks. Have you tried a low carb diet, like Atkins/Paleo/Primal/South Beach?  I have to stick to that type of diet or my weight immediately goes up.  No bread, pasta, white potatoes. Limit rice or cut it out altogether. Focus on protein and veggies and whole fruits, not juices.   Just a thought to be able to eat real food and not shakes. It may or may not work for you, but I swear by it.   And it is damn hard to exercise when you hurt all the time. BOOOOOO  on fibro.

Party on the 22nd!!  Woo-hoo!!

Edit:  sounds like a great play!

Momine

Glennie, I agree on diet being a big help. I don't do a specific diet, but I focus on veggies, legumes, whole grains and fish. Many of these foods are also anti-inflammatory, so they do help with joint pain etc

Loral

WE MADE IT!!!!

macatacmv

glennie, I still have not wrapped my mind around this fibro stuff. To tell you the truth I was having fun eating again. I love to cook. But I really want to feel at least good enough. So a new "diet" it will be. I eat sooo much better than I ever did before while my kids were little. As my PCP and I said today it is a slow process, but it is progressing.

I think I might go back to my GYN to see if she could check for an infection (since the procedure) This is a very specific pelvic pain.

We are going to slam dunk this anniversary. Let's get this virtual food and drink ready for Saturday!

elimar86861

I amazes me that there is a rather high ration of us here who have Fibromyalgia. No ties to cancer (yet discovered anyway.)

I have had it for about 10 years. Food definitely can worsen it, but I can't quite figure out why that is. I mean specifically why. I do know if I eat restaurant or prepared foods, my hands and feet flare up. I think it might be MSG type flavor enhancers that set it off. Maybe excess salt. I remember something about the oxalic acid in spinach being bad for FM too. When I have time to be diligent about it, I would like to try what Momine has mentioned already...a diet of foods that have anti-inflammatory properties. Before all this cancer stuff, I was trying to get to the bottom of my FM, but then the "cancer studies" took over.

Weirdly, like I mentioned another time, I did not notice the FM for the 6 mos. of chemo and for about 6 mos. after that. That's another mystery.

glennie19

That really is a mystery with the chemo, Elimar. There are a lot of us with fibro.  Very strange.

 I should really try to incorporate anti-inflammatory into my diet too. I need to keep better track of what flares me up. Doesn't sound like fun at all. I gave up cake and cookies,,, I want to keep my ice cream!!

 

NativeMainer

Yeah! 1000 pages!

I've noticed a lot of women on the boards also have fibro, and wonder if there is a connection somewhere.

KJSUN

Well, I'm back! I ended up with a fever of 101.5, which for me is a lot, my normal temp is between 96-97 degrees. I had to go to the oncologist's office the next day and they gave me some meds..My fever broke the day after so I feel much better. We are waiting on test results. It was a busy week. Monday I get chemo again so I hope things are better by then.

MinusTwo, macatacmv, elimar and glennie - there are so many things that you all bring up. I miss a few days and try to play catch up.

My Fibro has been around more than 12 years and I notice that my body seems to focus on whatever is the strongest or painful thing going on at the time. I have started to turn my diet toward the Paleo. I feel like the less processed the better, and even the beef or chicken I buy is grass fed beef and the chicken has never had antibiotics. I don't buy much fish because the quality here is not great. Just writing about it makes me think how far I have gotten away from it recently and I don't feel good. I need to change that now!

I checked on the Magic Mouthwash and it has the Nystatin, Lidocaine, and two other ingredients. Plain Nystatin tastes better but as long as it helps.

Okay, question for everyone - if you have had the Neulasta shot, did you have anything that felt like muscle spasms in your lower back? I get my chemo on Monday, shot on Tues. and the spasms start Friday and last 3 days. The PA at my oncologist's office says it is bone pain. I don't see how bone pain would make my body shake each time it flares. It feels terrible. Pain I can deal with, but this is so bad. I just realized my neuropathy has gotten worse, that sucks.

Congrats on 1000 posts!

Eph3_12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzDxp2TC7I

AT LAST, 1000 PAGES! Thanks Middies, for getting me through all the lonely days & nights while undergoing this journey!!!!

Eph3_12

E, I hope you are on at the right time to post the 30,000 post!

elimar86861

Eph, I am going to be around today and this week quite a bit. It would be an honor for me to post #30,000, if I can. Wait, I have to write that again: 30,000. Yowza!

Just came back from the store where I picked up a bag o' Cheetos to get me in the mood for the occasion. I made the healthy "concession" of getting the baked ones. Yucko, just not as good. I should have known better.

All you FM ladies, if you notice some distinct triggers to a flare-up, please pass it along. I am not sure what "gave" me the FM, but I do have a background that might tie in. I used to like the diet soda & sweetners (like in my tea) but once I found that aspartame gave me a headache (and worse brain than I already have) I switched over to Sweet & Low which has been around forever, right? Nasty, but in use for a long time so I didn't feel like I was as much of a guinea pig as I did on the aspartame. That was in the 90's. Well, around the time I got the FM, one symptom was a nerve vibration (not tingle, vibration, unpleasant too) and it took me some years to figure out that it was the Sweet & Low that brought on that vibration. I have been off of it for over 5 years and I don't have that anymore. It took a couple months to go away too. How are all of you with the sweetners?

Saccharine was known to cause "rat cancer" but the word is now that it is not a carcinogen to humans. While I am pretty sure it tied in with my nerve vibration, I would not go so far as to implicate it in my BC (but it is already in the little PINK packet, isn't it?) Who knows, statistically it may not be a cause but what if it sets few of us off anyway? Don't know about you, but I've had my ratty moments...was I more suceptible?

I'm off ALL artificial sweetners now.

KJSUN, Glad you knocked that fever down. I can't help with the Neulasta riddle. If your shaking happens with this next round, maybe your PA can tell you how "bone pain" causes that. Probably not, but do report all those SEs and don't let the chemo become too much for you. I know there are some who "soldier on" through terrible SEs and then wind up hospitalized and the chemo stops then for a while. Sometimes it is better to get a little break from it before winding up in the hospital, so let the docs know all it is doing to your body.

Anonymous

Eli, Congratulations on hitting 1,000 pages!!!

glennie19

KJSUN:  good on the nystatin and lidocaine. Takes care of the thrush and the lidocaine will numb things. Hope it is helping. Are you able to eat and drink ok?  Glad your fever broke. Neulasta can cause bone pain, but I do not see a mention about muscle spasms, but that does not mean anything,,,, only that none were reported when the med was being studied. Do let them know about it.  Sounds seriously uncomfortable.

 

elimar: I was big on diet sodas back in the day, but stopped completely probably 12 years ago. Now if I want a soda, I'll drink the sugar kind, but I mostly stick to unsweetened ice tea and water.  In college we used to mix TAB and Southern Comfort,, the bitterness of the TAB offset the sweetness of the Southern Comfort.

MinusTwo

KJSUN - Yes, I had both bone pain & muscle aches w/the Neulasta - although my muscle aches were in my calves. Get some regular Claritin (Not the "D" kind) and and take it the day before Neulasta and every day for 3-5 days afterwards. It wasn't a magic cure, but it sure made the pain much less. Can't remember if I already wrote this, but ask for the shot in the belly fat instead of the arm. And be sure to hold the barrel of the syringe and roll it in your hands for awhile to warm the liquid before the shot (or get the nurse to do it if they won't let you touch it).

elimar86861

I really can't stand sugar sodas. I did switch to sugar in my morning tea, but went sugarless a year ago on that (still like some in iced tea, tho.) Usually drink water and make my own "flavored water" with about 10 oz. of water and 2 oz. of a juice flavor I like. DH thinks I am nutty to do that, but I actually like the way it tastes and is way more thirst quenching and less caloric and less sugary than 12 oz of juice by itself.

If that sounds too healthy, I just bought a bag of those things that are like candy corn but are in Fall shapes (and they are like pure corn syrup and sugar AND it is not even Fall yet) so you can see my good habits are balanced out with some nearly raw sugar from time to time. I think I am probably very average when it comes to stuff like that.

Found 'em...these things...

...but here is the most disgusting part. I KNOW this is an old representation of them because now the brown ones are "black" cats and the yellow ones are a moon or something, maybe it was an ear of corn. That is way too familiar.

glennie19

Those look yummy! And I think your way of flavoring water is a great idea. I've been squeezing limes or lemons into my water these days.

Ice cream is my go-to sugar buzz,,,, or Dove dark chocolate pieces,,,, or Reese's peanut butter cups!

Tomboy

....I think no one else should write when it turns to 29,999 results, so elimar can post the best post EVER!!!!! And be the 30,000. I came back to say: That was scary to hit the submit button, cause I didn't want to be the 30,000!!!

elimar86861

No pressure, right?

elimar86861

Woot, woot, woot, and..

THIRTY THOUSAND posts! We did it!!! Well, certainly something...not sure quite what.

I have to say I COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT ALL BY MYSELF,(*) so thank you Middie-Gang for the spirited cameraderie with myself and everyone else who happened by.

(*) Technically, I could have done it myself, but that would have involved carpal tunnel syndrome and a little departure from sanity in the form of multiple personality disorder, so you all did spare me from that. (Winky-wink!)