Confused and drowning in a sea of supplements!!!

jkath

I'm trying to get my mom on a path of natural treatment and healing.  She is 67, was diagnosed with BC (stage 1a) in March and had lumpectomy and radiation.  She is HER2 neu negative, estrogen positive and started femera in april, switched to arimidex in sept, and has decided she wants no part of these drugs.  The arimidex has caused her major joint pain, depression, etc., and she's stopped taking it to see if the pain goes away.  In the mean time, I'm trying to figure out what she should be taking to inhibit estrogen production.  I'm recommending that she take the following:

Lugol's Iodine or in tablet form as Iodoral

Indole-3-Carbinol

DIM

Are these three things the same thing?  And if so, which are best?  Any advice, thoughts, input is much appreciated.  Thanks!

dlb823

jkath ~ I3C and DIM are both natural aromatese inhibitors.  I use I3C; some women prefer DIM.  I think a few women use both, but I don't feel that's necessary if a woman is post-menopausal, as I am and your Mother is.  (And if you read up on DIM on-line, be sure to delve into the source.  A lot of the pro-DIM, anti-I3C info' has been written by a doctor who is a principal in one of the major DIM supplement companies.)

Iodine (Iodoral) is used differently in the body, but seems to be a key supplement for many of us.  In fact, there was a comment on the Natural Girls thread yesterday re. a couple of presentations about iodine and breast cancer at the recent San Antonion Symposium.

The other one I'd be sure to include is D3.     Deanna

Fighter_34

Deanna:

What does DIM stand for, and what does it do?

dlb823

DIM is short for Diindolylmethane. 

Here's a simple explanation of it from another website:

DIM is a phytochemical produced inside the body from the indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that occurs naturally in cruciferous vegetables. (Phytochemicals are simply chemicals that come from plants.) Vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower contain I3C. I3C forms the hormone balancer DIM.

DIM encourages estrogens in the body to select certain enzymatic pathways that result in break-down products that are actually balancing for hormonal health.1 As a result, they are cardio-protective, and cancer protective for certain tissues in the body including those found in the breast, prostate and uterus.)

Anonymous

OncoSGS is a similar formulation used in several cancers.  The company makes three different formulas, including DIM, but I think the OncoSGS is for cancer patients. And it won't hurt your thyroid.

http://naturalpartners.silverw.com/images/pdfs/DF0222.pdf

Fighter_34

Deanna thank you!!!!