Complementary and Integrative Approach to Healing

starbeauty

What is the purported value of Juven?

thenewme

Hi Mscal02,

"Has anyone tried Juven? My friend's oncologist's office gave out samples there, and she purchased some and said that she got great results." 

What kind of results did your friend get?   Did her oncologist recommend it for a specific condition?

pip57

I think the reason so many have trouble staying away from the "bad" foods is that our bodies are addicted to the ingredients like fats, sugars and salts.  Maybe it will help to avoid them if you think of it that way.

mscal02

Juven is suppose to help with muscle rebuilding and other things . It is only recommended for people that is receiving chemo or has had chemo.I did some research, but have forgotten everything that it is used for.The office had it there for any patients that wanted to try it .

Anonymous

Moderators:

I've asked, as nicely as possible, to please refrain from posting picture, cartoons on this thread. There is another thread in the Alternative, Completmentary Forum which is mostly these thypes of posting.  They take up a great deal of space, and make it more & more difficult for someone new to the thread, who is looking for information, to find it.  PLEASE let's try to keep this thread free of pictures and cartoons.

1Athena1

Pictures/cartoons can also freeze up computers, especially if the pictures are too big, have moving objects or are posted in succession. I find that my computers both at home and at work sometimes freeze up because of this. I can't imagine what they must do to phones. I love pictures, but they may be better for some threads than others.

Anonymous

That's another factor, thanks Athena, plus complete reprints from other webstites, are almost intrusive, when women are discussing their personal experiences. I think it's better to put in a link to the site.  Also, don't know about reprinting whole pieces without prior permission.  Expect the Moderators can advise on that.

peggy_j

orange1, my docs and nurses are very pro-sleep, saying it can dramatically boost the immune system. Maybe you can schedule it in, like going to the gym (the sleep gym?

1Athena1

Bad sleep schedules have actually been linked to breast cancer. Epidemiological studies have found an association for women who work graveyard shifts. Pre-dx, I had the most horrendous sleeping habits, frequently getting to sleep at 5  or even 6 am. IF bad sleeping cycles cause BC, then that would be a good candidate reason why I got the disease.

Nowadays I never stay awake past midnight during the week, try to be asleep well before then, and never sleep during the day. The adjustment took weeks. My circadian rhythms have never worked properly. I was helped sort of accidentally by medications I was taking for something else.

I have come to appreciate good, predicatable sleep as being so essential to all of my health woes that I will forgo social engagements that interfere with it. I would say I have a 90 percent compliance rate with my own rules - but that is better than zero.

It takes me so long to unwind every evening. I envy those people who can get in the door and go straight to bed, or who fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pollows.

revkat

I too have difficulty with motivation for exercise. For me, it worked to join a gym and hire a personal trainer. Yes it was expensive (about $110/mo) but I am a thrifty person overall and once I was locked into paying for it I certainly wasn't going to waste it! I saw the trainer once a week and that little bit of accountability kept me going the rest of the week. Plus, I knew if I slacked off I would be super sore after I saw him. Whatever works. I had the trainer about a year and now exercise on my own with periodic goals -- participating in an event of some kind every 4-6 months. It's stupid, but going to the gym that I've paid for gets me moving more than trying to exercise at home.

I've just developed sleep problems with the switch to anastrozole and I'm glad to see some suggestions for dealing with them. I'm hating the insomnia -- before a few pages of reading some nice boring book and I was out.

I've started growing vegetables for both health and financial reasons and find the gardening to be good on a lot of levels -- physically it gets me out in the sun, emotionally it's something to look forward to, mentally I'm always trying to keep one step ahead of the pests! 

pip57

I loved it when I had a gym membership many years ago.  However, my work schedule makes it hard to take advantage of now.

BarbaraA

As I live in a townhouse with no garden, does anyone have any suggestions about container gardening? I have lots of sun, some shade part of the day and lots of rain. Any suggestions appreciated.

Anonymous

Barbara

do you want year round?  And first thing is to find out WHAT ZONE you are in - and what would thrive year round in that zone.  Also, if you want to eat them - veggies, herbs, or cut them, flowers or both.  LOTS of possibilities - biggest thing I think will be for you to decide what you want out of your options.  In FLA - I imagine it's about endless...you lucky one   If you DO plant a flower, and it's Frangiapani, known as Plumeria, in Hawaii...please think of me when you smell it   Divine!!!!!

thenewme

Hi Barbara,

I love WoollyPockets  and EarthBoxes for container gardens, but I'm too cheap to buy the "real" things - so I do the DIY versions, and they're great!

BarbaraA

Thanks, thenewme, I will check them out.

rosemary-b

Exercise is hard. I know it helps everything from weight to energy level but it is hard when I have to work late or just come home exhausted. I am on my way out to kayak on the lake. It is glassy calm so I will not be fighting wind and waves. I love water sports but the season is short in Michigan.

ruthbru

www.loseit.com is a great, free, easy to use website. You track your food intake by calories and it shows how many calories you are getting from fat, carb and proteins, it graphs your weight loss (or gain !), and also lets you chart your exercise and you can get calories back from doing them! Since my main motivation for exercise is being able to EAT, I really love it!

Sherryc

Barbara use the your local extension office they are a wealth of information and will know exactly what to do for your area.  I work for the one in Texas, but here is the link for Florida

http://extension.ifas.ufl.edu/

Also if your extension area has a master gardener program they are also a wealth of knowledge.  You asked about container gardening and we have lots of info on that.  If you go the website you will see at the top where you can locate your local office. Many of the resourses are free that is another plus.

pip57

Rosemary, I am soooo jealous.  When we sell our place we are going to find a waterfront home and get kayaks too.  

nikola

Excellent topic. Before I go back and read all posts this is for ladies who are trying to eat organic but cannot afford all food organic. I was told to buy strawberries, cherries, apples, red peppers, tomatoes and lettuce organic. Of course organic chicken and other meat. No matter what you use for washing those cannot be washed down, with exception to apples as you can remove skin. All other fruit and vegetable could be washed down and does not need to be organic.

ktym

rainbowpony: I'm with you on that one.  Hospitals offer sleepless nights and exposure to germs.  I've always gone home immediately after surgery (even for things some would have stayed in for) and hope to always keep it that way. Give me my own bed, quiet house, and wonderful DH any day, much more comforting and better peace of mind.

Member_of_the_Club

The most important thing about exercise is to pick something you enjoy, so you will stick with it.  You don't have to run a marathon, just taking brisk walks every day is fantastic exercise.  Try to find something that isn't drudgery.  Sign up for a dance class, buy aerobics dvds that you can use at home, park a stationary bike in front of the TV and watch your favorite shows.

 The biggest mistake people make is to aim too high.  They pay for fancy gym memberships and never go, or they start running, but find it too exhausting and quit.   Make a modest beginning and stick with it.

orange1

Peggy & Athena -

Thanks.  You are right - sleep is very important.  You've inspired me to attempt to improve.  I'm going to set small but doable goals.  Right now I'm usually heading to bed about 1 am.  For the next two weeks I'll make it 12:30, then two weeks later 12:00, etc - until I'm back to a reasonable 11 pm.

For those of you who struggle to exercise  because you are too tired when you get home - I have this suggestion - don't go home before exercising - make it part of your commute on the way home (or do it at lunch if you can, then eat at your desk).  I keep a gym bag with clean gym clothes in my car at all times and do not go home until after completing my workout.  For me - after a while it became such a habit that on some days when I was doing mental calisthenics on the way home- trying to justify not going, that I found I had auto-piloted myself to the gym without thinking about it.  Once there - may as well do it.

Other suggestion for exercising: - set small, achievable goals.  No need to become an athlete overnight - you will improve over time.  Consistency is key.

rosemary-b

Good idea orange1. There is a Y just about across the street from where I work and I was thinking about walking to get lunch.

1Athena1

What Orange and Member say cannot be overemphasized - you HAVE to set an exercise regimen that you can realistically stick with for the long term rather than an all out program that you cannot sustain. I am actually something of a gym rat, so joining my club, while hideously expensive (everything at my club is - you hear about new programs with member "discounts" of only $600 per x sessions - discounts my foot!) was something I could follow through on. Promising to jog every day would have been unrealistic.

And don't be hard on yourself for not always achieving your goals. When I was on Tamoxifen I think the only thing I got a real "workout" on was my right shoulder - the one on which the gym bag with never-used clothes rested. I was too tired to do anything.

And for sleep, the medical advice is to keep predictable schedules and not allow for too much variation from one night to the next. The association with breast cancer has to do with melatonin and insufficient/differing (can't remember which) amounts...I'm not sure about the hypothesized mechanism. 

Ang7

I really like this thread Sunflowers!

I have used Valerian Root for falling asleep.

Can someone explain how the tart cherry juice can help?

1Athena1

Here goes - this argues in favor of an earlier bedtime. The following study has been replicated elsewhere (Journal of the National Cancer Institute):

"Background: Exposure to light at night may increase the risk of breast cancer by suppressing the normal nocturnal production of melatonin by the pineal gland, which, in turn, could increase the release of estrogen by the ovaries. This study investigated whether such exposure is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women. Methods: Case patients (n = 813), aged 20-74 years, were diagnosed from November 1992 through March 1995; control subjects (n = 793) were identified by random-digit dialing and were frequency matched according to 5-year age groups. An in-person interview was used to gather information on sleep habits and bedroom lighting environment in the 10 years before diagnosis and lifetime occupational history. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by use of conditional logistic regression, with adjustment for other potential risk factors. Results: Breast cancer risk was increased among subjects who frequently did not sleep during the period of the night when melatonin levels are typically at their highest (OR = 1.14 for each night per week; 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.28). Risk did not increase with interrupted sleep accompanied by turning on a light. There was an indication of increased risk among subjects with the brightest bedrooms. Graveyard shiftwork was associated with increased breast cancer risk (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.0 to 2.5), with a trend of increased risk with increasing years and with more hours per week of graveyard shiftwork (P = .02, Wald chi-squared test). Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence that indicators of exposure to light at night may be associated with the risk of developing breast cancer."

 http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/20/1557.full

orange1

Athena - Thanks so much.  You've made the data-hound in me very happy.

jancie

This is a great thread!

I am sort of sitting on the fence here.  By that, before being DX, I was working hard physical labor 8-9 hours a day - lifting up to 1,000 lbs over the course of each day.  I ate normal - I have never been a fast food junkie but never an "organic" eater either.

My boss was the "organic queen"  Seriously I would go to Whole Foods and buy her food and spend $200 on maybe 3 bags of groceries.  She didn't have any sodas, sugar (except to feed the Humming Birds), chips, cookies, no junk food at all.  She ate mostly vegetarian and she got DCIS - oh and she never smoked and drank socially only.  She did pilates and yoga weekly and there wasn't an ounce of fat on her.  In other words, she did everything right and still got BC.  She was DX'd about 8 months after me.

With that in mind, eating organic was not a top priority and neither would I even think of spending $1.50 for an organic cucumber when I could get a regular one for 33 cents.

Instead my mind was set on doing everything in moderation.  I quit over-indulging on any particular thing.

I was fit before BC and gaining 30 lbs was the hardest on me.  It took me 2 years now to get up the motivation to do something about it.

I do eat more fresh vegetables than before but that is the only different food thing I have changed.  I have always ridden horses so no change there but now I am also trying to hike at least once a week up in the mountains.  I am getting my exercise in whereas I was pretty much a couch potatoe for 2 years other than occasionally riding and walking for 30 minutes a day.

I don't take supplements other than Biotin because I keep forgetting to take anything - I have some ProArgi9 which really boosts my energy but forget to take it.

I don't know what the answer is - I just keep plugging along each day trying to do my best.

Anonymous

Jancie

Congratulations on losing those 30 pounds!!!  You don't seem to have mentioned that in your post

What's ProArgi9 - please don't tell us it's something you share with the horses