Holistic care regimen post-mastectomy /recon surgery

occhigirl

I am almost 4 weeks most surgery and I have a breast infection. I am on antibiotics but wondering if anyone has sought holistic treatment to reduce infection and promote healing. I am eating raw garlic 3x daily and have also started on an organic vitamin c powder. My doc told me to use neosporin one the Incisions but would prefer a more natural alternative - also would arnica still be effective at this point?

Momine

Get yourself some probiotics. It won't help the infection directly, but can help indirectly. For right now, I would do as the doctor says. You do not want an infection to linger.

juliaanna

You might try adding Zinc with the Vitamin C to help with healing.  Stick with the antibiotics, too.  You want to get rid of that infection.

Ariom

I totally agree with the advice from Momine and Jullianna. I too had an infection after my Mx. Don't mess around with it. Stay on the antibiotics and definitely get into the ProBiotics. I also took "Green Vibrance" to ensure I was getting plenty of nutrients along with Pre and Pro Biotics to heal and give my immune system a hand:)

I did the the Garlic too, but also essential oils in a base of macadamia wheatgerm and sweet almond oil and massaged all around the incision at first and then all over it several time a day. Even pure Lavender, which is one of the few oils you can apply directly to skin without  a base oil, will do a great job of killing germs.

Take care, I wish you a speedy recovery!

occhigirl

Thanks for the replies - I began probiotics following surgery as I was put on antibiotics as a standard part of recovery.

I am following the doctors instructions but just want to do more. It has been 6 days since my new course of Ceflex and I am still red in the same area - at base of breast. I will add zinc and I have read about Manukka honey which I am considering. How long does it take for these infections to heal? The antibiotics cause extreme fatigue and I sleep on and off all day.

Ariom

Hi Occhigirl, My infection took a good couple of weeks to clear, and my Surgeon had me on double doses of Ceflex for the 2 rounds. I found I was very tired too, from the infection, as well as the antibiotics and the surgery too I guess.

Try to take it easy, Manuka Honey is wonderful too. It will clear up soon, and you'll feel your energy return.

abigail48

manuka is grrrrreat.  I havn't bled for a few days now because of that dressing I think  also the weather has been good & I've not exercised for a few days.  I do wish posters would give their age & their location:  makes such a difference.  I believe chilli couldn't tollerate the nhoney because she lived in such a warm & wet climate.

peggy_j

Does anyone have a reliable source for guidelines for taking probiotics? The Livestrong website said that anti-biotics and pro-biotics should not be taken at the same time--we should wait at least two hours. There are many different strains of probiotics--how do we know which helps counter a specific anti-biotic, and a proper dose? It seems like a lot of products are marketed using the "more is more" angle. I'm not clear what's correct to counter antibiotics. Thanks for any thoughts on this.

bluepearl

I took the probiotic with 8 different strains. Worked.

Ariom

I am sure that the Probiotics don't have any detrimental effect on the Antibiotics per se. What they do is simply re establish the good flora in your gut. It is just a case of ,the proliferation of bad bacteria gets sorted out by the good strains. If anything, the antibiotic is just going to kill off some of the good stuff you're putting in. That would be the reason for the time in between dosing.

I take 18 strains of good bacteria in a freeze dried powder, even managed to cure two very annoying stomach ulcers with this, it is 50% Fermented Spirulina. Anything fermented has the probiotics in it, so saurkraut will do the job too. Spirulina is supposed to be the most nutrient dense food on the planet and it has many other foods in it that I would be unlikely to eat in a day. It is important to remember this is a food, not a processed drug or even a synthetic supplement so your body will assymilate it easily.

I was in Hospital in Singapore a few years ago with a UTI and a Chest Infection, I was on heavy antibiotics in Raffles Hospital, and they gave you a dose of probiotics along with your meds every day as standard procedure.

Check out Green Vibrance, or any of thoes types of fermented products, if you are looking for nutrition along with probiotics.

I hope this helps!