Essential Oils

udpt82

Hello,

I hope that this is the best forum to ask this question and would appreciate any input people can offer.

I was diagnosed in 2008 with ILC, ER+/PR+/HER- (and 2007 with lymphoma, but not treated) and did chemo, BM and radiation. I have been hearing about essential oils a lot and am considering trying some out. To be honest, right now, I am wondering about the shakes to help curb cravings ( I really need to lose weight and struggle). What I seem to read online is that there are a few like lavender, tea tree oil, fennel, aniseed, sage and clary-sage that should be avoided with estrogen fed tumors.

Can people give me an idea if they use essential oils and, if so, are there any they prefer or avoid? Also, what are the MOs saying about essential oils? I am betting mine will not have much knowledge about them, but I will ask him next time I see him.

Thanks for the help. I apologize if this is not the best forum and will post elsewhere if people can suggest which ones.

Thanks

Hopeful82014

I rely on tea tree oil for insect bites, etc. it's one thing I refuse to let breast cancer deprive me of. That being said, it's not as though I drink the stuff! The others I use with caution and generally not as essential oils. The Sloan Kettering website has a good chart showing various herbs, plants, medicines and supplements and their known/unknown efficacies, interactions, etc. It was suggested to me by my MO.

udpt82

Hopeful82014, I am having difficulty finding the chart. Would you mind posting the link? I asked an Integrative Medicine doctor who is also an oncologist, but she was not familiar with clinical data for essential oils.

Thanks!

amyds

I too am very interested in, and not finding much on, the use of essential oils, specifically, are there ones that should be avoided (thanks udpt82 for your input)? I will be starting tamoxifen later Summer and wonder most specifically about that, because if essential oils should be avoided, that's a long time.

ceanna

Here's a link to try http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/about-herbs

SunnyRunner

udpt82, I'm not sure if you've ever tried/heard about Iodine tincture, but it's something that I've been hoping to try myself. When I was researching it, I found this post over on the CureZone forums. http://www.curezone.org/forums/am.asp?i=1794108

"I just wanted to post about my experience with Iodine and skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma). I had surgery a few years ago on the right side of my nose to remove a bcc, it came back about 3 months ago, and i decided I'd rather not pay another $700 and go through the ordeal again if i didn't have to. So i read that some people had success with topical iodine. I applied Iodine multiple times a day for weeks, occasionally applied magnesium oil and also picked up some DMSO gel to apply over the iodine so that it might absorb deeper and quicker, which it did appear to help. The bcc would scab over multiple times before healing.

Anyway, my bcc is currently in complete remission. I can't say whether it's gone for good, but certainly much easier and cheaper than getting cut up by the skin doc. fwiw."- James81

-Anyway, looks promising!