Pinned Thread About How to Lower Recurrence after Chemo

The usual associated restrictions - whole grain, fruit, wild salmon or tuna once or at most twice per week, organic blueberries

are you saying not to eat these?

Hi Everyone! I recognize some of you from the calling all TN's site and I have just read through all of your posts.  Needed another place to post about eating healthy and related things to TN.   I have been off and on (off during the holidays back on now that they are over) doing the Dr. Perricone diet which happens to be all high antioxidant, low fat, high Omega 3's and high in anti cancer nutrients.  Anyone else doing this?  Also, I take 8,000 mg of Vit D3/K1 and I am still only in the mid 40's when recently tested.   I do juice but I also added JuicePlus to my diet to mae sure I get enough vegis and fruits. 

Ladies I have started drinking more lemon water w/ the thought of making my body more alkaline...give it a thought.

Is anyone taking Metformin?  There is a clinical trial in Canada using metformin instead of anti-hormones.  TN's are being included in the trial as well as those who might otherwise qualify for anti-hormones.  I am only 8% ER+ and while I am taking Femara, I have a lot more confidence in the 2000 mg of Metformin I take for my Type 2 diabetes.  It's cheap (on the $4 list at WalMart), it will help you lose weight if you need to, and it reduces insulin resistance.  Circulating insulin has been implicated in feeding breast cancer cells, particularly in postmenopausal women. 

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01101438?recr=Open&cond=%22Metformin%22&lup_s=07%2F04%2F2010&lup_d=30

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090109173207.htm

Ask your doctor to test your fasting glucose or insulin level.  If there is any indication of insulin resistance (fasting glucose over 100 or higher than normal insulin level) request that you be put on metformin hydrochloride.  Start out with a low dose (500 mg) then build up to 2000 mg (1000 mg twice a day).  It can cause a bit of gastro-intestinal distress for a couple of weeks when you first start, which is why you start slowly.  After a month, you should be able to tolerate the full dose without any problems.  You'll be doing the same thing as the clinical trial, without the risk of getting a placebo and without worrying about the clinical trial qualifications.  (Example, you cannot be part of the trial if you are already diabetic).  And you'll learn whether or not you are pre-diabetic or actually have diabetes and can start to make the right life-style changes (diet and exercise) to prevent complications down the road.  Clinical studies have proven that diabetics with breast cancer have poorer outcomes than those who do not have diabetes.

I discussed this with my oncologist who was not aware of the clinical studies and he was intrigued.  I hope he checked it out as I think this is a very promising approach to prevent recurrences, especially in TN's for whom anti-hormone therapy is ineffective. 

Michelle

LuvRVing:I'm from Quebec and I will be participating in that trial for metformin for the next 5 years, after I'm done with  chemo and surgery. I just hope I get the real stuff and not the placebo!

bump bump bump!!!

Meggy - not a doctor, lol, but I think there is a link between TN and blood sugars/insulin. It would make sense given diet and exercise seems to have a true impact on recurrence. I am slowly modifying my diet to be more "diabetic" friendly, 5-6 small healthy carb meals a day, and plan on getting my exercise in regular intervals, such as twice a day for 30 minutes, or 3 times a day for twenty, etc. I have never had blood sugar issues, but I am going to try and keep them level throughout the day. I don't know why, but this just instinctively makes sense for me. I may not prevent this crap from coming back, but I'm giving it my all!

I am newly registered and an eight year triple negative survivor with no reoccurance. I have been racking my brain wondering why not. I have not had any genetic tests done but am considering that..but in the meantime  I  decided to list some of the things that I am doing to see if they might benefit someone.

I don't take any supplements but if you are go for it.  I do my best to eat a balanced diet and get my nutrients that way.

 I do not eat processed foods. I don't even own a microwave. Everything is cooked from scratch or raw. Everything is as natural or organic as possible.

No red meat. No hamburgers, no steak.Lots of fish!

No sugar. Maybe once a month I break down and eat a cookie or a donut or something but that's about it. I am pre-diabetic fyi.

No dairy. Calcium comes from grreens and other sources.I am lactose intolerant.

Everything in the house is either low fat or no fat. I do however use olive oil and 'Smart Balance' type spreads.

You should also know that I only eat about one or two meals a day. I only eat when I am hungry and I stop when I am full. Sometimes I'm not hungry in the morning and eat no breakfast. I'm fine doing it that way. I keep my sugar levels stable by drinking diluted low acid OJ. It tasted like flavored water.

The only exercise I do is walking.

I keep my room very dark at night. No light at all and during the day the curtains are wide open and I try to spend about thirty minutes outside in the sunlight.

I have a strong spiritual life. Times of prayer and meditation.

This was not something I developed to stave off a reoccurance...I wasn't even thinking of that when I started the little steps changing my lifestyle. I was actually trying to diminish the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

I hope that perhaps one of these suggestions might help someone...or give you some ideas.

Hi All

Just diagnosed Feb 2011. Surgery was March 10th for mastectomy and first visit to can'tser (coined by a friend - "no sir you can't hang out in my body") clinic next Friday the 15th so not up to speed on what treatment will be, but after reading many posts on her for TN I will be inquiring about aggressive. 

Until then I have been doing a fair bit of reading and have found these two books very informative and helpful in navigating my way through the maze of what to and what not to eat.  They are "Anti cancer a New Way of Life by MD, PhD, David Servan-Schreiber and Foods that Fight cancer by Richard Beliveau Ph.D., and Denis Gingras, Ph.D.

 Reading these books really helped when I was first diagnosed as they gave me the power to help myself.  So I am drinking Japanese green tea purchased from a tea shop 3 times per day, eating turmeric, black pepper, garlic and olive oil (enough to make it a manageable paste) off the spoon 3 times per day as well as eating as much organic as I can, (no meat, some fresh fish) and juicing cruciferous and other green vegetables 2 to 3 times per day. I also go for a brisk walk at least an hour each day and try to breathe.  I bought enough copies of the Anti cancer book to give a copy each to my parents, siblings and children, so as well as understanding when I say "no I won't eat that" they can also help protect themselves.  Maybe it will help, maybe it won't, but I believe it will help and it definitely can not hurt me.   

 I will help to keep this post at the top.  Thank you for how much you helped me already with your posts

So..explain this to someone stupid here..about the glucose..I just had blood test and my glucose was below normal levels...soo..should I worry if it goes above normal?   I'm tn but as far as I know I have never had above average glucose levels..just curious.

Yeah, I wish I could stop worrying!!!  SIGH. .  .

My feeling is, if they didn't get all of the cancer out of you and it  comes back, no amount of food or diet will help.  I also feel, that to never have it return, it's important to excercise and eat healthy.  The studies show that the overall weight of a woman's body isn't an issue, it was excercise with low fat that kept us healthy.  Same with eating low glycemic foods.

How it was explained to me......"it is hard to treat cancer that has spread b/c the body can only tolerate so much chemo before it becomes toxic; and in order for chemo it to be successful on cancer that has spread a ton of chemo would be needed"

If I hear of any tpye food or vitamin that may assist w/ KILLING any floating cells I try it. I consider myself further assisting the chemo.

I think I may turn GREEN or BLUE by this summer from eating blueberries and broccoli so much...

MBJ - thank you for the recommendation! I will definitely try that. Right now I just choke it down, blech.