Immune system help after Chemo

Getting your vitamin D-3 levels up boosts the immune system.  Levels should be around 60-70 for bc patients.  I am seeing an integrative physician who is giving me infusions of antioxidants, and then he  prescribed an oral medication that he said boosts the immune system.  Sorry, but I can't remember the name...it will be arriving by mail shortly.  You can't buy it over the counter...has to be prescribed and compounded.  I'm doing this in lieu of chemo.  I might still do some rads but haven't made up my mind yet.

If you wnated to go the herbal way you could read books by Susun Weed, famous current american herbalist. I make her astragalus tincture (astragalus widely used in chinese medicine for boosting immune). You can buy dried astragalus root from an organic herb farmer, then you use vodka to make your own tincture. I like doing this, as opposed to, say, buying something at a health food store. So you know you're getting the real thing(She gives exact recipes, and they are fun, and inexpensive, to make)

. I didn't use it after chemo, or during, because it tastes utterly vile, but I do use it now whenever I feel a cold coming on. Combined with lots f vitamin C, and mushrooms (I use a brand by Nikken - I think - am out right now) it most often stops my colds in a day or 2. Astragalus is very safe to use. Susun Weed has a book on breast cancer. there's a wealth of info therefor the do-it-yourselfer herbally inclined.

Merilee:  I am taking oral Iodine, oral vitamin C and MSM 3x daily, oral Criolus 2 x daily, oral Glutathione 1 tsp. daily, and the prescribed drug is Naltrexone, which has been used successfully to treat HIV, MS, and now even cancer.  I was told to start with 1 capsule at bedtime and work up to three as tolerated.  The SE's are it might interrupt your sleep pattern which would not be good for me, so he's starting me on a low dose.  You can google and read up about it.  My infusions contain all the B vitamins, magnesium, and other minerals to boost the immune system.

I just finished a series of urine tests for toxicity and nutrient deficiency, and I'm having blood drawn tomorrow to check for other things that might be going on in my body, particularly to see if there are any cancer cells floating around.  He's also scheduling me for a thermography scan to check for any cancers that might be developing that can't yet be seen on mammogram.

So far the orals I'm taking are giving me energy and my hot flashes that were going on after I was taken off my bioidenticals have calmed down, and I'm sleeping better.  A good start.

I'll update you on my progress as I go along. 

Merilee:  Good for you!  Sounds like you are on top of things.   Good tips.  I will not be doing chemo, and rads are still a question because bc is on my left side and I don't want heart issues as SE's, so I am going to fight this as best I can naturally.    

My wife Bev has had her white blood cell count drop a couple of times, each time after she stopped using maitake D extract.  While its not conclusive, there seems to be a response there.  A small scale study of breast cancer patients (see Memorial Sloan Kettering's, "about herbs") did show it has immunomodulating properties.  She is currently using the extract as per the recommended dosage on the bottle.  What science hasn't established is what the health significance of its effects are.