Combining alternatives with conventional treatments

Circles · January 2012

Hi everyone. Who is using both alternative and conventional treatments? What do you think gave you most benefit and why? What supplements do you feel helped you the most? What foods do you eat and what do you avoid?

sweetbean · January 2012

Hi there,

I gave up meat, dairy, and sugar. I stick to a mostly plant-based diet, with wild fish and salmon. I take fish oil, curcumin, DIM, melatonin, baby aspirin, low-dose neltrexone, homeopathy, enzymes, bromelain, and green tea.

Going through treatment, I did acupuncture and took Acetyl-L-Carnitine to prevent neuropathy. It worked like a charm.

I meditate and do guided imagery.

I practice yoga and qi gong (the studies on chemo response rates for qi gong practioners was impressive) and I do cardio.

chef127 · January 2012

Hi Circles,

So nice to see you here. I' m still tryiing to get to a plant based diet. My poor food choice diet is embeded in my way of life. However, The sugar is almost gone, the meat is haunting me on occasion, and the dairy has become my go to food for sugar cravings. I don't even like cheese.

I'm still learning about supplements but when my rad tx. are done i will search for an alternative practicioner. I've learned alot at BCO but I need more guidance.

D3, curcumin, beta 1,3D glucan, juice plus, DIMplus, chromium picolinate and metformin(for blood sugar) PAWPAW to follow tx.......................for starters.

sweetbean, I would love to meditate but I hear its not so simple. Takes time to be able to get to the point where it does the mind and body good. I have some negativities to get out of my self. Did you find it difficult to achive that?

sweetbean · January 2012

I use a lot of guided imagery exercises that I got from iTunes for that reason. Having someone guide me is very helpful and I have been getting to the point where I can meditate much more successfully on my own.

crazy4carrots · January 2012

Circles -- Please forgive me for sounding pedantic, but I've always thought that "alternative" means "instead of", as in using something instead of conventional tx.

I think what you're really asking is for "complementary". Changing one's diet, using certain supplements, and different therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic, message, yoga, rekei etc. are all complementary therapies.

Many of us have been made aware of complementary therapies that help us recover from conventional tx such as chemo. I used L-Glutamine to offset the effects of neuropathy. I used Biotin to help my hair grow back. I greatly reduced my intake of fats and carbs, and added 500 mg of aged garlic to reduce my LDL cholesterol levels, and I take a bisphosphonate plus calcium, magnesium and VitD3 to offset a reduction in bone density. I added Omega 3 supplements and eat more fruits and veggies than before. I joined a gym right after finishing chemo and manage to get quite a bit more exercise than before BC. I added a tsp of cinnamon to my morning smoothie to offset the sugar spike from the fructose in my fruits.

I consider all of the above as complementary therapies.

sweetbean · January 2012

Other supplements - Maitake D, Chromium Picolinate, Biotin, Glucosamine Chondroitin with MSM, N-Acetyl-Carnitine, Lysine

Circles · January 2012

Lindasa, you are right. This would be Integrative Medicine which combines the best of both.

I love what I'm seeing here. I'll post my current treatment tomorrow, my diet and my questions to you all.

chef127 · January 2012

Forgive me for sounding stupid but doesn't aternative treatment include diet changes, suppliments, lifestyle changes,etc instead of chemo as well?

Surgery, of course is "conventional". Radiation, conventional. I have not found any complimentary tx for that except the creams to protect the skin. HT? conventional, I'm still researching that one.

Any and all advise will be appreciated...................................THANX

sweetbean · January 2012

Chef, I don't quite understand your question. What are you asking again?

Anonymous · January 2012

Circles - think you will find many answers to your question in the Forum http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79 Complementary and Holistic

Also, Dr. David Servan-Schreiber's book Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life has a great deal of the information I think you're looking for.

Can't add much to what sweetbean posted - except found going gluten free relieved most of the SE's ( side effects) I have from Arimidex. Still see an acupuncturist, and think that monthly treatment and monthly massage are most important things I do.

chef127 · January 2012

sweetbean,

I'm sorry. Is there any way of detoxing from radiation? I was told that the radiation does not accumulate in the body. I find that hard to believe.

And is HT inevitable? I'll submit to that if its the only way, but there must be a natural way via supps. to decrease the estrogene. I'm taking DIM.

sweetbean · January 2012

Chef, that's a great question. I have no idea. I know that I bounced back from radiation really fast, but I have no idea if the radiation is still lurking around.

I'm on Tamox. I'm also taking DIM. I had some mild hot flashes achy joints for the first 6-8 weeks, but now everything is fine. You had a pretty large tumor and were node-positive. How hormone positive were you? It really does improve prognosis for many women. (Also, melatonin and green tea help make it more effective.)

MJLToday · January 2012

The radiation itself it a wave that exits very quickly (instantaneously) from the body.

The damage from the radiation might linger for a long time, sometimes even a lifetime. Many people have fatigue during and after radiation therapy because the body is trying to repair the damage to the healthy tissue that is affected along with the cancerous tissue.

Some teenage lymphoma patients treated with radiation to the chest can develop BC later on in life because of the rads, for example. Also, there is some worry that radiation done to the left breast might damage an already weakened heart (which is on the left side of the body).

chef127 · January 2012

MJL,

thanx for that great answer. I feel better knowing that the radiation leaves so quickly. I suffer from fatigue from another condition and am worried the rad will make it worse. I've had 12 tx and the fatigue is minimal.

sweetbean,

my er was 97% at biopsy and 87% at final path. Still high? i think. I asked my onc to check my hormone level to see if I was meno. and I am. She recommened arimidex. I forgot to ask what the actual #'s are now. I don't want to wipe out all of my hormones for fear of agravating my condition. I'd like to try to do it with suppliments. I take the DIM and read grapessed extract??is effective as well. meletonin and green tea enhance the tamox?? interesting. yes the tumor was large but so was my breast. realitivly small in comparison. She told me it makes no difference, but logically it does. The one LN showed micro inv.and the RO said it didn't need to be radiated. SO confusing for me.

thanx for your caring info and knowledge.........................Maureen

Circles · January 2012

Thank you all for the information!

Integrative Medicine uses the best of both worlds. This can be a combination of supplements along with chemo and radiation. My Integrative Doctor did not dismiss chemo as part of my treatment. We are waiting for the Onco test to decide. We are not considering radiation because I have Hashimoto's Thyroid disease. That said, he also did not dismiss Vitamin C infusions. In March I begin a series of twice a week for a total of 24 treatments. Additionally, as a member of Life Extensions, I have access to Doctor's, Nurses and Onocologists for consultations. I began their cancer protocol prior to surgery which included Tagament--yes the heartburn stuff, along with supplements. Currently here is my list, devised from Life Extensions combined with my Integrative Doctors.

L-Glutimine, 3000mg a day, divided in two doses on empty stomach.

IP6-1-3gm, 2 pills twice a day

AHCC, 3000mg a day, divided in two doses

Lactoferrin, 300-900 daily, 2 pills twice a day

PSK (mushroom extract) 30000mg 5 pills at night

Modified Citrus Pectin, 14-30g 3x a day, no food

Soy Isoflavins, 100-200ml daily, 1 each with food twice daily

Milk Thistle, 500=600 a day, 2 pills twice daily

Chrysin, 1000mg daily, 2 pills divided

Green Tea extract, 650-1000mg, 6 pills divided in two doses

Curcumin, 400mg, 1 daily with food

Quercetin, 3 daily, divided

CO10, 100mg, 6 pills twice daily

Selenium, 200mg, 1 daily

Resveratrol, 1 daily

Daily Total One (country life) 1 daily with food

Vitamin C, 1000 mg, every two hours day and night when possible

Total minerals, iron free, 2 pills divided

curcumin95, 4 pills divided

Tonalin XS-Cla 1000mg, 1 pill

Vitamin D3, 2000iu, 3 daily

tumeric, 800mg, 2 daily, divided

indole 3-carbinol (13C), 3 daily, divided

Salmon oil, 2.2gm, 2 with dinner

Magnesium, 500mg, 1 at night

Gamma E complex, 700mg, 1

Ultra INF-ZYME FORTE, 5 on empty stomach, 1 morning and 4 during the night, spaced 2 hours

Metformin,500mg, 2 daily with food

Melatonin, 2-3mg, currently 5 at night, working towards 8

chef127 · January 2012

WOW, thats quite a list. Is it specifecally for BC or does it involve overall heath?

Circles · January 2012

Both. But one takes care of the other.

sweetbean · January 2012

Chef, the size of your breast makes absolutely no difference (can't stress that enough) - 4 cm is big tumor. Plus, you were node positive. And you are extremely hormone positive - I would recommend HT + DIM, melatonin, and green tea. I would also suggest you consider AveUltra - expensive, but works really well with Tamoxifen. Try the HT for a few months, for most people the SE's subside. They certainly did for me.

chef127 · January 2012

sweetbean,

Thanx, I have to stop playing dr. I have another 4-5 weeks of rads and will weigh all my options,

Another stupid question, if the supps you take w tamox work, will they work with AI's. Arimadex??? I think the mechanisim is different but the same.

sweetbean · January 2012

Oh, I don't know. I forgot that they recommended Arimidex. How old are you? Are they absolutely positive that you are post-meno?

chef127 · January 2012

sweetbean,

OLD...57 today. My MO did check the hormone levels and I am menopausal

My last period was 11 months ago. One more month for confirmation of meno.

Circles · January 2012

Happy Birthday, Chef!

Circles · January 2012

I will admit I too am worried about you, Chef. Don't like the positive lymphnode though I see they tested 8 and only one showed. That makes me wonder just what we all really know about our own cancers. In deep thought over this last night and thought if it were me, what would I do? And this is just hypothetical. Assuming you had insurance, I would ask for an MRI, both upper and lower body with contrast to find out exactly where and really, if, the cancer had spread. In addition I would ask for the Onco test and a chemo sensitivity test. At that point you have hard, concrete evidence of your cancer and takes much of the guessing or "playing Doctor" out. Additionally I would see an Integrative Doctor for second opinion and would tote in all my new information as well as my pathology report from the surgery. At that point you will be given options for treatment choices. While the unknown is frightening, knowledge is power.

Keep in mind I am not trying to tell you what to do or push you into harsh treatments. I also don't want to be pushed into anything so I really get where you are coming from. I think you are smart and do your research, for sure! Just thinking of additional research that you may or may not have thought of.

Circles · January 2012

An Open Letter To My Cancer:

Dear Cancer,

While it is true you have invaded my body, you did it in a very sneaky, underhanded way. For years you quietly hid as you grew the best you knew how. However, you have messed with the wrong person this time! I'm sure the low carb, sugar free diet I have enjoyed for the last eight years really made things difficult for you. The 100 pound weight loss must have also been devestating to you, not to mention all the supplements I took just for good health. While it is true that I did provide an existing lump for you to hide in and I did unbalance my hormones with improper use of HRT, you better believe I won't make those mistakes again. I will also do my best to consume foods that are organic, hormone, antibiotic free because I simply don't want to feed you again. True the surgery appears to be a success and you appear to be gone but I do not trust you. As I stated previously, you are sneaky and underhanded. I believe you are still in hiding somewhere else in my body, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to come back in full force. Well you have a problem. Take note: I AM COMING FOR YOU... In addition to the 68plus supplements I take every day to fight you now I soon will be adding in 24 Vitamin C Infusions. I hear you cannot tolerate high Vitamin C infusions so I plan to flush you out of hiding and put you on the run until you are dead and gone. If chemo is in the cards for me and that's what it takes to finish you off then so be it. But make no mistake, Dear Cancer, you will not win this battle. I'm out to get you and I will not stop until you are dead and gone. You can count on that.

apple · January 2012

nice post Circles.. i have begun drinking lime water (recipe: one lime, squeezed and water). Boy does it make me feel great.

apple · January 2012

about meditating... my Korean, son's karate instructor ,champ of the world, said of all things, breathing is the most important.

Sit, relax, take deep, slow breaths.. every breath being deeper and slower. allow your mind to think... works for me.

chef127 · January 2012

circles,

You are a tuff cookie. I can relate to your letter to CA. Thanx for saving me the effort of writing it. You say it so well.

thank you for your concern about the lymphnode status. This is how it came out...........

axil LN biopsy, Presurgery. Metast. DC. Definitive extranodal extension of tumor is NOT ident. Microcalc. are identified. Seperate framents of tissue are B9. Not good But not too Bad

Final path report.

EIGHT LYMPHNODES NEGATIVE FOR MET CARCINOMA.

there is a single cytokeratin positive cell ina capsule of one LN less than 0.2 mm.

Hard to say if it is actually neg or pos. My surgeon said Neg and The RO is sparing rads to the LN area. But he did say because I don't need to play w LE. Would he have treated it if I didn't have concerns about losing the function of my arm??

I posted 1/8 of LN because 1 WAS pos before surgery. I'm a liitle confused but I'm leaning to NEGATIVE. Perhaps it is wishful thinking.

Circles · January 2012

Cancer is soooo confusing. I also question my diagnosis as to size.

CarolAnn6 · January 2012

Circles - I love it! Your letter was awesome and gave me back some spunk! Thank you for that!

Circles · January 2012

Fight like a girl!

chico1 · January 2012

Hi Circles,

You might want to check further into taking Milk Thistle. The pharmacy at the cancer agency claims milk thistle is estrogenic, and has informed me not to take it. Wanted to take Calcium D Glucarate with milk thistle but was told to stay away from this supplement. Calcium D glucarate is beneficial, but without milk thistle.....just saying!

Combining alternatives with conventional treatments

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