Lowering Risk

Irishwfl · November 2013

I was diagnosed with ADH and ALH in March. I had a hysterectomy shortly after that, for other reasons. So I had some time on my hands. I spend a lot of time online doing research and ended up making my own hair products and changed most of my other beauty products (mostly using the ewg skin deep database) One of the things I was trying to avoid was parabens, then I found out they are in advil!

Now I am working on eating better but sometimes I feel like I am spitting in the wind. But when I went for my 6 month f/u mammogram they told me my risk is 48.3%. Yikes. I am wondering what others are doing to lower their risk.

sabihah · November 2013

Exercise! I bought a bike, because I used to love cycling, and I found that I still do. :-)

I also got some nice audiobooks from Audible on my iPhone. I can't listen to them while cycling (it's dangerous, and illegal here), but I do listen to them while walking fast or jogging.

I cut way back on alcohol too, and I'm trying to lose weight, but that's difficult.

Bounce · November 2013

Exercise and diet.

Mostly I have been using an exercise bike but I believe walking is a better exercise.

Am also planning on using a "theraband" thingy and a ball for using different muscle groups - all do-able at home without spending a lot of money.

If anyone has links already to theraband exercises on the internet I would appreciate it if you could share them.

Diet - no sugar, no white flour, no bread at all - so far have lasted 3 months but show signs of snapping!

Am eating lots of quinoa and black lentils and salad and fruit.

With exercise - I started slow - could only do 3 minutes on the bike! Now I am up to half an hour.

Also take Vitamin D as I am D deficient.

Martha615 · November 2013

Vitamin D is excellent, but you may need to add vitamin K unless you are sure you are getting enough through your diet. Melatonin is a good one -- either sleep in a TOTALLY dark room and/or some practitioners recommend 3mg a day. I am sure you already know about green tea and ginger. I hear aspirin can be useful if you can tolerate it. Omega 3's found in fish oil and/or walnuts. Pomegranates are very good for some reason I can't remember. There is some conflicting evidence that freshly ground linseeds (flax seeds) help in cases of an abundance of estrogen. Little/no red meat. Of course, no alcohol as you already know.

As far as I was aware on dairy, there may only be a problem there if you already had a tumor.

Everything I am mentioning here is what you will probably already have heard. Few studies and what there is mostly corresponds to mice, but increasingly we are seeing evidence that some dietary intervention and lifestyle choices can help protect us. No guarantees, of course.

Is there a chance for you to take tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor? That will substantially lower your risk (tamoxifen has long lasting positive effects even after the 5 years you would take it).

MelissaDallas · November 2013

Maintaining a healthy weight and exercise are the main things, regardless of what you eat to do that. Low carb & high fat? Low fat? Whatever it takes to get you there is more important than how you do it. High body fat ups your estrogen level, even if you are post menopausal. There is no magic diet.

Low fat dairy has actually been shown to be beneficial and increase survival in those diagnosed. It is high fat dairy that seems to be problematic.

The alcohol connection is really weak unless you habitually overindulge. If you like a glass of wine it probably doesn't hurt much, although I find it lowers my inhibition to where I tend to eat more.

On the melatonin, it helps me sleep, but I found after taking it regularly that I started having extreme anxiety and hostile moods. On reading, that is not an uncommon reaction.

Depending on your menopausal status, tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor greatly reduces your risk.

Lowering Risk

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