Anyone who has been NED while doing alternative only?

In that case, yes, me. I had conventional treatment for Stage 3 in 1996, whilst using alternatives. Stayed cancer free until 2006 at which time I again had conventional. When those mets spread to my brain in 2009, that's when I went another way. Could be luck, could be prior treatment, could be alternatives. I'll never know, and more importantly, neither will my onc....and he's the first to admit it.

I totally get why you're asking and my best advice would be to go with what feels right. You've already been through the conventional treatment to rid your body of what you could. Adding some alternatives you feel worthy sure couldn't hurt to keep it that way. Like my onc said way back in '96...."you've done and are doing everything possible. Let's both just hope like hell it doesn't come back". No guarantees offered then, none now.....on anything....conventional or alternative. 

Deblc - I was stage III on diagnosis two years ago and I refused chemo, did surgery, rads and complementary treatments........am I someone you might be looking for?

Leggo, all my scan reports for the past 6.5 years say NED (ok, in German, but word for word translated as NED). I have had them done at the University Hospital and at private hospitals and they all say the same thing despite bone mets initially. Maybe it depends on the type of bone mets? Maybe I have been able to build enough new bone on my spine? Maybe Zometa has an influence? I hope, whether we are NED or not, we stave off progression for many more years!

Deblc, I have been on hormonal therapy but also employ additional complementary strategies like Momine. I am an exercise nut, at least 10 hours weekly, including strength training. I eat tons of fruits and vegetables. I do, however, have dairy, including yogurt, for the calcium, protein and healthy bacteria. I think calcium and protein also increase IGF-1, which you need for bone growth. I'm hoping my bones, muscles and other organs are getting "priority access" to growth factors and not cancer. I get Vitamin D at my onc's office. I try to keep my weight down, because any additional pounds seem to go straight to my belly. Other strategies I've tried but have stopped are metformin, aspirin, intermittent fasting. My onc was on board with these. The last helped me lose weight for a while.  I am currently taking melatonin as prescribed by my onc. It helps me to sleep (and maybe create more melatonin!) It is supposed to be antiestrogenic and an antioxidant. I think it's also helping with my vision problems.

my integrative doc told me exercise everyday for 30 min. It's doesn't have to be hard core exercise but we need to sweat a little and heart beats faster. The key is exercise everyday like a meal.

I did all the conventional treatments when diagnosed, but what I did then and continue to do now is:

* keep the weight down into the normal range

* try to eat more fruit/veggies/fish etc. and less processed, fatty food (this part will always be a struggle for me)

* take a daily low dose aspirin (check with your doctor first if you decide to do this one)

* exercise (which I do faithfully every day)......this is the most important non-medical thing we can do to lower our risk of recurrence/stay NED. Studies show a strong link between breast cancer risk and exercise. I was just looking through the research news on BCO and here is a little quote from one of them:

" One thing comes through loud and clear in all these studies: regular exercise can lower breast cancer risk by about 25% to 30%. The benefits of exercise were not the same for all women -- the type and amount of exercise affected the amount of risk reduction (my note: the harder you work and the more days during the week you work out, the more benefit you get). Women who had a healthy weight to height ratio -- body mass index (BMI) -- got more benefits from exercise than women with a higher BMI. This could be because the protective effects of exercise were offset by the increase in risk associated with being overweight."

I do only alternative but I've not been diagnosed.  by the way I stopped using colloidal silver some time ago, it worked well tp controll bacteria, worked the best perhaps, but I stopped for cosmetic reasons.  the it is so ugly & the silver makes it uglier, * I still have a blue streak nearby from when I used it for the first time a year ago

I did visit an oncologist in Germany (Dortmund, where my family is from). Same story....healing of boney disease. When questioned "does that mean it's gone?" Pretty much the same answer as everywhere else, "can't say...scan only shows new boney growth and any additional areas of concern, if there were any".  The verbage changed amongst countries, but same jist...impossible to tell. Not worth me arguing about really, and kind of irrelevant,  but thought I'd mention it just so peopke know treatments, scan interpretation, etc., are much the same wherever you go. Good thing to know, I think for those who think one place is better than another. And yes, the important thing is no progression and that it stays that way for a very long time. That is my wish for you Heidihill, and me, and everybody else. 

From the very start of this wild ride with BC, I was led to believe by all my docs that the ONLY way I can survive BC was to do all of the standard tx's. First cut off my breast..I found a doc willing to try a lumpectomy and he did successfully, but there was skin involvement so I felt radiation was a must for me. Chemo was, of course, recommended by all the drs (oncoDX 28) but I couldn't poison my entire body with the poison, so I try to boost my immune sys with Mushrooms and LDN,and then the next thing they wanted me to get rid of all my estrogen. There was no proof that in my case ER caused my cancer. I believe it was a perfect storm of perimeno unbalanced hormones, a bad diet and lifestyle, and being unaware about BC so I ignored the obvious signs. 

I cleaned up my diet, 500 calories 2 days a week and very little refined sugar, started taking supps for a healthy body??, I take DIM and try to avoid envior estro.  I take metformin but for diabetes so it may be irrelevant to BC.IDK. I'm thin (BMI of 20-21) I get very little  exercise due to multiple sclerosis, No excuses.

I ain't dead yet as I was told I would be, and who knows if I did the chemo would it have killed me??? No one knows. 

For me alternative has worked so far and I'll try to stay as healthy as I can. If I recur or get mets thats the price, and it's cheaper than intentionally destroying my health with the conventional tx.IMHO. No regrets.

I do respect all who have faith in science and struggled to rid yourself of BC?? Are you more cancer free than I am????

I hope for good health for us all.

Maureen

This is an old post I wrote in 2011, but it has some interesting information about vitamins etc. that I believe is still useful.:

" I went to a very interesting speaker the other day. She is a doctor, nutrition specialist, and an eleven year breast cancer survivor ( a note from me today, if I remember correctly, she had a very rare type of BC that required a bone marrow transplant). Here are some of her tips for staying healthy:

1. We all know we should eat more fruits & veggies, whole grains, less red meat, processed food etc. so I am not going to go into any of that.

2. EVERYONE should be taking a multi-vitamin. Make sure it says ‘Complete' on the label. Make sure it contains iodine, Vitamin K, selenium and folic acid along with all the other good stuff. Interesting facts about why multi-vitamins are important:

* older women with the lowest levels of vitamin B-12 were at the greatest risk for breast cancer

* taking acid-blocking medications make you less able to absorb B-12

* she recommends 400 mcg of folic acid a day. It works with the B-12 (studies have found that folates may help to make chemo more effective and decrease side effects)

* B 6 is important in lowering the risk of breast and colon cancer

* she recommends 90 mg of vitamin C

* 30 iu of E

3. Omega 3.....either eat oily fish twice a week or use fish-oil supplements (make sure it says EPA and DHA approved) 1000 mg a day. It's associated with decreased risk of cancer, heart disease, inflammatory disease, depression and more.

4. Vitamin D....a big deal.....she recommends getting it tested (should be between 40-50 ng/dL). She recommends 2000 iu a day to maintain a good level. Many, many conditions are associated with low vitamin D; heart attack, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle weakness, asthma, diabetics, multiple sclerosis etc. etc. etc. There are over 200 different body tissues that have been identified so far that have receptors for the vitamin D hormone and they need it to work properly.

* adequate Vitamin D levels has been shown to reduce the side effects of taxol based chemotherapy

* Adequate Vitamin D has shown to reduce the side effects of aromatase inhibitors

* start with a multi-vitamin, drink milk, eat yogurt (check and make sure it has vitamin D added), and most people will also need a supplement to keep that high of levels

5. Vitamin K, should get 100 mcg a day. Check your multi-vitamin, not all of them have it added.  Inadequacy leads to an increased risk of various cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis and kidney problems."

This is a couple years old, so recommendations certainly could have changed by now.....seems like as soon as a study comes out that says 'do this', the next one will say, 'nope'

I agree with juneping. It's already known that taking supplemental vitamin e increases risk of certain cancers. I realize you're quoting an older article, but a lot of that information is outdated. Any antioxidants that don't come from food aren't likely to be absorbed anyway (or very little) and the jury's still out whether or not they may actually feed cancer cells. Same with a multi-vitamin. If your diet stinks, then yes, it's better than nothing, but I think it's important to note that very little is absorbed that way. There was a study showing a multi-vitamin, Centrum, I believe, of what it looked like during the digestion process. I don't have it anymore, but it was quite the eye-opener.....around the same time it was announced in the media that multi-vitamins are quite useless. Always best to get what you need through food. 

Chef, just a minor clarification---Estrogen does not cause our cancer; it is a "food" source for cancer cells with estrogen receptors.   An antihormonal drug can have a dramatic effect on removing nourishment from those nasties.  In my case, arimidex cut my chance of recurrence in half.