An Alternative approach to Stage IV Health and choices

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  • diana52
    diana52 Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2015

    I just wanted to post an update on my tumor markers...they have started coming down since I have been drinking the shakes made from flaxseed oil, cottage cheese and kefir.  Last time I posted my tumor markers had dropped almost seven points and had returned to the 'normal' range.  The tumor markers were at 22.90 and the normal range was 0-25.  This time they used a different test and the normal range in 0-32.4.  My tumor markers are now 18.80 (as of Friday).  I am currently on no other treatment.  My next CAT scan will be in three weeks and at that time they will update my labs.  For those of you with an interest I will keep you posted. 

  • new_direction
    new_direction Member Posts: 449
    edited February 2015

    How does it suggest its estrogenic? and why would this work for prostate cancer?
    To me it only suggests the anticancer effect in general.

  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited February 2015

    It looks like flax tops this list of the 4 most estrogenic foods. http://www.alternet.org/food/4-surprising-foods-pa...

    And another list of 12 food high in estrogen. http://bembu.com/estrogen-rich-foods

  • new_direction
    new_direction Member Posts: 449
    edited February 2015

    yes link between high estrogen and prostate cancer. So why would someone who has stable prostate cancer disease doing budwig suggest that there is an estrogenic effect in the diet?

  • new_direction
    new_direction Member Posts: 449
    edited February 2015


    yes maybe. But if thats the case I would also think it's just as effective and safe for ER+ breast cancer

  • new_direction
    new_direction Member Posts: 449
    edited February 2015

    I'm confused as well. I saw some videos the other day with Peter Glidden (not heard of him before) who seemed very convincing. He swears to NO OILS at all when it comes to good Health...

  • Hindsfeet
    Hindsfeet Member Posts: 2,456
    edited February 2015

    I consider myself a hybrid because I am stage iv wide spread cancer using alternative and conventional. Although, I did decline chemo...I am getting weekly Herceptin infusions and Perjeta every three weeks. I also get the faslodex shots once a month.

    I am doing quite a few essential oils; especially frankincense. I have good quality supplements. My naturopath strongly suggest I take turmeric, green tea and several other types of supplements.

    I am also on Rick Simpson Oil. Heat therapy and a few other alternative has made it possible for me to live quality of life, and to be independent...especially when I wasn't given but months to live.


     

  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited February 2015

    Estrogen can also be used to treat prostate cancer, if testosterone suppression is not possible:

    Other androgen-suppressing drugs

    Estrogens (female hormones) were once the main alternative to orchiectomy for men with advanced prostate cancer. Because of their possible side effects (including blood clots and breast enlargement), estrogens have been largely replaced by LHRH analogs and anti-androgens. Still, estrogens may be tried if other types of hormone therapy are no longer working.

    Ketoconazole (Nizoral®), first used for treating fungal infections, blocks production of certain hormones, including androgens, similarly to abiraterone. It is most often used to treat men just diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer who have a lot of cancer in the body, as it offers a quick way to lower testosterone levels. It can also be tried if other forms of hormone therapy are no longer working.

    Ketoconazole also can block the production of cortisol, an important steroid hormone in the body. People treated with ketoconazole often need to take a corticosteroid (like hydrocortisone) to prevent the side effects caused by low cortisol levels. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-treating-hormone-therapy

  • pearlady
    pearlady Member Posts: 882
    edited February 2015

    Although I do chemo, I also do a wide variety of alternative treatments along with the chemo.  My onc is very much in favor of doing alternative along with the traditional tratments.  I have been getting weekly IV vitamin C and he recently added Vitamin D.  He advised that he and other Drs. have been having great results with Vitamin D.  I also do weekly Glutahione IV which helps to detox the liver from the chemo and gives a tremendous energy boost.  I have been Stage 1V since 2001, so I am going to stay the course and continue with both traditional and alternative.

  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited February 2015

    Pearlady, that is quite amazing. It also looks like you got a very good run out of herceptin and hormonal treatment.

    May I ask if you had surgery and chemo back in 1997? Also, what kinds of mets did/do you have?

  • pearlady
    pearlady Member Posts: 882
    edited February 2015

    Hi Momine

    I did have a mastectomy and chemo in 1997 - ACT and radiation.  I did and still have bone mets.  I have been fortunate that they have not spread elsewhere and that I don't have any pain.  I did have a great run with herceptin and hormonals and was not on chemo until 2013.  At this point I have not had Faslodex, but my onc is hoping to keep that for the future. Honestly, the chemo has not been nearly as bad as I would have thought and I attritube a lot of that to the IV infusions that I get.  The Glutathione that I get is great for energy, detox and well being and the C and D for the cancer.  I also take 1000mg of Metformin daily and an antibiotic called Doxycycline which has been shown to be effective against bone mets.

  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited February 2015

    Pearlady, thanks for answering the question. It sounds like you have found a path that really works for you. All the best.

  • Heidihill
    Heidihill Member Posts: 5,476
    edited February 2015

    Pearlady, that is an awesome combination! My onc has been urging me to take metformin but I sort of want to save it for later partly because it didn't really agree with me. Antibiotics for cancer seems to work on mitochondria of breast cancer stem cells:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2930753/Has-girl-eight-cancer-cure-Scientist-parents-discover-antibiotics-kill-cells-daughter-suggested-try-dinner-table.html

    While on chemo I can't remember the number of times I had to take antibiotics for one infection after another.

    MrsM, I still use argan oil, but mostly just for the hands and cuticles. Maybe try pouring a little bit on the tub water so it can coat your skin. I've tried this in the past with verveine oil from L'Occitane and works really well. I should do it too now that winter and Arimidex is drying my skin out.

    I've always wondered what they meant when calling something estrogenic. If they're measuring blood plasma levels, then tamoxifen could be called estrogenic, as it raised my estrogen level there being deprived of a home in my receptors by tamoxifen squatters. So I can believe the theory on phytoestrogens, but perhaps it's not all phytoestrogens which have this effect and maybe different phytoestrogens work on different organs differently. Loopy

    Diana52, great news on your TMs! 

  • SyrMom
    SyrMom Member Posts: 862
    edited February 2015

    What does metformin do for bone mets?  Does it work on other mets too?  Anyone know where I could get more info on it?  It's never been mentioned to me, so I would like to present it to my onc.

    Also, what is argan oil & what does it do?

    Thanks ...

  • pearlady
    pearlady Member Posts: 882
    edited February 2015

    Heidihill

    I had great difficulty with the Metformin also and actually stopped taking it.  I did a lot of research and discovered that the generic forms vary wtih the manufacturer and that sometimes switching really helps.  I am now on the brand name Glucophage which has none of the nasty GI effects for me. I've also ready where many women have great success with the generic form manufactured by TEVA.  The Israeli pharmaceutical company is known to have very good generic drugs.  The worst apparently are those from India.  Perhaps if you requested the Glucophage or the TEVA it would agree with you.

    Good luck. It's definitely worth a try. 


     

  • 3littlegirls
    3littlegirls Member Posts: 853
    edited February 2015

    GrammyR Sorry I kind of dropped out for awhile. Yes they have hyperthermia in Calgary. I see you are in Washington. They also have it in Fort Langley BC. That would be closer for you. I can set you up with their contact info if you like. Just PM me. I will read and catch up with the rest. Just wanted to respond before chemo brain sets in. :) Starting Halaven tomorrow. Wish me luck.

  • Heidihill
    Heidihill Member Posts: 5,476
    edited February 2015

    Thanks for the info, pearlady.  Good luck, Michelle! 

    Syrmom, they don't really know how metformin works but it's not just for bone mets. It seems to be beneficial in various cancers. Argan oil helps with dry skin. I buy it in a health food store.

  • pearlady
    pearlady Member Posts: 882
    edited February 2015

    Thanks Heidihill.

    Syrmom my onc prescribes Metformin to almost all of his patients, not just breast cancer patients with bone mets.  As Heidihill mentioned, the research that I've read also does not specifiy bone mets.  The research does show that it works best on people who are not diabetic. 

    The Doxycycline seems to have the best effect against bone mets. 

    Michelle good luck with the Halevan. 

  • MusicLover
    MusicLover Member Posts: 4,225
    edited February 2015

    Yes, I saw him talk about them and his mom before. I wonder how his mother is doing now. 

  • 3littlegirls
    3littlegirls Member Posts: 853
    edited March 2015

    My NO has told us to take Turkey tail. I also drink Chaga mushroom tea.

  • LaurenG
    LaurenG Member Posts: 21
    edited May 2016

    re: Cannabis Oil

    I have just begun using FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil).  I live in California and I just got a license to carry and use this as a medical dose.  This is not a Rick Simpson or "RSO" cannabis oil that is extracted with Naptha (a combustible petroleum product), but rather extracted using a food-grade ethyl alcohol.  I am using a 2.1 dosage (CBD being higher than the THC) with respect to my ER+ HER2+ breast cancer (Stage IV w/ mets to Sternum).  I am currently on a systemic cocktail treatment of Ibrance and Letrozole.  This oil is placed by a single drop, under my tongue,4-5 times a day.  I am keeping a journal.  Note:  this medical use does not get you high as a larger amount of THC or vap mixes of store bought chem treated MJ.  While some of those can assist in eating problems, sleep disorder, anxiety, some pain issues, this medical oil is a whole different ball of wax.

    For those of you who seek this and can get to a chemistry lab that specializes in creating these oils (they are VERY expensive) you may find a non-profit group that will assist you and can offer free services.



  • mapat
    mapat Member Posts: 59
    edited November 2016

    Book recommendation:

    The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer--

    A Practical Manual for Understanding, prevention and Care

    by Sat Dharam Kaur (Naturopathic Doctor)

    This book covers an enormous amount of information, from understanding breast cancer to the many topics we have covered here, and much much more. Whether you have chosen strictly alternative treatment, or as complementary to standard treatments, this covers, in-depth, many, many options.

    I originally got it from library, but bought my own copy from thriftbooks.com for just a few dollars. Really helps increase understanding of just what we are fighting and our options, especially natural ones, for doing so.

  • lulubee
    lulubee Member Posts: 1,493
    edited November 2016

    Lauren, please keep us posted on your observations with the FECO. Is it available outside California?

  • hopedieslast
    hopedieslast Member Posts: 2
    edited November 2016

    Various fungi can greatly enhance the immune system. For example, maitake:

    "A combination of MD-fraction and whole maitake powder was investigated to determine its effectiveness for 22- to 57-year-old cancer patients in stages II-IV. Cancer regression or significant symptom improvement was observed in 58.3 percent of liver cancer patients, 68.8 percent of breast cancer patients, and 62.5 percent of lung cancer patients."

    "See Can Maitake MD-Fraction Aid Cancer Patients?" http://altmedrev.com/publications/7/3/236.pdf


  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited November 2016

    Spent the day looking into CBD and CBDa oil - raw kind from hemp. Will boost slowly with additional straight CBD over the months.

    Have decided on this coupled with melatonin which will provide deep resting periods for healing. The THC being absent - and I need it to be since ER PR+.

    And I think I need a new state of mind. Been a year from hell, I need a psychiatrist just because of all my nurses, physicians and oncologists.

    Am using as complementary to hormone chemotherapy - looks like Ibrance w possibly another.

    Also will be using ellagitanins again. Red and black raspberry powder and oil, black cumin seed oil and powder.

    Just working it out. Appreciate the CBD info I gathered from here. Thank you.

  • labelle
    labelle Member Posts: 721
    edited November 2016

    http://www.dana-farber.org/Health-Library/Phytoest...

    Dana Farber on flaxseed. I'm a fan and eat ground flaxseed daily. Not so sure about the oil, no fiber, and I am all about getting enough fiber in my diet!

    Estrogen for prostate cancer??? Part of my father's treatment for prostate cancer was lupron shots. Blocking hormones, not giving them, seems to be part of the standard treatment for not only ER+ breast cancers, but also for prostate cancer.

  • mapat
    mapat Member Posts: 59
    edited November 2016

    re: metformin and doxycycline

    A study being done in Philadelphia, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02874430

    doxycycline:

    "The natural osteotropism of tetracyclines would allow them to be highly effective in the inhibition of MMPs produced by osteoclasts or tumor cells in the bone. This hypothesis has now been confirmed by experimental evidence showing that doxycycline reduces tumor burden in a mouse model of breast cancer-derived osteolytic bone metastasis."

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/9026092_D.

    Still researching...

    Antibiotics that target mitochondria effectively eradicate cancer stem cells, across multiple tumor types: Treating cancer like an infectious disease

    http://www.impactjournals.com/oncotarget/index.php...[]=3174

    http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=...

    Lots of similar studies saying doxycycline can be effective against cancer, and bone mets...

    Enough for today...


  • mapat
    mapat Member Posts: 59
    edited December 2016

    Another study implicating dietary fats in the metastasis of cancer. Yet again, they caution against limiting fats in one's diet, rather they are looking to develop 'antibodies' to prevent this happening...I'd have to assume so they can charge money for it, rather than just tell people to change their diets...

    "fat-metabolizing proteins appear to play a key role in spurring metastasis...The new findings suggest that fatty acids — dietary fats that are plentiful in all modern human diets and ubiquitous in Western diets — play an outsize role in promoting cancer's spread. When mice were fed a high-fat diet and seeded with human cancer cells, they developed more and larger lymph node metastases." http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-s...


    Yes, you do need some fats in your diet, from what I've read it seems to be the balance between omega 6 & omega 3's that is most important. Most people on western diets get WAY too much omega 6 and not enough 3.


    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909

    http://www.anticancerbook.com/post/How-to-measure-...

    "Polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-6 (ω-6) class, as found in corn and safflower oils, can act as precursors for intermediates involved in the growth of mammary tumors when fed to animals, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 (ω-3) class, as found in fish oil, can inhibit these effects... it is the ratio of ω-3/ω-6 rather than the absolute amount of either family of polyunsaturated fatty acid that is relevant to the breast cancer problem...It has been shown that fatty acid composition of breast tissue fatty acids, including tumors, depends in part on fatty acid availability, which is influenced by dietary fatty acids (42). Thus, dietary intervention could provide an effective means to alter the fatty acid availability in tumor tissue and thereby possibly affect tumor growth. In addition, on the basis of the results of this study, it is possible to alter the ω-3/ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio with short-term dietary intervention in patients with breast cancer."

    http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/89/15/1123....

    "Diets must be balanced in the omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids to be consistent with the evolutionary understanding of the human diet. This balance can best be accomplished by decreasing the intake of oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids (corn oil, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and soybean) and increasing the intake of oils rich in omega-3s (canola, flaxseed, perilla, and chia) and olive oil which is particularly low in omega-6 fatty acids"

    http://www.ocl-journal.org/articles/ocl/pdf/2010/0...

    http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/om...

    http://www.ergo-log.com/fatty-acid-composition-in-...



  • amazonmich
    amazonmich Member Posts: 10
    edited December 2016

    This is interesting as I was in a vaccine trial in which everyone got the vaccine and the control was either a mushroom tea or a placebo. I wasn't allowed to take mushroom supplements during the trial period.The tea was derived from fungi and the element they were interested in was Polysaccharide Krestin (PSK).

    From http://cancerguide.org/psk.html: PSK is a polysaccharide complex with immune stimulating effects. Polysaccharides are large molecules made up of chains of linked sugar molecules. PSK is actually a polysaccharide-protein complex. PSK, like Lentinan, is derived from a fungus, in this case Coriolus Versicolor, which is a common edible mushroom. A Western common name is "Turkey Tail".

  • mapat
    mapat Member Posts: 59
    edited March 2017

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