Hi, using only natural treatments, am done with Western path

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  • JerseyGirl22
    JerseyGirl22 Member Posts: 342
    edited October 2015

    I've found that this particular brand is vert effective... http://www.amazon.com/Bioperine%C2%AE-bioavailable...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446225925&sr=8-2&keywords=Curcumin

    This brand of Curcumin has Bioprene which aides the bioavailabilty... just an FYI... There's an article about a woman in the UK, who went through treatment, chemo, rads, mastectomy, recon, and then told her docs, no Tamoxifen. She stripped her diet to vegetarian, no dairy, and turmeric... she is Her2+, and is now at the 7 year mark for remission and healing... She doing really well.... Again, just an FYI.... food as medicine, and health

  • leggo
    leggo Member Posts: 3,293
    edited October 2015

    I love hearing about that lady in the UK JerseyGirl. I read that article too. She has inspired me. Such little things can make one feel so much better. And Wrenn, Andrew is one of my heroes. Such a smart laid-back guy.

  • Italychick
    Italychick Member Posts: 2,343
    edited October 2015

    Leggo, yes, absolutely. I take the Piperine too. Forgot to mention that!

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited October 2015

    Hi all,

    Wow, I am happy to have helped generate such lively discussion of the road less traveled,...... I am using Curcumin by Thorne Research, called Meriva. Supposed to have much higher bioavailability than other types of Curcumin. My CRP inflammation test is 0.38 since I have been taking it, anything under one is considered very good, which makes me happy. I know that I am in pain from all the various damages done to me when I run out of the Curcumin. Would think it was placebo, effects, except that my CRP result is so good. I think that excessive inflammation is at the root of many of the health problems that people have, so it can only help to lower my levels of it.

    I do intermittent fasting, meaning that I eat my last meal in the evening, then wait until about 11am or later the next day to eat again. I have read that it helps lower insulin levels. I don't do it everyday, but do it several days per week. It is not for everyone, but it seems comfortable and not too arduous for me. Hopefully some benefits, only time will tell. G'Nite.

  • mysunshine48
    mysunshine48 Member Posts: 1,480
    edited October 2015


    Italychick, Do you take the pepperine separately or is it all together? Would you share whst it is you take, please. I currently do not take this, but need to learn more about it.

  • wrenn
    wrenn Member Posts: 2,707
    edited October 2015

    i take Webber natural curcumin with meriva from costco. The webber site has some good info.


  • Italychick
    Italychick Member Posts: 2,343
    edited October 2015

    here is what I take.

    image

  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited October 2015

    This post resonated so much with me. I am willing to do the surgery business and radiation...but the Tamoxifen just feels wrong, wrong, wrong for me.

    I haven't heard of Turkey Tail. Some of the supplements - like mushrooms, have turned up in my research, but I now have a ton of supplements to take. I'm going to have to comb through this more thoroughly.

  • mysunshine48
    mysunshine48 Member Posts: 1,480
    edited October 2015


    Italychick, and what is the other?

  • Italychick
    Italychick Member Posts: 2,343
    edited October 2015

    There may be better out there, but this is the best we have found. I am all ears for a better form!

    image

  • Wendy3
    Wendy3 Member Posts: 1,012
    edited November 2015

    Frill hi just wondered why are you so against tamoxifen do you know something I don't?

    Wendy

  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited November 2015

    I will have to ask my RO, but I was under the impression that at least during radiation (and for those who receive it), killing cancer cells via oxidation is the goal, and that taking any kind of antioxidant defeats the purpose by protecting not just normal cells but also cancer cells from the free radicals that promote oxidation). My MO told me it is not necessary to avoid dietary sources of antioxidants (in normal amounts present in prudent portions of foods containing them) but to avoid taking antioxidant supplements during radiation--including fish oil, alpha-lipoic acid, resveratrol and co-Q-10. I can, however, see the point of taking anti-inflammatories to ameliorate the joint and muscle symptoms caused by estrogen deficiency. Are piperine, curcumin, maitake mushrooms and turkey tail antioxidants or are they anti-inflammatories? Are there any gastric or cardiovascular side effects?

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    I take Curcumin by Thorne Research. It is called Meriva form, supposed to have much greater bioavailability. I feel much better on it, and several people have started taking it for bc and other problems, and they find it helps them with a variety of health conditions.

    Tamoxifen made me have extreme mood swings. Would get really angry and get into arguments with my family. Broke things when I would lose it. I hate how tamoxifen recked my sleep too. I know that it is listed as a carcinogen. I never felt any safer taking it. I also wrote before about how it depletes your body of Tryptophan, which we all know is a precursor of both Serotonin and Melatonin. Tamoxifen was used in 2 neuropsychiatric studies I found on Google to cause rapid Tryptophan Depletion. My goodness, no wonder I couldn't sleep and was having mood swings, such misery. Not worth it for me.

  • JerseyGirl22
    JerseyGirl22 Member Posts: 342
    edited November 2015

    Frill, I have to agree with you here... No matter what way I look at it, Tamoxifen feels wrong. italychick, I've seen the Life Extension brand and wondered.... I may try it, after I'm done chemo and the Dr. Danielle's Curcumin that a friend sent to me. Thanks for being out here ladies!

  • labelle
    labelle Member Posts: 721
    edited November 2015

    Several sources I've consulted say our bodies can only process turmeric/curcumin when it is consumed with both pepper and an oil. My husband and I use Sportsresearch brand C3 complex turmeric/curcumin-capsules with turmeric/curcumin and bioperine suspended in organic coconut oil. He was recently diagnosed with RA, so this is one of his supplements to help control inflammation.

    I also passed on tamoxifen-just could not make myself do it and take a variety of supplements instead, including daily flaxseed and DIM to address the hormonal factor. There are several threads on this board addressing the supplements many of us take and the Natural Girls thread, while getting dated, has some very good info.

  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited November 2015

    Wendy03: When I was first diagnosed with LCIS 6 months ago, my hideous first dr suggested it. I asked what it did and he said, "It immediately sends you into menopause." I spat back, "So you want to dry me up on your clock?"

    This may seem new agey, but in my 20s I was really into Dianic Wicca, which honors the three phases of a woman's life. To be yanked from one and thrown into another feels very wrong for me and - wow, it's been a long time since I said something like this- but it feels like a patriarchal solution.

    Some sisters here have told me their stories, saying that they didn't have bad side effects. The first evil dr said it would age me 20 years, kill my sex drive, weight gain......

    Once when I was overweight I tested high cholesterol. The immediate solution- pills. I decided to lose weight and guess what, it returned to normal.

    Yes, this is different but.....I'm sorry I just started having those multiple orgasms I'd been hearing about. I don't want to give things like that up passively

    Lol so that's tamx rant number 234,543.



  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited November 2015

    Labelle

    What DIM supplement are using? It's one that's on my list and didn't find it.

    Later I need to post my regimen and see if y'all have information to share. Right now my only real trusted source is Healthy Healing by Linda Rector-Page.

  • labelle
    labelle Member Posts: 721
    edited November 2015

    I use Smokey Mountains Naturals brand. I order from Amazon. They have several brands of DIM available. I've read tons of books since being diagnosed. Some of my favorites in terms of addressing diet/exercise are: Anti Cancer A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber and
    The Whole-Food Guide for Breast Cancer Surviviors.

  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited November 2015

    Thank you, labelle! DIM on order and so is The Whole Food Guide....I can be one of those people who buys every book on a subject. My bf will attest to that when he loaded half a moving van full of books. Anyway, I want to start with one and try to absorb it. I'm so freaking scattered right now, worrying over having the house ready before surgery, bf ready before surgery (lol), WORK, but I'm back to guzzling the crap out of water, have stopped my one (sniff) coke zero and replaced it with green tea, white tea, or pau d'arco. Back to gnoshing on fruit. I can't believe that a year of backsliding made me sick, but hey, what's one more thing to kick myself about. :/

  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited November 2015

    Not surprised to hear that tamoxifen depletes serotonin, as SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRIs (same, but norepinephrine instead of serotonin) inhibit the enzyme pathway by which tamoxifen occupies a tumor’s estrogen receptors. That sucks big time, because if anything is going to aggravate or trigger latent clinical depression, it’s learning you’ve been diagnosed with cancer. Those antidepressants don’t interfere with aromatase inhibitors, though. We postmenopausal sisters here who also have (or are in remission from or well-controlling) clinical depression are luckier in that regard, although some of our SEs from AIs might be less tolerable to us. As they say in the car-ad biz, your mileage may vary.

    I’d still like to know, though, whether natural anti-inflammatories such as curcumin, turmeric, piperine, DIM, etc. are contraindicated during radiation in the same way antioxidants are. And if so, how soon after radiation has been completed is it permissible to take them?

  • Wendy3
    Wendy3 Member Posts: 1,012
    edited November 2015

    Frill it's true it ages you very quickly I've been on it for six months now and all of a sudden I have my mothers turkey neck and my fathers jowls...yeah. It is also making me a crazy person in the morning to my family. My tumor is shrinking however so to stop it scares me a bit. Please let it be the marajuana oil that's doing it. See my oncologist on Thursday and she will be grilled.

    Wendy

  • Frill
    Frill Member Posts: 311
    edited November 2015

    Wendy3 Thank you. I told my bf about that and he snorted, "So you'll look your age. Fine." I hate sounding so shallow. I grew up the tall, skinny, ugly, picked-last-in-gym-class girl with glasses to boot lol. But then I stayed looking the same. And now I get that taken away plus the only thing I ever liked physically....ok, no whining. Too early for whining. Hospital days make me whiny.


  • HappyHammer
    HappyHammer Member Posts: 1,247
    edited November 2015

    Wendy- what are CBD capsules? Thanks!

  • Wendy3
    Wendy3 Member Posts: 1,012
    edited November 2015

    CBDs are cannabindiol some of around 85 found in the hemp plant. I take three capsules daily as well as the marajuana oil at night. Frill have you tried the egg timer and hing works for crying and temper flare ups. Once it rings I try and get my self under control and continue with my stuff.mi am 6'1" and was always the last picked for everything I get where you are coming from. I figured hey I'm gonna be a cool fit hippy old lady who still looks pretty good. Now that has all changed...at least my husband still loves me yeah for that. 

    Have a grea day ladies 

    Wendy

  • LetItRain
    LetItRain Member Posts: 1
    edited November 2015

    Your reply to Bluepearl is much kinder than what I wanted to write. What a horrible thing to suggest that the only option for stage four is palliative care. I am a young mother of two children fighting stage four and I come here for hope and support, not to be told I should give up and die.


  • marijen
    marijen Member Posts: 3,731
    edited July 2019

    Wendy, where do you get the CBDS? They are aging you but shrinking the tumor? Or is that tge tamoxifen How much oil do you take?

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    Hi LetItRain,

    This is my thread. It's a thread of hope,of looking for options outside the conventional treatment box. I applaud your fight for health, even at stage 4. BLUEPEARL does not define how I want this thread to go, she gets her say, same as the rest of us, but really this thread is for women who are openminded and looking for natural treatments and supplements to help them achieve and maintain health.

  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited November 2015

    "Palliative care" means relief of symptoms rather than with the aim of achieving a “cure.” Suggesting it is NOT the same as recommending hospice or telling a patient to “go home and die.” Basically, once cancer gets to Stage IV doctors stop using the term “cure,” but very-long-term remissions can be achieved. A friend of mine who was Stage IV for TWELVE years told me that the palliative care she was receiving was to control the cancer and improve quality of life. She said managing it was like periodically putting the lid on or adjusting the flame beneath a simmering pot to keep it from flaring up and boiling over. It’s up to the individual patient how much faith she has in allopathic vs. alternative medicine to keep the mets at bay and ameliorate symptoms. It’s a very personal decision--and what I think Bluepearl was addressing was those well-known alternative practitioners who are motivated as much by profit as are allopathic doctors and pharma companies. Not naming names, but we all know who they are, and they are every bit as cruel to advanced-cancer patients as are the clueless callous bastards who tell them to abandon hope. There’s got to be a “golden mean” or sweet spot between the two.

  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    Hey have any of you also tried intermittent fasting? I mention it because it is a really interesting idea that when you don't eat for several hour you go into ketosis and that cancer cells can not use ketones as fuel.Only normal, healthy cells can. It is pretty easy once you get used to doing it, and I like the idea of starving cancer cells while I try other helpful supplements to kill bc.

  • leggo
    leggo Member Posts: 3,293
    edited November 2015

    Hi LetItRain and welcome. I'm so sorry you had to read that. I used to let posts like that upset me as well. It took a while for me to connect the dots but when I did, based on posting history and diagnosis, I realized comments like that ALWAYS come from someone who has no idea what it's like to be fighting for your life, or to be very sick. I know it's easier said than done, but please ignore those rude and hurtful comments. I sincerely hope it hasn't turned you off of posting. Lots of women are here to help and not everyone is that apathetic. The good really does outweigh the bad. Hugs to you and I hope you are doing ok.

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