Wine

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Metster-Mom
Metster-Mom Member Posts: 30
edited August 2017 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

I have started a few posts but hesitated to start this one. There is a lot of research that shows a correlation between wine and breast cancer. (other cancers, too) I love my wine and definitely cut back after my original diagnosis. My question is for wine drinkers. (or any alcohol) Are you still drinking? If so, how much? I just want to be able to enjoy a few glasses and not feel bad about it. I am newly diagnosed with Mets to my sacrum so I'm trying to process this all. (which makes me want to have a glass of wine even more - ha!)


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  • Freya244117
    Freya244117 Member Posts: 603
    edited August 2017

    I was dxd in 2009, and bone mets the following year. Like you I cut down, but still enjoyed a drink when I wanted. Everything in moderation is my way of thinking. I was 44 when dxd, fit and with a very healthy diet, I thought I was low risk but it still happened. My BS said it could have been there growing for up to 10 years, sneaky thing!

    I don't drink anymore only because my body decided it didn't like it (bugger). That was about the same time I was dxd with liver mets.

    Quality of life and enjoying small pleasures is important

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2017

    I'm not a big drinker, but when I want a drink , I thoroughly enjoy and feel no guilt at all. I intend to enjoy my life to the fullest

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  • Kimchee
    Kimchee Member Posts: 105
    edited August 2017

    I like to have a few beers on the weekend . My question is who out there enjoys their weekend and just lives life ? By the way I'm on Ibrance with bone mets . Please somebody out there tell me it's ok to do this!!

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  • dsyoung53
    dsyoung53 Member Posts: 20
    edited August 2017

    I have liver mets and enjoy a glass of wine a couple times a week. I've done this for 7 years, so it can't be that bad for you, unless of course, your doc says no alcohol.


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  • LA894
    LA894 Member Posts: 21
    edited August 2017

    Hi all - This is a big question for me also as I was just diagnosed with bone mets and am a wine lover. My oncologist told me that the studies are flawed so they don't really know for sure. She recommends keeping it to an average of one drink a day (7 per week). That works just fine for me! As a side benefit I am now losing weight as well.

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  • Kandy
    Kandy Member Posts: 1,461
    edited August 2017

    I used to love my wine, but I'm on so much pain meds I'm afraid to mix. What do y'all do about that

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  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited August 2017

    I have red almost every night. 9 years with mets and stable. I say Drink up!

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  • Kimchee
    Kimchee Member Posts: 105
    edited August 2017

    I cant take what going on in the world or the stress of what me and my family are going though , so I think I will drink up !!Loopy

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  • proudtospin
    proudtospin Member Posts: 5,972
    edited August 2017

    i cut weigh back after my initial diagnosis, now with mets, my nitely glass of wine helps keep me sane or close to it, course i have subbed a nitely cup of ice cream but doc has approved that

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  • Kimchee
    Kimchee Member Posts: 105
    edited August 2017

    Live your Life and be Happy !! Peace and Love  to all

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  • Kandy
    Kandy Member Posts: 1,461
    edited August 2017

    Are any of y'all taking pain meds with the wine

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2017

    Kandy,

    I don't drink much and only take OTC pain meds, but I've heard opioids and alcohol are not a good combo.

    Enjoy every sip

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  • illimae
    illimae Member Posts: 5,710
    edited August 2017

    I've cut back too but I was told 1 glass a day was ok, if it was an important source of enjoyment for me. I do have 2-3 glasses usually once a week (Sunday nights I have friends over for dinner and TV, wine is part of that for me). I also enjoyed several at a brewery tasting and crawfish boil without regrets.

    Kandy, I've had a couple of glasses while taking tramadol but nothing harder than that, Vicodin once or twice maybe.

    I want to give myself every possible advantage to survive this disease but I can't be so strict that I eliminate everything I enjoy or what's the point.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited August 2017

    "I want to give myself every possible advantage to survive this desease but I can't be so strict that I eliminate everything I enjoy or what's the point."

    You summed it up perfectly , illimae!

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  • Beatmon
    Beatmon Member Posts: 1,562
    edited August 2017

    I have a glass of wine a few nights a week....not all weeks, on smallest Fentanyl patch, sometimes need dilaudid for breakthrough. I take a lunesta at bedtime. Not saying it is safe....but I'm still alive.

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  • AnimalCrackers
    AnimalCrackers Member Posts: 701
    edited August 2017

    I too enjoy a glass or two of wine. My oncologist says to keep it down to one glass a nite but depending on how I'm feeling I can easily have two. I try to not exceed two per night and am working on tapering back down to just when I go out. Everything in moderation. There's got to be a balance. I'm working on finding my balance. It definitely gets harder each time there is progression in mets.

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  • Sadiesservant
    Sadiesservant Member Posts: 1,995
    edited August 2017

    I am also a wine lover and try to enjoy a glass (or two) when I can. The challenge is that my wine enjoyment has dropped since diagnosis due to my ongoing challenges with my lung. When I had lots of fluid wine tasted terrible. I ha d a couple of months when all was well and the drain kept the fluid under control. Wine was back on the menu. But then I started dealing with a lung infection and problems from loculated pockets of fluid. Between antibiotics (one of which would make me violently ill if I drank) and how I have been feeling my wine consumption has been non-existent. I did have wine for the first time for weeks tonight but it made me tired mostly. 😢

    Kimchee, I have completed three rounds of Ibrance and had mo issues with wine. I did choose to take it in the morning to be sure there were no issues with interactions. I have been off Ibrance for several weeks now due to the infection but hopefully will be back on it soon.

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  • Heidihill
    Heidihill Member Posts: 5,476
    edited August 2017

    Yay for the flawed studies, LA. I like your onc. I still drink wine, as much as 3 times a day but just a third of a normal serving each time. This way I get to feel like I am drinking a lot. I will also have non-alcoholic beer after exercising and on special occasions some real beer.

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  • Metster-Mom
    Metster-Mom Member Posts: 30
    edited August 2017

    I'm with you on being able to enjoy wine. I agree moderation and I also think having a little more on the weekend is fine. We have to live, right? I am not really drinking during the week, unless I have a social event. On the weekends I like to hang out with my husband and kick back with a few glasses of wine. I'm newly diagnosed and very overwhelmed and full of emotion.I need some normalcy! ❤️

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  • PattyPeppermint
    PattyPeppermint Member Posts: 11,162
    edited August 2017

    my mo says wine is good in moderation but like others I am on so many pain meds it just isn't safe. Enjoy a glass for me

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  • Kandy
    Kandy Member Posts: 1,461
    edited August 2017

    Oh, Patty, I think we need to enjoy a glass together. I'm going to ask MO about it this week. I really miss my wine.

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  • Lumpie
    Lumpie Member Posts: 1,650
    edited August 2017

    Much like you, I enjoy an occasional glass of wine. I usually have a couple of glasses once a week when I go out for dinner. I may drink more often on vacation or other social occasions but my overall consumption is very moderate. When I did my (first round of) cytotoxic chemo, it made wine taste like Windex so, for obvious reason, I chose not to drink it then. I know that some of the research and the "food/nutrition Nazis" say no amount of alcohol is safe... but people have been drinking wine for thousands of years... which, admittedly, does not necessarily make it a healthful practice... but does make it a very standard cultural practice. It's a quality of life issue for me - and a philosophical matter. I'm not staying alive just to take up space on the planet. I'm staying alive to 1) make a positive contribution to society and 2) to have a good quality of life. The decision is easy for me because I am very clear about these priorities. Unless they can prove to me that having a couple of glasses of wine a week is as dangerous as chugging rat poison, I plan to enjoy my couple of glasses a week with NO sense of ambivalence. I don't recall whether my doctor and I ever discussed the matter. As far as one's doctor's advice goes, I work in the healthcare field and am a pretty aggressive patient advocate. We hire seek out our doctors for their advice and expertise. They need to let us know if there is a really compelling contraindication to consuming a small to moderate amount of alcohol given our therapeutic regimens. If not, they need to respect our quality of life choices (IMHO). Cheers!

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  • illimae
    illimae Member Posts: 5,710
    edited August 2017

    While I've already mentioned being a supporter of drinking in moderation, I will add that my only rule is no alcohol for a few days after my infusions. My MO had no problem with it but I decided to be extra kind to my liver as it had enough to process.

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  • DaughterOfStageIV
    DaughterOfStageIV Member Posts: 49
    edited August 2017

    Althlugh my mom has never been a big drinker she did enjoy a drink once or twice a week. Since being diagnosed with liver mets her onc said no alcohol except on her birthday. She has completely eliminated alcohol and chemo is working. Liver mets drastically reduced as well.

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  • Tina2
    Tina2 Member Posts: 2,943
    edited August 2017

    Wine with pain meds, never. Wine without pain meds, always!

    Tina

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  • Beatmon
    Beatmon Member Posts: 1,562
    edited August 2017

    I ask myself...what is the worst that can happen if I pass away one night from a little too much wine and my pain meds? Relief and no horrible progression to fighting for air and to have to have bodily functions taken care of by my family. Don't get me wrong, I rarely have over 1glass and not every nite...I don't have death wish, so.....just my outlook.

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  • Freya244117
    Freya244117 Member Posts: 603
    edited August 2017

    I've thought the same Beatmon. There have been times in the past when I have had a drink to kick the pain meds into gear quicker. It's not something I would recommend for everyone, but hey I'm stage IV, what's the worst that can happen.

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  • cive
    cive Member Posts: 709
    edited August 2017

    Just sooner rather than later, but hey life is a crap shoot anyway.


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  • Beatmon
    Beatmon Member Posts: 1,562
    edited August 2017

    Exactly!

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  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited August 2017

    Wine, thumbs up! My MO just says "drink the good stuff". I'm not on pain meds so can't comment there.

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