Natural Alternative to AI's?

There is a product I like, "Protective Breast Formula".  It has supplements in it that protects the breast, balances hormones etc.  You can find out more by going to www.protectivebreast.com.  Supplemnts included in the formula are calcium d-glucarate, tumeric, green tea, indolplex, grape seed and maitake mushrooms.  You can search them indiviually to find out how they protect the breast.

The below was taken from their site. 

"a unique combination of the clinically-studied levels of the natural ingredients proven to support breast health. Now we can get the protection we deserve in a form that fits with the busy lives that we lead"

I'm stage 4 her2 and estrogen positive. 

Here's some info on calcium d-glucarate and indole. Info came from http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/Chemotherapy.htm 

Yes, there are two other supplements that I recommend to these patients: indole-3-carbinol (I3C) at a dosage of 300 to 400 mg daily and calcium D-glucarate at a dosage of 400 to 1,200 mg daily. IC3 is one of the chief anticancer compounds from cabbage family vegetables. IC3 is especially protective against breast, prostate, and cervical cancer because of a number of actions including an ability to increase the breakdown of estrogen. Preliminary studies have also shown that taking I3C as a dietary supplement significantly increased the conversion of estrogen from cancer-producing forms to non-toxic breakdown products.16,17

Calcium D-glucarate is also important because it inhibits an enzyme in the gut that interferes with the elimination of excess estrogen.18 One of the key ways in which the body gets rid of estrogen is via attaching glucuronic acid to the estrogen in the liver and then excreting this complex in the bile. Glucuronidase is a bacterial enzyme that uncouples (breaks) the bond between excreted estrogen and glucuronic acid. By inhibiting this enzyme calcium D-glucarate promotes the excretion of estrogen.

Another important recommendation in breast or prostate cancer is to consume ground flaxseeds. Flaxseeds contain an important group of anticancer compounds known as lignans. Flaxseeds are easy to grind with a coffee grinder, food processor or blender. I recommend one or two tablespoons daily added to foods such as hot cereals, salads, or smoothies.

While it is better known that flaxseed lignans can prevent and even shrink breast cancer, flaxseed lignans also bind to male hormone receptors and promote the elimination of testosterone. In a study of men with prostate cancer, a low-fat diet (= 20% of total calories) supplemented with 30 grams of ground flaxseed (roughly two tablespoons) reduced serum testosterone by 15%, slowed the growth rate of cancer cells, and increased the death rate of cancer cells after only 34 days, according to a study conducted at the Duke University Medical Center and Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.19

Yes, DIM is better.  I was trying to find the info I saw on that but can't seem to find it right now.  The formula I mentioned does use DIM.  I think most current products have switched to DIM.

Bliz,

If your asking, is it lunacy, I wouldn't go that far, but I'm early stage and I jumped on taking an AI.   I took a deep breath waiting for it all to happen to me, and nothing happened.  I exhaled 3 years ago when I realized I wasn't having any side effects.

I was very proactive in taking minerals and certain vitamins right at the get go when I started arimidex, maybe that helped.  I'm pretty sure it did, but who can really say?  Give the AI a try, get those minerals and vitamins started and see what happens.  What do you have to lose?  Ok, a few hairs will fall out, and some hairs will appear where we don't want them, but what the heck.

Here's my take on this issue....there are probably some good & effective natural substances that we can take to support good breast health and to complement what we may be doing to interfere with the processes that went haywire and caused malignancy to develop in the first place. But the intent of AIs is clear....to inhibit the process by the adrenal glands that results in the production of estrogen. Since it's that direct an intent, it seems to me that the only "alternative" would be something that has precisely the same effect. To my knowledge, there is nothing, short of removing the adrenal glands , that does that.

Bliz, as for considering tamoxifen....as long as you don't have any reason to think that you're high risk for endometrial cancer or a blood-clotting disorder, I say why not? It's a highly effective drug with a good history of preventing recurrence. My doctors gave me a choice between tamoxifen and an AI and, after researching my options, I elected to try an AI, but would have been as confident as one can be with any of these drugs if I had chosen tamoxifen. I really think that quality-of-life isn't given the supreme weight that it deserves in our decision-making. After all, our lives are finite, with or without cancer, so let's make them the happiest and most productive possible, right?

JMHO.....

~Marin