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flax seed oil & cottage cheese

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Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    Joyce, did you run the supplements past your oncologist? I know some supplements may be fine and some may interfere. It's best to let the doc know what you're taking and get his opinion.

  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 158
    edited February 2009

     Article's posted are not testimonials.  Doctor do not study alternative must less vitamins and supplements.  They will tell you same thing they tell everyone. We don't know so don't do it. Not good enough for me.  Doctor's get two weeks of studies on diet and supplements in their entire training.  This is why we go to doctor's who have four years of training in this area.

  • Joyceska
    Joyceska Member Posts: 11
    edited February 2009

    The supplements I take regularly I gave the list to my dr.  She doesn't have a problem unless it has been shown to interfer with chemo. She marks my list of yes and no's.   I wish I could test myself to see what my body has plenty of and what I have a need for.  I wish I could know what to take to make the cancer disappear.  There is so many natural things out there that can help but what works with me?  

    The doctor is pleased with the shrinkage of my tumor and told me I tolerate chemo well so I guess I am not messing up to badly.  I just don't have the answers.

    Joyce

  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 158
    edited February 2009

    Hi Joyce,

    You need to stick to the basic things of diet and supplements that will help you with side effects of chemo on your body and possible can help fight bc.  But the rest you need to wait and try after you have completed chemo. Your first group of chemo are your most important.  My doctor said I could do anything as long as I did not mega dose anything while on chemo.  There are a couple books out the tell you what is ok to take while in treatment. Let me know and I can send you list.

    Also welcome triple neg sister. 

    Flalady

  • leia
    leia Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2009

    Floridalady, I appreciate your posting all of that great info. About the FOCC. You're suffering from such an incredibly worse, BC, than my Stage 1, was. What is yours, "trip neg stageIV spread to IBC (2X) & 7 recur's, Treat Alt & Conv"

     That's horrible. But so great, for you, willing to see other possible treatments. Other than the standard ones offered up by the Medical Industrial Complex. 

    I'll just say, as I've said, I'm totally on the FOCC. But if in six months, I have another cancer, I'll get it cut out. I'm a believer, in surgical, intervention. Just not these, adjuvant treatments.

    Even with my latest ordeal, I had the Birad5 MRI, and then, the Benign, pathology. And I went through the mill, and THEN they told me that "the pathology was 'discordant' with the imaging. Do a MRI-guided, biopsy."

    I was beside, myself. And just insisted, on talking to the Radiologist. And she did call me. Who happens to be the Director of Breast Imaging, at the SCCA. The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle WA. And also, who happened to be there during my US-guided, biopsy.  

    And her opinion, when I talked to her on the phone, I did NOT need, the MRI-guided biopsy. My pathology report, from the US-guided biopsy, Fat Necrosis, was totally explainable, by my clinical history. The lumpectomy trauma, the major hematoma. Her recommendation, monitor, in six months.

    Hmm. I'm always just going to question, everything.

    And unlike, JO-5, I'm NEVER going to just "trust some doctor." In this latest, fiasco, if I'd 'trusted my doctors," I would have gone through a needless, biopsy.

    IMO, you HAVE to be an advocate, for your own health!  

    To me, the FOCC, is just ... natural. I'm not asking anyone, about it.

    I know. My body.  

    And as JO-5 said, we all have to make our own decisions. And I've made mine. With the FOCC. JO-5 has made, hers, with the Medical Industrial Complex.

    The Doctors are GOD. They KNOW ALL. According to JO-5.

    I just need to do what is right, for myself. And so does JO-5. And JO-5 NEEDS to believe in the doctors. That's OK. 

    And for my part? I will NEVER get the Medical Industrial Complex to agree, with me.

    But, that's OK, as well. I don't need them to agree with me, anymore. I'm going to do what is right, for me. Which is the FOCC.

    Leia 

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited February 2009

    Sigh. I get frustrated with the "Drs are Evil" line of thought--sorry, I just do. It's too absolute. But that is me.

    I personally am trying to use the best of both worlds--all the the medical world has to offer as well as reading up on diet, exercise, natural remedies, etc. I know I am my own advocate and certainly trust nothing blindly--including drs. I did research on the surgical, chemo (even though I didn't need it thankfully), radiation and tamoxifen. I discussed facts and any concerns with my drs and felt comfortable with the treatment plan. Nothing is definitive either with conventional medicine or alternatives as everyone is different, but I feel good about medical treatments that they have used long enough that they have long-term results on them.

    I did read up on the Budwig protocol after seeing it here and in picking through the info it seems that the benefits of flaxseed oil somehow are elevated with the protein in cottage cheese. I would prefer a dairy-free protein but interesting that they had good results with that. Am I going to pass on tamoxifen which has good long-term track results for many women? No, but I am going to change my diet as best as I can. I am also torn on flaxseed being a plant estrogen however the results they have had on flaxseed with breast cancer seem to be better than with soy which is also a plant estrogen although a different kind. 

  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 158
    edited February 2009

    I don't think all doctor's are evil.  I love my oncologist but is also blunt in saying that the medical industry does not know as much as they think they do.  Cancer treatment is in very early stage of research still.  One size does not fit all. I want to cover my options.

    Flalady

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    JO, don't let them bait you. Don't get sucked into any dysfunctional discourses. They do this on every thread where someone expresses any hint of support for conventional treatment or any interest in proof (data) that something works.

  • lisasayers
    lisasayers Member Posts: 144
    edited February 2009

    Who is "them"?  Just curious

  • lisasayers
    lisasayers Member Posts: 144
    edited February 2009

    Incidentally, my doctor told me that flax seed was okay and to keep using it.  So what I have been saying all along is that different doctors give different advice.  There are no cut and dried answers.

  • AllieM22
    AllieM22 Member Posts: 188
    edited February 2009

    That's why I like this site so we get to see what different drs are recommending and what research everyone has done. There are no easy answers, sadly. Luckily there is a lot of research being done so we always know more and more...

  • Makratz
    Makratz Member Posts: 1,605
    edited February 2009

    I am ER/PR +and am currently on tamoxifen after rads and lumpectomy.  I started eating milled flax seed, which is very inexpensive, to help ward off tumors.  My onc said she is not sure as to whether this is helpful or not, tests are still being done on it.  I have had unbelievable night sweats and hot flashes.  I am 42 and premeno. I stopped taking the flax seed about 2 weeks ago as a test.  Since it is so high in phytoestrogens, I believe the flax seed was causing excessive amounts of night sweats and hot flashes.  I sleep so much better now that I have stopped taking it.  Has anyone else tried this? 

    I do believe flax is very healthy if you are not er/pr+.  Not sure if I should take it or not.  I think I will stop simply because I hate the night sweats.

    Love to hear from you.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

  • sarabhealed
    sarabhealed Member Posts: 64
    edited February 2009

    Makraz,

    I think it's good you are paying attention to your body and you need to make your decisions based on your experience--interestingly enough though, flax seeds help REDUCE my hotflashes and is recommended in several menopause books for this purpose. I am er and pr + and am very comfortable taking flax seeds. Best of luck... 

  • lisasayers
    lisasayers Member Posts: 144
    edited February 2009

    Well not eating flax hasn't stopped my night sweats.  I haven't had any in over a week, as I ran out and I'm still getting horrible night sweats every night.

    I'm 44 and was peri-menopausal prior to my diagnois.  Chemo threw me into chemopause

  • leia
    leia Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2009

    lisasayers, just curious. Why did your docs recommend chemo?

  • lisasayers
    lisasayers Member Posts: 144
    edited February 2009

    I'm one of those "mushy middle" gals.  Initially my FISH score came back saying I was Her2+ and then they did the Oncotype test and it came back as Her2- (score was 19).  So my doc felt it best to do four rounds of CT.

  • roxy42
    roxy42 Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2009

    Hi ladys just want to add my two cents,be real carfull and ask a Dr,I'm 19 months out doing well on arimidex,I told a freind about the flax and cottage cheese she started it a year ago,and now she is gone.She passed away two weeks ago,and now I'm blaming my self for offering advice to her,she ate good no sugar no bad foods and now she is no longer with me,In the bigining i watched everything i ate,but after losing her i eat what i want,jut get a Good alternitive Dr to help you........godbless roxy

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    Roxy, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Truly.

    There is no cure for breast cancer, nor for most cancers. I hope she did not forego conventional treatment for the flax/cheese approach.

  • Hindsfeet
    Hindsfeet Member Posts: 675
    edited February 2009

    Roxy42.. What is wonderful, we have the freedom to choose our treatments. But for your friend...I wondered one year before she died, her stage, and how advance was her cancer?

    When I first posted the flax seed and cottage cheese I was just beginning alternative research. Since then I've learned its a lot more than eating right. It's getting the whole body in tune.. After my first dx I did not change my life style. I thought I was indestructable. Taking out the dcis was nothing more than taking out a bad tooth. I was mistaken. My body wasn't working right, and it took my recent bout with cancer to wake up.

    There is no magic pill or cure. In the last 3 months, I've changed my diet, I'm getting vitamin B-12 shots, and now I'm taking thyroid pills. Hopefully it prevents cancer... No matter what happens, one thing I know I'm feeling better. For me right now, its about the quality of life. It's enjoying my husband, childing, friends, and my work.

    And in the end, I know when its my time to go, I'm going. No cancer bullet is going to touch me without God's permission. But, when I go, I want to go out dancing!

    Have a wonderful day. B. Barry

  • leia
    leia Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2009

    Barry, I'm totally in agreement, with you. What you said, "After my first dx I did not change my life style. I thought I was indestructable. Taking out the dcis was nothing more than taking out a bad tooth. I was mistaken. My body wasn't working right, and it took my recent bout with cancer to wake up."

    Although, for my part, I still haven't had a recurrence, since my 2cm IDC was removed, with wide, clear margins, August 1, 2006.  And as I've said, I refused the radiation and the tamoxifen.

    Actually, as I've written, above, all that I've had, since then, is false positive mammos and MRI's. In August, 2007, they thought I had cancer in my left (non-cancer) breast. That went on through an exisional biopsy, in October, 2007. All benign. In January, 2009, they thought I had a recurrence in my right, X-cancer breast. But with the latter, false positive caused by my lumpectomy and subsequent major hematoma. Which left a "lump," that they then continued to "biopsy."  And In the end, all benign. 

    But perhaps, like you, it was MY wake-up call. In the last six weeks, I've changed my diet, to the Flax seed oil/cottage cheese. And limited to no processed foods, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. And like you, I feel TERRIFIC!

    Because you hit it ... THAT is all that counts. Feeling, better, and for my part, enjoying my job, my children, my lover. The latter, whom, does like my breasts. And so do I. I'm not going to get my breasts cut off for some 2cm, Stage 1, ER+PR+, HER2- IDC.  When I can just eat life-sustaining food. And not only prevent breast cancer but also my other Leiomyosarcoma cancer from coming back. 

    I'm starting a garden, this summer, in my back yard. Going to grow lots of fresh foods to nourish, my body. And even the "studies" on breastcancer.org promote this. It DOES help.  

    Again, as I've said, above, I already had that Leiomyosarcoma cancer, as well.  Barry, you said it. "It's getting the whole body in tune."

    Irradiating, my breasts (to get some hypothetical random cancer cells, left behind ... ???) or taking some hormone drugs (for I don't even know, why) is NOT going to help my body, as a whole. That is certainly not going to prevent a Leiomyosarcoma recurrence. 

    Yet, strengthening my immune system, with the FOCC, perhaps, will. And perhaps prevent a lot of other cancers, as well. It just ... makes sense, to me.

    Ha, I don't expect anyone to agree with me. But I don't care. I don't need anyone to agree with me.  

    I'm just posting, here, to tell you what I did. And how it's been so great, for me.  

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    There is no "food" known to prevent or cure breast cancer.

    Developing cancer is rarely a failure of the "immune" system. The immune system is designed to intercept foreign invaders. Cancer is not a foreign invader. This is why so many people get so many kinds of cancer. Our immune systems don't attack cancer cells because they are not foreign invaders.

    But a good strong immune system is useful for preventing colds, flu, mild food poisonings, etc.

  • staceyr
    staceyr Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    It is debatable whether cancer is a failure of the immune system.  Just because the body does not readily identify cancer cells as foreign does not mean that that isn't part of the job - one might argue that cells that have mutated are indeed foreign to a healthy body.  The FDA is studying how to make the immune system better at recognizing cancer cells as such, thus enabling the immune system to fight them.  A quick google search easily turns up numerous official cancer sites which discuss the role of the immune system in preventing and fighting cancer.

  • crazy4carrots
    crazy4carrots Member Posts: 624
    edited February 2009

    Scientists working in the fields of cancer and autoimmune disorders (i.e. lupus, diabetes, MS etc.) do consider all of the above to be immune system diseases.  There is a huge amount of overlapping research in these two fields.

    We tend to think of the immune system as that part of us that fights off invaders such as foreign viruses and bacteria.   Much more to it than that.  Every cell in our body contains genes, each of which expresses a protein or proteins (which, by the way, has led to a whole new area of research called proteomics). Unlike the genes, which are relatively constant, the proteins expressed can vary in type, and in time. Most are good, and keep our cells reproducing in a healthy way.  Some are bad, and lead to the growth of cancers and to other life-threatening illnesses.  Studying the actions of these proteins is a major thrust of current medical research.

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    I am aware of research training the immune system to fight cancer. These are the so-called vaccines that are being tested in many research labs at hospitals and universities. These are targeted at training the immune system to fight existing cancers.

    I am not aware of any such studies that are thought to be able to prevent cancer from developing, for the precise reason I mentioned. DNA mutations that result in malignancies often fail to produce any markers or proteins that enable the body to identify it as "bad." This is the current status of so-called triple negative breast cancer.

  • Strawberry
    Strawberry Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2009

    LJ13,

    You really need to research on how the body works with cell makeup and the immune cell communication.  There are plenty of studies that show the body fight off many diseases with proper support of the immune system.  If not we would all be dead from exposure to every person we come in contact with that is a carrier something. What do you think a vaccine is?  It nothing more than something used to stimulate your immune system. They are working on a bc vaccine.

    As a triple negative description you are not correct.  Triple negs just means the medical industries can not find the receptor at this time. Not that it failed to produce a marker.

    Strawberry

  • leia
    leia Member Posts: 18
    edited February 2009

    LJ13 wrote:

    "There is no food known, to prevent breast cancer." 

    True. Yet, there is the anecdotal evidence that the Flax Seed Oil/Cottage cheese can prevent or cure, ALL cancers.

    Yet, you're looking for "studies" to "PROVE" it. Yet why would there be any "studies," for that?  Who benefits, from that study? The manufacturers of Flax Seed Oil and Cottage Cheese? As compared to the providers of all of these HUGE Medical Expenditures, on all of these "treatments." For whatever, cancer. 

    They have a vested interest to NOT support it. All of these Millions of jobs, would be lost, if we all didn't get all of these useless treatments. And we all just ... ate better.  

    WHAT are you doing on this thread LJ13. You want to "educate" all of us, idiots? And draw us back, into the Medical Industrial Complex? Why?

    Why don't you just go back to every other thread, on this board, where they all have double mastectomies, for 2mm DCIS.  Because the Medical Industrial Complex has frightened them, into it. 

    We're here to explore alternative therapies. And I've chosen, mine. And I'm just here, to say to other women, that there ARE alternatives. 

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2009

    Anecdotal evidence? That is not accepted as "evidence" by any scientist or researcher.

    Genuine research has to eliminate any knowledge-based bias. Knowing the product you are using is supposed to produce some purported benefit is bias. Knowing you are giving someone a product that should produce a benefit is bias. People taking placebo, who believe it is benefitting them, report that their medication works wonders. All of these kinds of bias must be eliminated or the data is useless.

    Any moron could make a fortune on ANYTHING that cured cancer. Flax seed, cottage cheese, or pure Dihydrogen monoxide. There are millions of people who get cancer every year. Curing them once of their disease doesn't prevent recurrence. People make fortunes selling bottled water when it's free from the tap, for gawd's sake. 

    No one is stopping you from exploring your alternatives. 

  • PSK07
    PSK07 Member Posts: 91
    edited February 2009

    Leia - re: your comment about women and DCIS

    I believe you owe women on this board an apology. What gives you the right to comment on the treatment that any woman has chosen and insult her to boot? 

    Disgusted. Explore your alternative therapies to your heart's content, but keep the insults and nasty comments about women who have chosen conventional medicine to yourself.

  • Strawberry
    Strawberry Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2009

    LJ13,

    You have yet to add any thing of value to the alternative threads.  If we wanted medical advice I would call a doctor.  I sure would not need it from you.  We are here to discuss alternatives not listen to you make comments about your own beliefs.  I do wonder why you think we care what you have to add? I

    No ladies, we are not against people who want to add research and comments to the topic we do not need preached to by any us.  As Flalady says we have minds and can research and make our own decisions without your post after very other comment.

    I'll go eat a carrot now thank you

  • Hindsfeet
    Hindsfeet Member Posts: 675
    edited February 2009

     I stopped in to see how you are all doing. After reading the last several threads, I had to comment. I guess it's harder to leave these threads than I thought. I've come to care about you all. I guess I've somehow become connected.

    I want to add to LJ13 comment regarding testimonies. In the media we hear testimonies of conventional medicine...followed by negative side affects. It's the negative side affects that got me, and made me look beyond conventional medicine. People base a lot on testimonis. If a friend uses a product and it works for them than I am apt to try it. That's why the medical establishment uses testimonies and not "so call facts" to sell their product. We try something that works for others. Human.

    What is nice about the alternative board... is that here there are good, and honest people, who' have had bc, who share what worked for them. I can try it, research it for myself, or mention it to my naturalpathic doctor. Like both, my bc surgeon and naturalpathic doctor said, they like patients who partner with them...and who are part of the decision making process.

    No one is saying alternative medicine is a cure for breast cancer. But, eating right, exercising, and good health can prevent disease...who knows might destroy cancer cells...helping our immune system :) with natural herbs only helps us. I read a article this morning that there are medical establishments, who are now considering naturalpathic medicine as part of their treatment plan. I know studies in the city I live in is a hospital working with alternative med.

    LJ13...I don't know why you are on the alternative threads if you are against alternative medicine. It boggles my mind....unless you are on a mission to discourage women looking for alternative help?  Are you an authority on alternative and or conventional medicine? Nothing against you personally, just trying to understand your motive.

    Thanks for the encouraging posts...After reading what you said, I thought maybe I' left too soon...that maybe I should visit everyonce in awhile. B Barry