natural girls
Comments
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Chevfan,
You can consume all the caffeine you want if you take iodine. Your cysts will disappear. Ovarian cysts too.
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Has anyone heard of "Miracle Noodles" supposedly from Japan made from Glucomannan???
I stumbled across this and they supposedly are gluten, soy and carb free and serve as a base for sauces and help with weight loss as they only provide fiber.
Supposedly they help with obesity, Type II Diabetes and lowering cholesterol.
Sounds too good to be true.
Anyone heard of these.
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Chevfan, BELIEVE ME, I know... no one was more addicted to caffeine than I was. I promise I was more addicted than you!!
Do you drink coffee or soft drinks? Coffee isn't quite as bad healthwise as soft drinks. I do still LOOOOOVE the flavor of a great cup of coffee. I was drinking entirely too much of it and didn't think it was remotely possible to cut it out. And, when I first found a lump, I still didn't stop the caffeine (I tried but couldn't!).
Then, when I was finally told I had the C word, it scared me into realizing I needed to find a way to cut out caffeine.
For me, the ONLY way was to substitute it with something else. You can learn to like green tea (with a bit of stevia to make it taste good) for the caffeine... green tea is cancer-fighting! You can try to transition to swiss-water-process decaf or, even better, a natural coffee substitute called Teecino. (You brew it like coffee, but it has stuff like nuts, chicory, dates, etc. and believe it or not, tastes good.)
If you drink soft drinks, please understand that those are poison and will kill you!!! I was a Coke Zero addict for the year and a half leading up to my diagnosis. Coke Zero has aspartame in it. Aspartame is a known carcinogen (why it's approved by the FDA is beyond me) and will actively cause fibrocystic changes including tumors. It will cause any existing tumors to accelerate.
The only thing I found that cured my Coke Zero addiction was something called kombucha (a fermented tea). I found that I liked the fizziness more than the caffeine. I don't think I could have cut out my favorite caffeinated beverages without a reall, really good substitute!
Luna5, I haven't heard of that (I don't think) but boy does that sound intriguing!!
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Another name for them is Shirataki Noodles. Also known as Shirataki Konjac or Moyu or Juruo...
Would love to hear that this is good for us.
Anyone heard of this stuff?
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I have a friend who eats them all the time, as they are very low in calories and the Hungry Girl website pushes them as an alternative to eating pasta. Be sure to rinse them well before eating. Interesting - I never heard of these health benefits before. I always thought they were made with Tofu. They sell them at Whole Foods and also at Publix with all of the "meat alternatives" in the refrigerated section.
Beth
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Thanks Beth...I will look for them and see if I can find out more. I love tomato sauce and if these "noodles" are actually good for me.... and filling ...and something that will hold the sauce I could be soooo happy. I'm sure I can grind up a bunch of organic stuff and make a nice dinner!
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Hi Ladies. It's been ages since I've posted here but since I've recently been switched to Arimidex and want to add glucosamine chondroitin to my supplement mix, I'm back looking for advice. First off, many ladies seem to take combos which add either Magnesium or MSM to the mix, that's the difference and which is better ? (I've foolishly been reading MSM as an abbreviation for Magnesium but just discovered it's something different.) What brands/dosage combination would you recommend ? Thanks.
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Hi ladies, I actually had something on my social calendar last weekend. I had a great time, and even better, I'm not totally crashing and burning as bad as I have in the past after high levels of activity. My neighbor is an artist and I helped her participate in an outdoor art festival in a small town on the texas coast.
It's only a 30 minute drive away, but she wanted to stay there overnight, so we shared a room. She mentioned yesterday morning that I had some episodes that sounded very similar to the way her husband used to sound. He was eventually dx'd with sleep apnea and got much better sleep after using a cpap machine. That had been 'on my list' of things to try a long time ago and somehow I forgot about it. I'm wondering if it wouldn't just be simpler to get hold of a machine and try it than to jump through the hoops of getting evaluated first.
luna, I've not heard of those noodles, but if you find out more or try them, I'd like to hear about it. Another thing 'on my list' is to try a gluten-free diet to see if my fatigue would finally let go of me.
crunchy and chevfan, I gave up coffee for many months starting last august. I have my own espresso machine at home, and I'd have it just once a day, so it wasn't a huge thing to give up. I was able to do so without the dreaded headaches from caffeine withdrawal. I got through the transition using a tea blend called yerba mate. From my reading I have learned that coffee is to be avoided because of its acidity, not just because of the caffeine. Yerba mate (pronounced mah tay) is not acidic, so for that reason it's an improvement over drinking coffee.
I went back to drinking coffee after 7 or 8 months because I just couldn't detect any discernable improvement, and I really like a good cuppa. But I have to say, I'm not enjoying it as much as I used to! I've also been drinking herbal infusions for the last two months.
I learned about them from reading susun weed's newletters. I cycle through 3 ingredients -- stinging nettle, red clover flowers, and oatstraw. Infusions are steeped at least 4 hours or longer. I use a quart jar with a metal lid. I fill the bottom quarter with herb and add hot water to the top. Put on the lid and drink it the next day. I add a bit of stevia and dilute the infusion with purified water by about 50%.
Considering how strenuous my weekend was and the fact that I'm even vertical today, I feel like these infusions are bringing the most amount of benefit I've seen in the very long list of things I've tried to find my way back to vibrant health. I have to send out a big thank you to Runs with Scissors for sending me Susan Weed's book on breast health. I haven't been here much lately because I'm at susun weed's site nowadays sifting through the volumes of information she has there. Her wisdom really resonates with me. So thank you scissors for sending me her book all those months ago.
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Luna5: I've heard of those "miracle noodles", I haven't tried them though. I have celiac disease & I am on a G-free diet. I've pretty much have given up on pastas. I really haven't found a gluten free pasta that I like
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One of the websites says the noodles are gluten free and soy free.
One write up says the tofu ones (which of course include soy) taste better and have a softer texture..but it recommends that if you are crazy about the tofu ones then you might be okay with the tougher chewier texture of the gluten free, soy free ones.
I'm still trying to find out if the main ingredient--glucomannan--which apparently is just fiber----is okay for us BC girls.
It may be that they are unpalatable. Don't know but they sound like a great way to still have "pasta" if I can stand them.
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althea -
I have used a CPAP machine for about 5 years and it has made a world of difference in my life. I honestly say that it has been as strong a positive change as cancer has been a negative change. Sleep apnea causes much stress on your heart. I thought I was having mental or emotional problems and I was "just" tired and sleeping while awake. Please get evaluated. Trying out a friend's machine will not work because there are settings for the air pressure that depend on the severeness of your apnea and you will need more than a night or two to realize the difference.
There isn't much "jumping through hoops", or wasn't for me. You can even be tested at home overnight rather than in a clinic now. The hospital where I had my mx, MCV, now does a screening for everyone who stays overnight.
On the negative side - the mask makes me look like a borg, lol.
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Althea, I actually have some yerba mate that I bought months ago but haven't tried... I'll have to try that! Re: coffee's acidity, that's my thought exactly... since I went cold-turkey and drink herbal and green tea (plus the occasional kombucha and Teecino), I really haven't missed it. Haven't even craved it. Although, on Wednesday when I was being wheeled through the hospital for my surgery, I kept smelling coffee and it smelled sooooo good... it was killing me not to be able to have any... I thought for sure I'd be back on the coffee train again. But, I haven't craved it since then. Guess I should stay away from Starbucks and hospital coffee rooms!! I will have to try making some herbal infusions now that I've found a source for good organic dried herbs in bulk!
Daisy, I haven't heard of it but the ingredients sound good!
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Julia the smell of coffee drives me wild too! Coffee is so seductive!!
I had quit several times and always mysteriously found myself drinking it again. Finally I used Kukicha Twig Tea to get away from coffee...since at the time I could not appreciate green tea ( too thin and bitter and unsatisfying). Twig Tea is made from the twigs left over after they harvest the green tea. But they roast it, so it makes a dark, roasty brew the is much more rich and satisfying to someone who has a coffee palate. It has a tiny amount of caffeine (Like 10 mg a cup) and is alkalinizing and said to be very healthful. I have since learned to love green tea (especially that scented with jasmine flowers) mainly because I learned that green tea will turn bitter if you steep it longer than 3 minutes....no wonder I always thought green tea was bitter! LOL
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WHOA, Suzanne, I didn't know that about twig tea... I have a box of it (one of probably 100 things I bought shortly after diagnosis!) but haven't used it... I will be trying it this morning!
Okay girls, wanna hear my crazy dream from last night? The first one, I dreamed there was a Relay for Life type race where if you ran a lap (one mile), it cured you of cancer, and if you ran two laps, it REALLY cured you and prevented future recurrence. (Are you laughing at me yet?!)
Well, me being me, I decided I would run the race BACKWARDS. I was struggling to finish two laps (long after everyone else finished) and still wasn't cured, so I was running a third... feeling totally dismayed and depressed.
Then later on, I was at this farm house where the wife had bc. There was this new cure for cancer where you had to dig out a tree in the yard and replace that area with "cancer-free soil." We were all looking all over for cancer-free soil but it all seemed to be contaminated with regular soil.
I woke up from all this COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED! LOL (plus I kept waking up at other times, franticly thinking I had a tick on me!) I think I'm headed back to bed and will hope the do-over of starting this day will go a little better!!
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Bless your heart, Julia....nights like that stink! I hope a nap sets things right for your day!
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African rooibos tea is another delicious caffeine-free drink -- dark, rich and very satisfying. It also has some nice health benefits. I especially like African Nectar by Mighty Leaf (pricey), and also one by Intaba Teas of Africa, which is a blend of Rooibos and Honeybush, which also has some interesting health benefits, including helping ease menopausal symptoms.
I've also recently discovered Tupelo Honey, a lower glycemic honey that I'm using in tea now in place of Agave Nectar, which I've decided is too processed and high glycemic for daily use. Tupelo honey is kind of pricey, but that also helps me to use less.
Wow, interesting dreams, Julia... Oh, and I'm totally with anom on trying for a 3rd re-excision, if that's what you still want. Doctors have to recommend the standard of care, which may or may not be the way you are comfortable going. On the other hand, when I finally gave into having a mast, that final pathology showed a 4th, tiny spot of ILC that hadn't even shown up on MRI. So, as much as I'd fought it, it really did turn out to be the right advice. Also, on the 1mm margin, perhaps you've figured it out by now, but my thought was that it should have been (and hopefully it was) inked to tell which way it was facing. Knowing that would help you have a better picture of your situation. Deanna
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Oh Julia I do feel your pain. I am a vivid dreamer (especially when taking melatonin). Those kind of dreams stick with you all day and they are exhausting. That dream you had sounds very frustrating to say the least
. How are you feeling?Love to all, Patty
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Mmm, Deanna, thanks for even more good beverage ideas! My margins were inked with the "Davidson" method, whatever that is... this was the "orange" margin, but I have no idea what that means as far as where it was. Guess I'll find out on Thursday....
Patty, I took a wonderful dream-free nap and feel a LOT better... thanks!
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I heard a story today from Dr. Randolph in Jacksonville about Progesterone.
He knows of a patient who because of relatives who had BC was put on Tamox for five years.
2 yrs after finishing the Tamox---she got BC.
She went on progesterone.....10 yrs later...no BC.
Julia, I don't know if progesterone is an option for you or not if you are trying to get pregnant.
When they give progestin as a birth control pill...does that mean bio-identical progesterone would do the same?????
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YAYYYYYYYY!!! I have exciting news! Finally!!!!
My D3 was 32 (minimum) in Oct. Began supplementing. In Jan it dropped to 22.
Supplemented 10,000 mg to 20,000 mg per day with different brand (Thorne)...my D3 is now 61 !!!
So, new protocol is 10,000 and 15,000 on alternating days.
My progesterone is not doing so well. Oct. was .4...then in Jan, it was .7 and now only .9.
Optimal is 2.0 - 6.0 but want a minimum of 1.5. He said I could take an oral progesterone capsule but the cream bypasses the liver better, so I'm upping that. He said he has a patient in Calif. who doesn't absorb it well and has to use 8 pumps twice a day to get optimal levels.
Good news on the Estradiol, though. Since Oct. I have dropped it from 32 to 25.5 and now to 15.7 !!! YAY! I am taking Chrysin and Melatonin which are both aromatase inhibitors and avoiding estrogens everywhere possible. My serum Estrone has gone from 38 to 43 to my current 32.
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Oh, more info
I found out why even post-menopausal women should take 3 to 5 days off of progesterone per month.... the receptors need a "break" for the progesterone to clear your system....or...you kind of get "immune" to it and don't absorb it as well.
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I found a great website today. And no, it's not about fundraising.It's about awareness of environmental causes of cancer risk.http://www.breastcancerfund.org/
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Dear Nan,
Lavender is estrogenic....in fact there is some concern that all of the lavender in commercial soaps and laundry detergent will have an additive effect on men. Now for women, if we metabolize our estrogen well through methylation, good diet, and exercise, all that extra lavender will not be harmful really.
No burning item is good for your home--organic oils, waxes, essential oils....none of it is safe to burn in your home environment. By doing this we create indoor pollution by products of combustion. Please tell your daughter to stop this practice immediately.
All my best,
Bliss
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Freezing fish oil capsules essentially makes them "enteric" coated without the worry of ingesting the enteric chemicals....a good idea if you have trouble with fish oil "repeating".....
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Crunchy Poodle Mama:
A margin is a term of art, not of science. This is pretty surprising but it is what I discovered. I consulted at a number of major cancer centers (DanaFarber; Univ of Penn; NYU) and no two pathologists looking at the slides saw the same thing. In fact two pathologists at University of Penn. saw different things. That being said the oncs and surgeons at Dana Farber thought that 1 mm margin was enough; one of the surgeons at U Penn wanted 2 mm, the others thought 1 mm was enough (yes, I get alot of second opinions). So if you do not want a mastectomy, get a consulation at another center. Bring your slides, not your pathology report. At the very least, you will have peace of mind about your decision.
Sending cyber hugs to everyone.
Mandy
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I drink coffee, and my integrative onc said it is fine....in fact, he said it has benefits. I drink half strength instant though, and I use organic half and half. It is more like a latte, but still coffee. I love Teecino, but it is so expensive I hesitate,...maybe I should rethink that and just go for the Teecino.
Anyway, with the sups I take, my integrative said to not worry about the morning coffee. I should look further into this...and I'll post the reasons once I talk to him. It had something to do with a molecular pathway...but I'l have to wait until I see him as he doesn't answer questions outside of an office visit.
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That is interesting, Mandy... that makes sense. I'm guessing they want larger margins for DCIS since it can "skip" in the duct. But, if the margin was against the skin or nipple, there really isn't a way that they can get more of a margin... so I would think an "against-the-skin" margin would be allowed to be smaller than a margin floating out there in the middle of the breast. I will definitely get a second opinion (either at Emory or by Dr. Michael Lagios, a renowned DCIS expert) if I'm not happy with answers I get from my surgeon... although he's been amazing so far, so we'll see.
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Thanks for the fish oil capsule tip MsBliss
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Questions about walnuts
How many walnuts should we eat to increase progesterone?
I noticed in the supermarket walnut oil for salads and also can be added to mashed potatoes. So I bought some to try.
The oil smells really nice so I have been using it as a moisturiser on my arms.
So with eating walnuts and using walnut oil in food and using it as a moisturiser, can this have a significant increase in our progesterone level?
Incidentally, how often should we have our hormones tested? I am awaiting results for my first test and will be anxious to have my second one so I can see if the consumption of walnuts/oil makes a difference.
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Hey, girls - I just posted this on the DCIS forum and thought I'd share here:
UPDATE: Met with my doctor today to go over the path report. He said the <1mm margin was "deep" meaning against the muscle. I asked if another re-excision would allow him to get a wider margin than that against the muscle, and he said possibly, but probably not. He said the other margins were wide enough that he was comfortable with them. He reiterated that all margins were clear... um, wow, so technically at this moment, I'm cancer free, I think!! Weird thought!!!!!!!!
I proposed my plan to have a baby THEN get checked again (mammo/MRI) to see what's going on at that point... unbelievably, he was okay with this plan (knowing that I have a high risk tolerance, at least in the short term), except he wants me to have a mammo in 3 weeks, before trying to conceive, to make sure all microcalcifications were removed.
WOW... I can't believe this. I should be scared that my surgeon agreed to my risky plan (since when do surgeons listen to patients?! heh heh) but instead I'm unrealistically, exuberantly HAPPY!!!!!
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