natural girls
Comments
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Be happy Crunchy-you deserve to be!
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Painterly,
I don't think this walnut thing is gonna work. Because you need to be able to know exactly how much progesterone you're getting. Read What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer. You'll see.
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Hi Janeluvsdogs
I did read Dr. Lee's book "What your doctor etc.". That is why I am going to be having hormone tests done routinely. I agree I don't know how much I am getting. I am just avoiding estrogen products and increasing natural products containing progesterone. If I get a period then I know I am having too much which is what Dr. Lee mentions in his book. Actually, that bit of info freaked me out when I read that, cos I sure don't want a period.
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Hello. I am new to the this site which I found through much web search. I am desperately looking for others who are using natural alternatives. Having just undergone a lumpectomy I am considering not following up w/radiation and with the drug companies estrogen blockers but making my own treatment course. I am researching IP-6 (inositol hexaphosphate) and 13-C/DIM for estrogen blocking. I have already made the lifestyle changes/additions including more exercise, yoga, stopped all alcohol, healthy diet including juicing, wheat grass, flax etc.. Thank you for your attention.
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Welcome, katinca! You've found a great place here! I'm doing the same thing... had lumpectomy plus re-excision to get clear margins, but (hopefully) foregoing radiation and doing an aggressively anti-cancer diet and lifestyle. This thread is a GREAT place to start... it's long, but there's a wealth of information. Use the "search" link at the top to find info about just about anything you could want. There are some threads about iodine, vitamin D, natural hormone balancing (relevant to you since you're ER+), and various natural/alternative protocols that you may want to read.
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I just found a site where you can look up the scientific studies for vitamin and mineral supplements. I thought some will find it interesting.
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Thank you Julia! I am acually home recuping from my re-exision surgery for clear margins which I had as well. I was almost in tears yesterday at my Accupuncturist. I feel like I am fighting the "whole medical establishment" by myself by wanting alternative therapies and not wanting to follow the slash/burn/poison routine. What difficult decisions! It is so heartwarming to find all this wonderful and sincere support in this group. I am finding great information in many of the "posts". It is a Godsend to find you and others who are on this path. I think I saw a post with a woman who had a Chiro who was willing to work with her on a program since I doubt I'd find an Onco who would help me with a treatment plan. I'm even willing to be in a clinical study for natural remedies but I imagine there are none since there is no pharmaceutical $$ to back it. Have you seen a DVD called "Crazy Sexy Cancer"? There is also a great website for it. crazysexylife.com/ It was very uplifting and helped impower me that I can make the difference by my healthy lifestyle choices. Thank you for being there!
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Welcome Katinca, you will find some good info here. Also, keep an eye out for private messages from us!
The old timers will send you some of the websites they've used. Vivre has some links on her site but right now I can't find them.
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Thought this was worth sharing:
Welcome, katina! I'm glad you've found us, too. Just for the record, many of us here have had quite a bit of traditional treatment (albeit reluctantly) before opting to go forward at some point with natural alternatives. It's a very personal decision, but there's great information and support throughout this site for whatever you choose. Hope you're contining to recover, and keep us posted on your search. You sound like so many of us extremely health-conscious women, especially in the beginning -- trying to find a balance we could believe in. Have you read any of the books by the well-known integrative doctors -- David Servan-Schreiber or Keith Block, for example? Deanna
edited to correct Keith Block (had a chemobrain moment earlier)
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Welcome to the thread katinca. For those of us with inquiring minds, the amount of information associated with navigating our dx and recovery is truly monumental. I went with conventional treatments mainly because I didn't know any other option was viable. I did, however, opt to travel for my surgery. Geez louise, my local doctors scared me half to death. They succeeded in getting me to second guess my choice, which I had researched thoroughly. As it turned out, my surgeons were shining stars in excellence. They and all their support staff provided me with the best medical experience I'll probably ever have in my entire life. I am so thankful for that experience, not only because I love my reconstruction results, but also because I know I'm capable of having good interactions with medical providers.
In retrospect, I wondered why would my local doctors have such a dim view of my choice to travel elsewhere? I could see why my local surgeon would be caught off guard and get defensive, but my oncologist had the same dismissive attitude. I concluded that they are simply arrogant assholes and their basis for arrogance is ill founded! So don't be dissuaded by negative opinions of mainstream providers. For one thing, they received education funded by big pharma. Second, they run the risk of being sued/reprimanded or even stripped of their license if they don't toe the protocol line.
Fortunately, there is a wealth of information available for alternative healing options. I learned somewhat recently that many places offer do-it-yourself lab tests. So if you can't get cooperation from your doctors for testing you want done, you can order them yourself online. It would behoove you to have your existing levels of hormones tested to see where deficiencies might exist. When I did shopping, life extension at lef.org had all the tests I wanted at the best price. hth
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painterly...I am very interested in knowing which foods contain progesterone since I am not absorbing it well and am doubling my dosage of progesterone. I did not know this about walnuts. Which are the best?
Re: getting your period from too much progesterone...I'm assuming this is for post menopausal women? I read Dr. Lee's book...but I don't remember that part. I guess I need to re-read it.
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Hi Luna5,
I was just googling to get the info again about foods high in progesterone and I came across McPherson Lab website. It mentions reasons why some people don't absorb the progesterone very well. One reason is a copper/zinc imbalance.. I noticed something which was a bit confusing though..women who are using the progesterone cream should avoid foods high in copper. It gives a list of foods high in copper and one of them is walnuts...Interesting.
Seems in North America and Western Europe we have a shortage of zinc in our diets.
Anyway, go on the thread "progesterone"...the gals have all the info. there. I discovered the thread a few days ago and have been enjoying reading all the comments.
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Thanks!
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I just purchased "What your doctor may not tell you about Premenopause"...and "What your doctor may not tell you about Breast Cancer." I'll wait ‘till later to purchase "What you doctor may not tell you about Menopause."
The novelty's worn off and l seem to be holding my own hand through this, of late.
Well thank goodness for places like this and Vivre's new site for a helping hand...xoxo
Thanks Ladies...I can't wait for them to arrive.
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Luna5
Apparently progesterone cream can take up to two months to be effective. I expect you are rotating the cream around your body and not putting it on the same spot all the time.
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painterly...Yes. only my doc says arms and upper body only...he says lower body causes it to get to the liver quicker where it is cleared out. Now that I have increased the amount, it is very difficult to have enough space to spread it and rub it in without covering the same spots over and over.
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Hello and thank you all for your helpful information and support! I will check out the Integrative Dr info. you mentioned. My next step is a hormone test my Onco is requesting and I will try to find a health Pracitioner in my area that has experience with an alternative medicine approach for breast cancer. It would be nice to find statistics of women w/similar level breast cancer that opted to have only surgery with an adopted healthy lifestyle changes and herbal, vitamin supplements and what I am calling my "cancer diet". In the end I may opt for radiation etc... but at this point I am very very wary. I am so glad I found this site!
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Katinka, how about calling your diet the "anti-cancer diet" instead?
If you find stats broken out the way you say please do share the sources, as they're hard to find. Serban-Schriebers book "Anti-Cancer A New Way of Life" (or is that living in the title?) summarizes a lot of the available scientific data on exercise, foods, etc, if you haven't seen that. 0 -
Resveratrol........Does anyone know the latest on this ?????
I had just researched brands and had started taking resveratrol when I was diagnosed last year. I stopped after discussions with one of my docs and also some research that said resveratrol might not be good for ER+ BC....that it might fuel it.
Has anyone heard any more about this? I keep hearing all the good about resveratrol, but don't know whether or not to start it back.
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Luna, I don't always agree with Andrew Weil, but I think his conclusion here re. resveratrol makes sense: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400111/resveratrol
For people who don't eat well, a high quality resveratrol supplement would obviously add nutrients they're not getting elsewhere. But I've been told that we get the same benefits from dark purple foods. Of course, like everything else, it's an individual matter, and if someone notices a difference in their health when taking it, then it could be doing them some good.
And, yes, I've also heard that's it may not be good for those of us who are ER+, but didn't worry about it since I'd decided the supplement was more hype than substance. Deanna
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Hi Friends ~ My rads onc has ordered an MRI for me, and I feel like I am remembering some horrible stats about scans and xrays. Any thoughts about the risks/benefits of breast MRI?
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Deanna, thank you for the Weil link.
I just saw a new report from LE touting resveratrol again and will continue to look for new studies and opinions before I consider using it again. The brand I had decided on and ordered about 18 months ago is Longevinex but I stopped it when I was diagnosed. I try not to take anything that has conflicting reports.
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Crunchy, good luck with your plan, am rooting for you. I am curious, what did your oncologist say about it?
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Thank you, rgiuff!! I don't have an oncologist (I guess since I have DCIS?)... do you think I'm being crazy risky? I just figure that even though there's a high risk of DCIS returning while I'm pregnant, one year shouldn't be long enough for it to get very far... my fertility doctor wants to review my entire DCIS medical file so I guess we'll see what she has to say about it too (she works with women who are trying to conceive after cancer).
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I have learned that taking cat's claw supplement will increase ur imune system
my dad was a stage III rectal cancer surviver 6 years ago and his imune system was not high and white cell low and I did a lot of research to find this
u can buy from puritan.com
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I'm new here as well, but an 8-year survivor. While I did do rads, I refused Tamoxifen. Instead, I take grape seed extract which is a natural AI. Currently the Mayo Clinic is doing a study with grape seed extract. We won't know the results until the end of the year. I was more afraid of Tamoxifen than I was of a recurrence, especially since there was a familial history of scary things that Tamoxifen could cause. I spoke with my rad onc and she explained my percentage chance of a recurrence both with and without Tamoxifen. Armed with that info, I made the decision.
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Thanks Maya for sharing your story. We all love to hear stories like yours because so many of us "natural" girls refused the tamoxifen train as well!!! Is that the only supplement you take and how much do you take?
I am going to a naturalist D.O. tomorrow. I am so excited!!! I have heard wonderful things about him. I have not gone before now because I just could not afford it. So I decided I am going to go no matter what now because I am soooo worth it, lol. The past week both of our cars have needed brakes and other work which is very expensive. Gesh, when it rain it pours!!! I am still going. I will just be in the poor house
.Love to all, Patty
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Wow Maya2, 8 years out. That's wonderful!
I will be watching out for the results of grape seed extract at the end of the year!
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Patty-
Good Luck! I am so excited for you!
Beth
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Hi Everyone-I have been busy adding lots of content to our site, so I hope you will all check it out and let us know what you think.
Glad to see you found a new doc Patty. I shopped around for a long time and decided I would just find a way to pay. We opted for a new insurance plan. We have a very high deductible now, but a very low monthly payment. Since most holistic care is not covered, I can now justify the money I no longer pay to the insurance company by spending it on treatments of my own choice, and I still end up paying less in the long run.
A great supplement to boost the immune system is Beta Glucan. My compounding pharmacist recommended it to me, and touted it as an alternative to the flu shot. I am taking a lot of it right now, to boost my immune system because I am finally getting my root canal taken out tomorrow. I think all the problems I have had over the years like stuffiness, postnasal drip, and earaches are from this toxic tooth. I had 3 holistic dentists tell me it is breeding bacteria and needs to come out. Dr. Hal Huggins spoke at a symposium last month and he is studying the link between root canals and bc. He has been able to find the same bacterias in the extracted root canals from BC patients. I am going to see if he wants to analyze mine too. It makes so much sense that this could be a leading cause of bc. If the immune system is constantly on hyperdrive because of this bacteria, it seems logical that cancer cells will have more opportunity to grow. I guess the proof will be in how I feel in the next few months. They said it may take a while to get all this bacteria out. Yuck!
Suzanne-why not do a thermograph instead of an MRI? It is much safer, and I just talked to a doctor from CA who said the new cameras are amazing. They have a 90% accuracy rate. Mammos are only 60%. When are they going to accept therms as the norm???? I just had an ultrasound as a followup, just for piece of mind, but I like having the therms every few months. I can see my breast finally healing from all the surgery.
If you missed my links on my site, you all should really check out he HealthFreedomExpo, coming to Chicago next month. There are going to be some fantastic speakers! Hope to see you there!
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