Treating estrogen responsive cancer naturally
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I'm pretty new here and read in a previous post that flax seed is bad. I've not read that, only that is it very good for BC! Can someone tell me where they heard/read that it's bad? Susan Love says its good, Andrew Weiss ( spelling?) as well
thanks
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Shayne, No there is no guarantee with any of the things we do. I do know exercise and food choices are very important. I have checked several sites to see how much the meds help me, and from what I can see in my personal case not much at all.
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Agree on the food and exercise. But isnt it funny, not one western med doc mentioned that.....or even encouraged me when I said I was making diet/exercise changes......
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Shayne, I can't remember exact sites t I have read and a cancer nutritionist that i spoke with said that ER+ should not take flax seed. Other CA that are not ER+ can probable safely take it.
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Quick update on me - using the endo's natural hormones. Still doing great. Was rough at first going off the 137 mcg Synthroid and switching cold turkey over to T3 T4, I had to go back on and wean myself off Synthroid, I was having heart issues like before I got on it. After two weeks, was fine. Spent some tired days, don't know if that was the switch or the oleander I over did just a wwwweeee little bit, or the other stuff I do, perhaps too much at once. Use the natural progesterone everyday. Use the melatonin each night. Also the high dose D3. I feel safe with these choices. After my studies, I knew it was what I needed a year before I switched.
LOVEEssa
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My ND said no processed soy or flaxseed oil......BUT.....flax seeds ok but only organic FRESHLY ground. But I just stopped taking them all together. Im 100% er/pr + so not taking any chances
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I receive a magazine from U of MI called Thrive that said to avoid flax seeds.
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Mybee333 - I get Thrive Magazine from U of M. What issue?
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Shayne, I've read the docs only get a few HOURS or nutrition and exercise classes when they attend medical school.
That should really change - now that we are finding out the benefits more and more.
They are so quick to hand out the drugs ---I know my body best and have lowered doses that they didn't even think of to solve problems. They reluctantly agreed that I was right, but it was like pulling teeth. I'm still trying to find a way to get off my BP med, but they are scaring me with talks of a stroke - sigh--
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I'm sorry - I misspoke. It was another food supplement that they were referring to. I just looked it up.
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Yep......thats why its so important to be your own advocate. We all know the value of a good healthy diet and exercise.......In my opinion, everything can improve if we add that to the list of what we need to do
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dlb823, I just finished the article from the link you posted. I see conflicting information in that this article says a tumor inhibitor is soy and pomegranet (sp?). I read an article that says pomegranet is not good for er/pr+ and neither is grapefruit which stinks because I love it. My bs said to stay away from soy. I see soybean oil in my vitamin E which my onc says is ok since the amount is very small. There is so much conflicting data!! URG..... I will keep on eating fruits and veggies and taking my vitamins and hope for the best.
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What? I heard the opposite of both grapefruit AND pomegranate
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I have been told no flaxseed. I use chia seeds and Co-q10. Also only small amounts of miso or tempeh. You have to watch the soy. they're sticking it in everything these days.
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Whoops! Spoke too soon.
No - the naturopathic doctor is NOT covered by my insurance and so.......I am finding a new MO instead. The office visits were just too much for me. I will figure it out as I need to, I guess. 0 -
So.......this thread has gone on a bit. Let's summarize. What causes estrogen to increase? What causes it to decrease? Help me to create my 'cheat sheet'
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I'm afraid that I am in a very unfortunate situation now vis-a-vis my estrogen levels. Just confirmed via a hormone panel that, at 55, I am still ovulating and undergoing estrogen surges. Periods are very irregular now ( I went 8 months with nothing and thought I was we'll on my way to being finished!), but since July I have had 3 periods and am sure I ovulated as well. Gyno now saying that if I do not get a period shortly, she will Rx progesterone. Anyone else been thru this? The only means I know of to stop all this are pretty extreme: Lupron or oopherectomy. Other, more natural ways to tame the estrogen? Already taking DIM.
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My naturopathic clinician has prescribed a 28 day cleanse, and wants to include a product that contains non-soy phytoestrogens. Does anyone have information about non-soy phytoestrogens and it's role in preventing recurrence of estrogen responsive bc?
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I am going to be a little controversial here or rather play devil's advocate but I am wondering why women are hesitant to get an oopherectomy, when our goal is to shut down estrogen production? While there are certainly issues with abrupt menopause (sleep disturbance, depression), we all enter menopause eventually and if one is ER+, it is a way of decreasing estrogen without drugs. I had a full hysterectomy but that was before BC and due to cervical cancer. At this point I am glad I do not have my ovaries, so that was a blessing in disguise.
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Kira, what is the "natural" medication that your Onc wants to to take next? I have a similar diagnosis to yours and I stopped tamoxifen many months ago after doing 3 years, moved naturally into menopause while on it, then waited 4 months to start an AI. That lasted 2 months and now, 4 months after that, I'm back to normal postmenopausal state. I'm mostly sleeping through the night again and just maintaining a very healthy lifestyle, and avoid the unnatural xenoestrogens as much as I can, so I feel that with my early stage diagnosis, that I've done enough and will gladly keep whatever little bit of natural estrogen my body is still making.
Shootist, I have tried many phytoestrogens. The theory behind these is that they are a weak type of estrogen and if there are stronger estrogens floating around in the body, they will compete with and get into some of the cells in place of the stronger estrogens, thereby diluting their effect. Besides soy, which is one of the highest in phytoestrogens, there are flaxseeds, red clover, alfalfa, hops etc.
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I'm confused as to whether flax seed is beneficial to ER+ fueled cancer. Also has anyone used COQ10. My BS recommended this. It was the only n4atural remedy she hinted at. Otherwise, it was radiation and tamoxifen for DCIS. I am new to this forum but very interested because I had a lumpectomy. I am not having radiation and pretty sure I don't want tamoxifen. Too scary.
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a cancer nutritionist told me she would not reccommend flax seed in any form or soy in my estrogen positive state. I also avoid phytoestrogens.
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I have also been told no flax seed. I do chia seeds instead. They can be used whole or ground I also take Coq10 without any problems and I have a tender tummy/pancreas and have to watch what I eat carefully. I've been told small amounts of pure soy, not dirivitives, is acceptable, but have chosen to avoid it. I do not take Tamox either. I take DIM instead along with turmeric and few other supplements. The only Rx I take is Vitamin D. I try to get my calcium from food, but take supplements when I don't. It's hard on the stomach though and I can't take it 3x a day every day for long.
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rgiuff, The "more natural one" is tamoxifen, which sure doesn't looks natural to me. I have the pills on my cabinet, but really feel my body is saying to stay away from it. My Onc. seems to feel the Al's were taking all the estrogen away which is what they are supposed to do, but in my case they seem to feel I need the estrogen to fight the eczema. The theory with the tamoxife is it doesn't take the etrogen away, but somehow blocks it from reaching the breasts. I've been using DIM which seems to agree with me, and I feel safer with it. I just wish I knew if I was doing the right thing.
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Kira - I know how you feel. I filled my Tamox Rx and never took it. I just felt that I wasn't supposed to. I wish I felt 100% sure going au natural, but I remind myself that I wouldn't be 100% sure I was doing the right thing if I was taking it given the SE's.
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The whole time I was on tamoxifen, I was ambivalent about it, but felt that the principle behind it wasn't so bad compared to the AIs. I felt like OK, I will still have estrogen in my system to help whatever areas it isn't blocked from getting to. But it did affect my sleep, so I'm sure it was blocking some estrogen in my brain as well. And I did worry about possible long term side effects of all that unnatural hormonal manipulation. Many times I almost quit, then finally after 3 years when I started developing a problem with postmenopausal bleeding and needed a D&C, I decided that was it, I wouldn't take further chances on developing any uterine problems.
I did 2 months of aromasin mainly to appease my Onc, and then when it started giving me major sleep problems as well as foot pain that affected my walking, I said to myself, "Why am I taking this when I was always deadset against the idea of total estrogen deprivation?" I stopped it in July and have never looked back because I made my decision without any further ambivalence. I have convinced myself that I'm doing the best possible prevention now with my workouts, walking and hiking club, anticancer supplements, and healthy eating and elimination of toxic products in my environment as much as I can. If cancer were to come back, I would say to myself that aromasin probably would not have prevented it anyway.
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AI's were so bad for me they have them listed in my chart as allergies. I'm with you rgiuff. Diet, exercise and natural supplements. If Rx's are the end all, then why do millions of women get reccurences or new tumors while using them? I think we have to educate ourselves about our diagnosis' and the treatments and make the best decisions we can for ourselves. For some it's meds, for some it's not. Much of it is mental so the stress of doing or not doing treatments plays a part in things. We can just do what we can do.
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I am very curious to know how many women have actually taken tamoxifen for five years without terrible side effects. I realize that most of the time we hear the negatives on line. I feel torn because my family is not thrilled with me skipping HT. For some reason it was easy turning down radiation because my oncologist supported this decision.
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Well said Mini!
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I had a bad feeling about both radiation and AIs. After enduring some months of horrible SE's I quit Aromasin. For me, it was the right decision. I was very worried about my heart and my bones. The RO left it up to me about the radiation. The MO is not happy about my stopping the Aromasin, but I don't see him after my decision.
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