--- part 8 ---
So I learned about naturopathic oncologists and got started with one before I started neoadjuvant chemo. He ran tests that my medical oncologist didn't, even when I told me MO that I was depleted there was nothing extra he was going to check -- my kidney and liver function was fine. But I was bad. In some ways I think I'm a perfect case of how bad things can be, how HER2 starts, since I was majorly depleted and it was the testing that my naturopathic onc did that showed what was wrong.
So we found out that I was low in zinc, magnesium, ferritin and vitamin D and my copper level was through the roof. Why? I kept asking myself how this happened and so I spent a lot of time researching how this imbalance occurred in my body.
Low zinc, that made sense about the elevated copper. These two elements are supposed to be closely linked together and they can both be high or low but too much of one could throw the other out of range. But why? Why was my copper level so high? Why was my zinc so low. And yet in my research
elevated copper and low zinc was a
common finding in women with breast cancer -- but then why didn't they check it at the cancer center?
My low magnesium, what was that about? I ate quite well, an organic diet with a decent amount of vegetables. How could I be so deficient? Was it from breastfeeding for seven years straight? But that was supposed to reduce my risk of breast cancer, right? I had read a ton about it and everything was like "breast is best" and "breastfeed as long as you want to" but it didn't seem like there was any evidence to back it up and most of the nutritional information is about nutritional availability for infants and very little ever spoke about the needs of the mother.
Then there were my bones. I knew that I really needed to restore from breastfeeding, even without the cancer and chemo experience -- but I was the only one on my team thinking about this. Bones come from magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus -- vitamin K2 my physical therapist added. It was a decent combination I think.
I took supplements by the handful each day but still my serum magnesium was out of range. It turns out that the
RBC magnesium is more like your ferritin, indicative of stores in the body. I got that checked late in the game after months of supplementing and it was still out of range. Serum magnesium is a really easy test to order and if it is low you can be damn sure that your magnesium stores are for crap.
So I researched more and what I found was really interesting.
Our adrenals are the cornerstone for mag-zinc availability. Chronic stress including: medications,
dehydration, overexertion, work/life stress, extended illness cause the adrenals to produce elevated Aldosterone levels that cause the body to dump the more calming nutrients of zinc-mag.
This last point was the most salient for me -- chronic dehydration would make one's adrenals dump zinc and magnesium as the body tried to maintain homeostasis. I often thought to myself as I would breastfeed, given that my thirst was for naught, that I didn't know where the breastmilk was coming from. Now I knew and damn.
My naturopathic onc had me take 60 mg a day of zinc which boosted my zinc levels and lowered my copper levels.
Zinc is a key mineral in pancreatic function, including digestive enzyme production which helps your body absorb nutrients from the gut during digestion. We figured the digestive part by accident during chemo when taking probiotics and a good diet didn't help -- I had a bad stomachache. I was put on
Similase digestive enzymes for months to aid with my digestion, my digestive enzymes were low. When my zinc levels improved my digestion became more stable.
Your pancreas, you know, the endocrine organ associated with insulin -- and then there was cancer being related to inflammation, glucose regulation issues, and besides my Chinese medicine diagnosis said that my pancreas (spleen in TCM) needed more support. Oy.
My magnesium though I had to work harder at. Another mom, a doctor, told me that
it takes a long time to restore magnesium levels. Here is what I learned:
Epsom salt baths or foot baths -- your body will take in magnesium sulfate this way transdermally and it doesn't cause the digestive issues that supplements can cause.
Natural Calm magnesium powder mixed in a tall bottle of water sipped throughout the day is an easy way to get magnesium in. Take frequent small sips and it doesn't cause GI issues and it doesn't cause your body to lose calcium in your urine.
Magnesium is a key nutrient, essential to many biological processes and cornerstone to your body's ability to detox through the liver.
Magnesium is what makes chlorophyll green and it is most easily absorbed in small quantities taken frequently. Kinda makes sense because who would eat a ton of green things.
Taking coconut oil, a
medium-chain-trigliceride, has been shown to improve absorption of magnesium.
When your magnesium level is low your body is unable/handicapped to activate vitamin D for utilization in the body -- even more active forms such as sunlight and D3 need magnesium to work.
When your magnesium level is low it disrupts calcium regulation across the body -- parathyroids, thyroid, bone, blood, gut are all involved as your body tries its best to keep things balanced. I have read that taking Vit D when your body is low can cause more problems for calcium regulation and hurt bones. It's really important to find out why it's low to start with.
Constipation is a symptom of low magnesium absorption -- if you are getting enough then you won't have a slow gut.
I have since learned that resistant starch also aids with the gut microbiota, increasing butyrate levels, improving magnesium and vitamin D absorption, and reducing the risk of developing cancer. Oh.
My naturopathic oncologist said I was doing way more than he would ever ask a patient to do, but he wasn't critical of my efforts. My friends in my cancer support group worried that I was taking too much blame for the development of my disease. Me, I just wanted to understand how I broke so that I could fix me.
[I'll add links later]