supplements, vitamins, etc.

[sassy]

I have completed a/c, 12 taxol/herceptin, am on weekly herceptin until completion of rads in 5 weeks, then will switch to herceptin every 3 weeks and go on an AI. I am stongly er+, pr+, her+++. I have been taking B6 since before BC, and have added calcium/Vit D, Glucosamin/Condroitin, and olive oil. I am uncertain about what other suppplements/vitamins etc. I should add. Could some of you who are more knowledgable on these subjects lend me your expertise? Particularly interested in teas. Thanks in advance for your help.

Sassy
________
CandyCumz

[jhandley]

Q10 is good for general health and heart protection. Quite a few women on this site take it in varying doses. I am taking 100mg a day with food. It also increases your sense of well being. I also take flaxseed oil (20 ml) blended with skim milk and honey poured over flaxseed meal (25g); both reported to have some positive effect on BC; this also increases your sense of well being. There are also recipes for flaxseed muffins on this site and other info. re. this. I also find L-glutamine powder helpful and (from Gina) also have recently started on olive leaf extract. I havent managed the extra olive oil yet but use it in cooking. Gina also suggests magnesium..it would be helpful if you read some of her posts. Hope this helps. Just remember to tell your onc. what you are taking. If you are having radiation dont take Q10 as I recently saw a study which showed it tumours came back quicker in mice who were on it.
Regards
jackie

[al from Canada]

Dear Sassy and Jackie,
What I have read about flaxseed is that if you are ER+ you shouldn't take the seeds as they contain lignans which are phyto-estrogens. The oil doesn't contain lignans therefore is presumably safe for ER+ survivors.
Regards,
Al

[sassy]

Al and Jackie,

Thank you for your response. This is why I wanted to post this question--many of you are so knowledgable and I have read lots of conflicting information--depending on er and pr status. I have also been told to avoid soy as it can turn into estrogen. Al, do you have any information on this?

Sassy
________
PrettyAmber cam

[Audrey]

Hi! Just wanted to add that I attended a Herbs & Supplements lecture at the CURE magazine survivors' conference last weekend in San Diego and remember that the presenter (a dr. from Duke University) advised BC patients to stay away from Essiac tea, but to drink 1-3 cups of Green tea instead. Also, she said its best to get nutrients from "real food" as opposed to supplements and recommended a tablespoon of olive oil a day and lots of tomatoes and "colorful" foods such as carrots, peppers, etc... . also, GARLIC --raw is best...

[al from Canada]

Hello to Sassy and all;

Here is my favourite flaxseed link:

http://www.thensome.com/flaxseedlinks.htm

There is another very large article on flaxseed preventing osteoporosis and bone density loss....a topic we should all be interested in; in fact, I will post this as a separte thread.

http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/flaxseedoil.html

Good luck,
Al

[sassy]

Al and others,


Could you tell me what the benefit of green tea is?

Sassy
________
thai girl Cams

[StephN]

Hi Sassy -
Good questions.
I don't drink much green tea, but do like the one from "Rebuplic of Tea" that is the Pink Grapefruit Green Tea, which part of the sales go to benefit breast cancer research.

The teas I like to drink are the "detox" types. They contain a lot of different herbs that are good for cleansing blood, liver and the bowels.
If I am constipated I drink something with Senna.
I also like organic Rose Hips and Chamomile teas.
Valerian tea can help relax you at night when you need to sleep.
Flora brand Breath Support tea helps me when my allergies are acting up or I have a cold.

This is also a good way to boost your fluids intake without adding sugar (I don't).

[Cathya]

You might want to view the transcript which is to be posted at breastcancer.org on Tuesday, October 24th. They have regular chats like this.


"Dear breastcancer.org Community Member:

Join us tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 19th between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time EDT, (02:30 to 04:00 GMT October 20)*, for this month's Ask-the-Expert Online Conference: Vitamins and Supplementation.

You might have heard it’s important for you to take calcium for your bones, particularly if you're going through a treatment that may cause bone loss. But what other supplements should you take, if any? Is it better to get most of your nutrients from the food you eat -- and if so -- how do you do that? And finally, how do you talk to your cancer doctor about the vitamins and supplements that might be right for you?"

Cathy

[Ginger]

One thing I've read about tea is that it does interfer with absorption of iron in your system, so you may want to keep this in mind if you are borderline anemic or low in iron to begin with and you suddenly are drinking a lot of tea.