Nicola-I agree the new real Housewives of NYC are not nearly bitchy enough for my liking (I love the term psycho blusher). When are you planning to go back to work? The main reason I work is to avoid going onto half pay as i’ll have to take at least a month off when I have my op.
I take lots of Vit D, Calcium/Magnesium and Iron-all due to existing deficiencies. I also take L-Glutamine for muscle pain during Tax treatment. I too used to take Vit C sachets (Emergen C) but stopped due to reading that Vit C can interfere with chemo (though I agree its so confusing).
I’ve started eating small amounts of dairy again but have given up meat completely.
Anne-my mattress is the best thing ever and i wish I’d bought one years ago. In answer to your questions re: the white cell boosting injections-i think people can still get neutropenia but its much less likely.
Also i bought a book called ‘Foods to fight cancer’ by Beliveau and Gingras. Its pretty good-there seems to be some consensus that foods such as broccoli, blueberries, turmeric, green tea etc help.
Thanks Nicola, I find it annoying that you are not told any of this, I wouldn’t think to mention about St johns wort and thats pretty serious. I was on that until citalopram, even at my info talk on the ward I wasnt asked about any supplements. or maybe I was and its a distant memory???
Good thread though.
anne xx
sukiem - I plan to go back to work after I finish radiotherapy, assuming I can get a new contract. I may just take a short contract to start with and see how i go with it, maybe have more breaks in between than I would usually through next year. I found this youtube clip that reveals what happened to psycho blusher and Simon. - YouTube
sukiem - how much l-glutamine do you take and in what form? I think there are capsules or powder. Thinking I might try it for my next cycle. Thanks
Nicola x
Hi Nicola-the gruesome twosome! I do quite envy their house in Cobble Hill-its a lovely area of NYC I think.
I take about 10g of L-Gultamine a day (powder form as its easier and it doesn’t taste nasty just gritty). The suggested dose for chemo seems to be about 30g daily but I’m not happy to take quite so much. Its worth a google as there seems to be quite a lot of information-particularly from the US. I know body builders take it to prevent muscle aches from training and it helps protect mucous membranes in the gut apparently.
Hope it helps. I also bought some ground flaxseed with added Vit D today.
Morning all you lovely sapphires - off for fec 5 today so the light at the end of my tunnel is finally beginning to filter through.
Good luck to everyone about to embark on chemo this week and hope you all keep well throughout.
Lol
sukiem - had a bit of a google with the L-glutamine. It does seem that it can reduce a lot of side effects but I also found some controversy that it ‘may’ stimulate tumour growth, which seems largely due to it’s important role in fast proliferating cells. Again, the reseach seems to be on tumour cultures and small animals. It seems that cancer is a very successful parasite from an evolutionary perspective as a lot of the same nutrients that feed the immune system to help fight it, also seem to actually feed the cancer, hence the confusion and the difficulty in killing the cancer without killing the host. Here was one of the papers I found.
Glutamine is an extremely versatile nutrient that contributes to many aspects of intermediary metabolism in cancer cells. It is particularly important in the formation of the macromolecules required for cell proliferation and resistance to oxidative stress.
It’s a shame that so many of the things which could help with SEs seem to work against the chemo. For this reason, I have very reluctantly decided to forego things like glutamine, manuka honey etc, and have cut down on my orange juice. Can’t see the point of poisoning yourself if you’re not going to do it properly. (Also why my onc does not approve of cooling for scalp, hands and feet). Mind you, my tumour still seems to be loving the chemo and continues to get bigger whatever happens. Planning to start eating as many goodies as possible just as soon as this s****** chemo finishes.
Nicola, I had heard that some of the research had indicated that L-Glutamine might not be helpful. Like vit C and other immune system boosters. I think I’d rather put up with the s/e’s than feed my cancer! Thanks for the link.
Margaret, I totally agree that its best to poison yourself properly (I did laugh when I read that)-hoping tax will do the trick for you x
sukiem and sdfmeg - it really is tricky to know what to do for the best. Think I’m going to keep taking a regular multivit this round and just try to eat lots of healthy fresh food (if the sore throat/mouth allows) - that’s once the fasting is over! Chemo has only a small benefit for me anyway so trying not to fret too much, but I do have to have it in order to get herceptin for the HER2 status. I am finding that the more information I have the more confused and anxious I’m getting…the sad truth is there aren’t very clearcut answers on a lot of things which is difficult to cope with. I’m someone who really likes to make the ‘best’ informed choice for my health and that seems hard to do with all the uncertain and contradictory studies. I’ve started on the mega steroids for tax 2 today so that should make me even more jittery! Really need to channel this nervous energy into my VAT return.
Nicola x
Thank sukie and nicola for all the supplement info, I also googled last night and there is just so much to read. I reckon I will take the posion as its given and then give myself the best possible superfoods afterwards to build my immune system up. had read about white mulberries which are loaded with vits and antioxidents. and bee pollen. it was a good way to waste a few hours on the internet.
as for today, am feeling really p**d off and low. am learning to distract myself by just picking up the phone and talking to someone for a few minutes. I’ve been staring out the window, i wish i could put it into words, but just overwhelmed, im not struggling with physical. so i should/am grateful for that. got myself out the house and wandered round tkmaxx, tried things on but nothing startling. i wish i could just cry it out, the other side of this just seems too far away. and i know its pathetic when others have it worse than me, or some of you doing it for a 2nd time. 4th chemo next week. i wondered if perhaps this middle week also plunges your mood, and then i would have a reason for it.
am going to watch some telly, or a dvd.
hi fellow sapphires
well it feels like ages since i popped in here - have finally got five minutes to put a post on the thread. amd66 I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling so low. you have my sympathies - i find this all a real roller coaster of emotions, i do my best to think positive and some days i do feel really upbeat but the next day i’m back down again, worrying about the future and wishing i could go back to normal pre-cancer life. hope you can find a good dvd to watch - it’s definately a good way of taking your mind off things…and better than homes under the hammer! has anyone got any good box set recommendations?
i went to the brighton forum which was great - some tears but lots of laughter and good to meet some nice ladies in the same boat as me. nicola - good to meet you and sorry i didn’t say goodbye but i had to make a mad dash for my train (i was booked on a specific train) before the forum finished.
time for my first docetaxol tomorrow - not too stressed about SEs but mainly concerned about whether it will actually do it’s stuff and kick some tumour-ass! my consultant doesn’t seem very confident which is making me worry
anyway hoping you’re all not succumbing to too many nasty side effects
samx
Thank sam. my book, dvd and relaxation cd didnt work, so i walked round swearing and getting annoyed with myself. did talk to the bcc helpline and although she didnt have a magic wand she just needed to remind me, not to be so hard on myself, i just want to take that overwhelming feeling away, but just to remember those feelings will just go, and over time those feelings will fade. and think of basic things like the tide coming and going, just as our feelings do. im normally such a good listener and giver of this sort of advice, but i dont listen to myself.
sam, fingers crossed for your dox
and box sets, i had the last er last christmas and do one at a time because i love it so much,also looked for the cheapest set on amazon and got mistresses from bbc1, dont remember it.
and still like doc martin sometimes on in the afternoon
Nicola-i get confused and overwhelmed by all the conflicting info out there. I can’t even get a consistent picture from my onc or surgeon. It just adds to the stress but I’m beginning to understand its just the way it is. Hope your tax goes a well as possible and try and channel the steroid high on practical stuff (like VAT returns!)
Anne-its so hard emotionally to deal with this and you are right the end of treatment seems so far away. Sometimes I cope by not looking on the internet/forums etc and trying not to think about the fact I have BC (though its still the first thing I think of when I wake up and before I go to sleep). I also have a full on 6 year old to distract me. Take care and a big virtual hug-you are not alone.
Hi sam, good luck tomorrow. I don’t know what kind of tumour you have. I’ve read that for people with highly E positive, Her negative tumours (like me) chemo may not work quite as well and hormonal treatment can be more effective. Also people not responding so well to one chemo may respond better to another-I hope thats the case with you.
Hi Sam - don’t worry about hurrying off, I think a lot of people were in the same boat. I ended up being one of the last two there as we had both booked on the same later train back to London thinking we didn’t want to miss out on any chatting afterwards. More annoyingly, I’d booked a 1st class ticket as was worried about crowding / germs - no check at the barrier and no conductor on the train and lots of people without 1st class tickets sitting in the carriage, so that was a bit of a waste of money! They didn’t even have a power socket to charge my phone or laptop to make up for it.
The forum was well worth attending, wasn’t it? Was worried about my stamina levels but found I had a lot more energy than I realised. Although all those chocolate chip cookies were a bit too tempting for my healthy diet, I did finally succumb. Have booked to go on the signs of recurrence information talk in London on the 7th December, so hoping the side effects this round don’t put a spanner in the works for that.
I hear what you say about the forums, this is the one place where we can really understand each other,and i get a boost from that, but i also dont browse other stuff about bc, I know that i can be truthful on here but there is the danger (that you gently mention) it could be obsessive
hope you are having a good day, been up the road for caramel latte,and bought a fat bun home for later!!
Thanks sukie
wishing everyone a better day.
a xx
Hi everyone - hope your all doing well. Our thread has gone a bit quiet so thought I would post to bump us a bit.
Day 5 after fec 5 and doing ok. A bit achey and tired but not too bad although the tropical flushes are a nightmare!! Fed up with the nightly temperatue changing from blazing hot to shaking with cold after throwing the covers off again. Spoke to my onc about it and in true man style he nodded and said its not unusual. As I will be starting tamoxifen after chemo I suppose I will have to get used to it.
Lol
Lollo-I’ve started having night sweats recently (after 3 FEC and 1 Tax). I wake up with sweat literally running down me, the hormone treatment part of the site has a lot of info/tips about hot flushes.
I went to the Haven in London today. I’m going to access the nutrition, herbal medicine and acupuncture therapies and maybe the Younger Womens group.
I also have a date for my surgery/reconstruction which is 22nd January. 3 weeks after my last chemo-eek!! I’m having a strattice reconstruction-any advice/info re: this would be most welcome as its quite a new technique.
