Hi ladies
someone gave me a leaflet on iscador treatment which is administered by homeopaths for cancer patients. It’s a mistletoe based complementary therapy devised in Switzerland. I’ve asked my gp to refer me but was wondering if anyone has tried it + how they found it. It’s meant to work by stimulating the bodys immune system to help it fight the cancer.
I’m triple neg so will give anything a shot…
Thanks
tina x
I use over-the-counter homeopathic pills by Nelsons for colds, strains, bruises, etc, but have not really considered or even come across anything for bc. Since they only contain minute dilutions of actual ‘remedy’, they can’t do any harm and may well be worth a try.
I would be interested to know if you manage to get a referral.
Ann x
It certainly won’t do any harm - the dilutions are so enormous they don’t contain any remedy at all! They do “work” though on some ailments - it’s the placebo affect, although if people visit a homeopath and have a long consultation the placebo affect can be very marked.
Apparently iscador isn’t actually a homeopathic treatment- it’s a system of medicine called anthroposophy- it’s just that homeopaths administer it. It’s also quite potent unlike homeopathic meds- it’s administered by subcutaneous injection. Apparently research has shown the following effects
- Improvement in general well being
- Pain relief
- Slowing down of tumour growth
- Occasional regression of tumours.
Apparently in Switzerland, Germany + Austria, it’s used by some orthadox cancer specialists in addition to orthadox treatments like chemo.
It’ll cost me nothing as it’s covered by nhs so I’ll give it a shot !
Tina x
This mistletoe treatment is very common here in Germany, although I haven’t tried it. I didn’t fancy injecting myself so many times.
One theory is that it creates a little inflammation and the immune system is strengthened by reaction. It’s often recommended during other treatment. People who take it for a few years afterwards are less common.
Margaret
Dear Gingerbud
I’ve just popped into this site. I use Iscador and having been injecting myself with it for over 4 years now. It was initial prescribed through my Homeoeopathic Hosptial but I now write to my GP for it every couple of months. I have to write for it as it is not in their computer system and they have to have a record of it. I spent a week-end at my Homeoeopathic Hospital learning the process of injecting, etc and found this to be very helpful. I found another lady there who was going down the same route - also for breast cancer. She was also very knowledgeable. My consultant at the Homeoeopathic Hospital has full faith in it and I am happy to continue with this form of treatment. At the time of my late diagnosis (late by four years because my GPs refused to refer)I would have tried anything. When I put myself into the system, my cancer had spread and was in 15 of my lymph nodes. Life became very difficult. I felt the need to challenge the system and did whatever I thought would help me. I have just had my big 5 year landmark so whatever is happening, I feel I am doing something right.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Jeannie
Hi Tina
I am also triple negative and have been using Iscador for the past six years. I also have mine in the form of a subcutaneous injection but it comes in tablet form as well.I have had no side effects from the treatment and am still in remission seven and a half years after being diagnosed and with a fairly poor prognosis.I am under the care of The Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital.I feel comfortable with taking it as I am being monitored by an NHS consultant and am reassured by the fact that Iscador is often used in other countries together with conventional treatment.
Anne
Hi jeannie + Anne 
thanks for sharing your positive stories- whilst I’m not expecting to be cured by iscador I am hopeful it will be of some benefit. I will be having it in needle form as the tablets are less potent. I’m pretty used to injecting myself after several rounds of ivf a few years ago so that shouldn’t be a problem! It’ll just be a pleasure to have a needle that diesnt require the cooperation of a vein as mine are shot after chemo!!
Long may your wellness continue- thanks again for sharing
tina xx
It’s indeed a very popular treatment in Germany, my mum had it every year for ten years there after her bowel cancer (>5cm) tumour was removed. She was 48 at the time, she did not want Chemo, she is 68 now and had no recurrence.
Dear Gingerbud
If you have had experience of injecting, you will be fine. I was injecting in my stomach but of recent I have moved more to my right side - my breast cancer was in my right breast. It is best to be fairly close to the cancer site. I’m on Series 3 as Series 1 and 2 showed no reaction. They look for a reaction of a small red mark up to the size of a 50 pence piece. Once you have this reaction they know the series of mistletoe to give you. It’s all very straightforward.
Keep in touch and let me know how you get on.
Best of luck.
Jeannie
finty - I don’t think homeopathy can only be a placebo because I gather it also works on animals.
Ann
I don’t know what if any trials have been undertaken with animals, but I do know that homeopathy has never been successfully subjected to an independent double blind test - rather famously so, as there is a 1 million reward on offer for anyone able to prove it works. The reward has remained unclaimed for many years.
I suspect the situation with animals is the same as with people. The animals get better by themselves, and their owners attribute it to the homeopathic treatment.
finty
Hello all,
I’m with Finty on this one. If homeopathy, and any other ‘alternative’ treatment for that matter, really worked, then they would cease to be alternative and would become part of mainstream medicine. But I guess that, like a belief in god, if it makes a person better to believe and they’re not actually harming anyone in the process, then why not. Just as long as they don’t get taken for a ride and just use alternative treatments instead of tried and tested (rigorously) orthodox medicine.
Sorry Tina, I do know that you’re really worried at the moment about your situation, and I can understand your need to do everything you can to stay alive. It’s just that I really do believe that it’s the advances in modern medicine, rather than pseudo-scientific alternative therapies, that has increased general cancer survival.
Alison
Hi Alison
Thanks - although homeopathy doesn’t have any actual ingredients, it is literally just water, the placebo affect is actually very real, and has been shown to exist in many trials of conventional medicine. In homeopathy, the placebo affect appears to be even stronger, presumed due mainly to the long, detailed and sympathetic consultations that homeopaths give.
I gather in this instance the ISCADOR treatment isn’t homeopathic, but herbal - so does have an active ingredient, so I am completely open-minded about that.
finty x
finty - You said “I suspect the situation with animals is the same as with people. The animals get better by themselves, and their owners attribute it to the homeopathic treatment”.
You could really say that about anything, couldn’t you - drugs, food?
Anyway, why would it matter if it did work by placebo effect? The whole idea of homeopathy is to stimulate the body to heal itself. If it does that by placebo effect, then it has achieved its objective, hasn’t it?
Ann
Ann you said “You could really say that about anything, couldn’t you - drugs, food”
Well - yes and no - that’s why good quality research is so important. We know how well drugs work because they are extensively trialled - much harder with food because doing a double blind trial is impossible - but we still have good quality research on the subject. So we don’t have to place our trust in junk science.
As to whether it matters whether homeopathy works by placebo affect or not - no it wouldn’t matter at all if you are a believer. As I said, it works, but I suspect the placebo affect is limited in the types of conditions that can be helped, and the types of people that it can help.
finty
I also agree with flinty, but can respect that it is a very personal choice. I had excellent consultants at my local hospital, who seemed to be very on the ball and doing there best for me, so did not feel the need to try other options. Also, it would have been very out of character (for me) as I am fairly matter of fact, and would never normally have gone off to a homeopathic hospital or any other type of alternative route, so although a good friend put some pressure on to try I decided not, it just it felt wrong.
I wish you the best whatever you decide
Sarah
finty - Presumably, if someone wants to try any homeopathic remedy (although I am not for one moment saying it would be an option for bc) then, of course, it is because they believe it may help. That still doesn’t explain its use for young children and animals, who don’t (necessarily) understand the placebo effect. It is too simplistic to say that the complaint gets better on its own. We are going round in circles here.
As far as your comment about placing trust in junk science, I think that is exactly what some people do, especially with so many books written by people out to make money.
Ann
Hi,
I am just about to start iscador. I have not been able to get it on the NHS though. My PCT will not allow a referral to the homeoathic hospital in Liverpool.
So I am having to pay for it. But fortunately I know a retired GP who is also trained in homeopathy who is willing to prescribe it and show me how to inject.
I did the Greek RGCC test a research status test) and mistletoe came up positive as in-vitro in me it inhibits EGF-r by 45%, IGF-r by 50%, increase of cytokine production by 65% and increase of PMBC by 30%.
I have only spoken briefly to him but I was under the impression there were 2 different types, one that was homeopathic and one that was more herbal but I am not sure about this.
Hi I dont have an opinion on iscador,but would just like to say something about the placebo effect. My mum found a lump in her breast but left it for 4 years before going to the doctors.She had a mastectomy and radiotherapy this was in the early 70s and chemo wasn’t around then.The doctor told my dad that mum only had about 3 to 4 months to live.Anyway dad decided not to tell mum she was going to die. She was given these very large red tablets,can’t remember how long she took them for.She went on to live for 7 years and it wasn’t until the last year of her life that she became unwell.Dad told me later that the tablets were nothing just a placebo he said mum thought they were a new drug for cancer and believed they were keeping her well.He said he thought that her not knowing she was going to die and the tablets kept her alive for so long.I have since found out that apparently very large coloured tablets have more of an effect than small white ones.
Mel xx