A friend came round today to sing the praises of oxygen therapy as a means to help chemo work better, protect healthy cells and increase recovery/decrease side effects. I had never heard of it but I have done a bit of research and it seems to make sense. What is your experience/knowledge of this please?
I rented one, and did high dose vitamin c through chemo - I also fasted a day either side of the chemo. Used the hyperbaric more the day of chemo and the few days following.
I kept my hair (with the help of a cold cap) and apart from 1 day where I had the runs, I had no side effects from chemo at all. Maybe my hands and feet get a bit colder than they used to, but that’s it.
It was worth every penny of the expense.
Hormone therapy is a million times worse than the chemo or surgery, but i mainly put that down to the above.
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Thanks so much for your reply. Wow, that sounds pretty good. I didn’t know you could rent them. There is a centre near where I live. I have been advised to stop Vit C (and have) as it can stop the chemo being as effective. And I’ve also read this in a few studies. I’m sooo confused by so much conflicting info. And the fasting… did you do 3 consecutive days with chemo being middle day? 
Im doing weekly chemo so fasting 3 days out of 7 seems impossible! And one last thing… did you discuss/tell this to your team or just do it? Sorry for all the questions!
No, I just got on with it and did it how I wanted to do. Every time i walked through the hospital doors I was ready for a battle.
I worked with a Natural Doctor with the Vitamin C - the paclitaxel has a half life and after a certain time the vit c doesnt interfere with the chemo.
You get used to the 3 day fasts pretty quickly. They’re not too bad at all. I did 3 fasting days out of 7 for 3 months. Just eat kind of a healthy keto style diet the rest of the time.
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What do you mean by half life?
How long the drugs last in the system 
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If you’re interested these are the details of the hyperbaric people.
Chrissy Southall
Hyperbaric Support
DDI: 01403 286420
MOB: 07880 438 885
E: chrissy@hyperbaricchambers.co.uk
I got them down to £500 a month to have it in my home.
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Okay… so does that mean they stay in half the time it takes to administer?? Sorry for my ignorance! And is the idea to flush out as quickly as poss or let them do their thing?? So many questions. I must face the music and read the thousands of booklets I’ve been given… xx
sarahc_123
Thank you for posting.
Many people ask about different complementary therapies as they want to do as much as possible to be healthy during their treatment for breast cancer. Its understandable that you’d like to know more about hyperbaric oxygen therapy after talking to your friend.
There is much we don’t know about complementary therapies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy. There is a lack of evidence specific to breast cancer to support its use and safety during treatment. Much of the evidence for hyperbaric oxygen is in relation to radiotherapy side effects.
Do talk to your breast care nurse or treatment team, as it’s important they know about any complementary therapies you may like to use during your treatment as some may affect the way treatments, such as chemotherapy work.
You may find it helpful to post a question in this section of the forum to hear about others experiences of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. You can also contact Penny Brohn, a cancer wellbeing charity, who may be able to provide some more information.
Fasting during chemotherapy, as @ajt35 mentions, is being studied, but at the present time we don’t have enough evidence to say if this is safe or beneficial. Current recommendations are to maintain a balanced healthy diet during treatment for breast cancer. You can ask your breast care nurse about a referral to a dietician if you would like some dietary advice, or you may find it helpful to speak to a dietician on the World Cancer Research Fund nutrition helpline.
Do call our helpline if you would like to talk this through or have any further questions. The helpline team have time to listen, talk things through and signpost you to more support and information if necessary. Your call will be confidential, and the number is free from UK landlines and all mobile networks. The number is 0808 800 6000, (Relay UK -prefix 18001).
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Cassie
Breast Care Nurse
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