Hi, My mum is about to embark on chemo next week and different books seem to say different things. She is eating healthily and lots of organic food etc but i also think it would be good to build her immunity before and during treatment. So i thought given the literature i have read that the following would be good: Vitamin e, folic acid, echinacea.
Would appreciate any views/advice on this.
many thanks
Sarah
Hi sarah
I was treated at the Marsden and they said I shouldn’t take any supplements, some interfere with chemo, get your mum to check with her oncologist.
I hope her treatment goes well.
Best wishes
Most oncologists seem to say no to supplements and no to herbal remedies (st johns wort is out for example, does interfere with some of the chemo drugs). You also have to eat a pregnant womans diet, ie no live bacteria so no blue cheese, yogurt. Pate is no go etc. It’s quite depressing really. Having said that some of the drugs give you really bad acid and as such what suits you changes during chemo… for exampl prior to chemo I ate things like salads, yogurt, museli and a generally healthy balanced diet. Now towards the end of chemo that stuff is just too much like real roughage to me and doesn’t sit well if you know what I mean. Fried chicken and chips works great though… urgh.
I usually use echinacea too but have stopped this during chemo too.
Chemo is usually repeated every 3 weeks and in the middle her immune system will be low and raw food such as salads can be dangerous then if the person who prepared them had bacteria on their hands for example so I’ve stayed well away from takeout in the 2nd week (days 7 to 14) and made sure I personally wash and prepared any food that isn’t going to be cooked for more than 10 mins at a nice high temperature (hence fried food being good).
Some people believe (me included) that certain foods are good at helping you build your immune system back up but my onc thinks this is rubbish. That said I’m doing very well and he’s got no objection to those so what’s the harm I say.
Here’s my regime.
Manuka Honey (tablespoon on toast every morning during the low week)
Things made with home made chicken stock (chicken carcuss contains Arginine)
Mushrooms
Nuts (especially Brazil nuts, loaded in selenium)
After chemo I’m hitting the Spa tone for Iron and coQ10 to get my slightly addled brain back on form.
Do discuss these with her onc rather that take my advice. I have used Spa Tone during my chemo and no onc was going to stop me doing that. It’s a delicate balance between what they say and what you know to be true. They have to be very careful and can’t really recommend anything that hasn’t been trialled which is fair enough.
I was very peeved about yogurt to start with but having read up on it I accept that it is live and could get carried away even if it is friendly bacteria, turns out there is such a thing as too much friendliness 
Hope this helps a bit. I’m 3 months into chemo and actually starting to get fitter and stronger again now. 5 weeks to go.
Thanks Vertangie, this is helpful stuff. No one has discussed this sort of stuff with us yet so hopefully when we go in on Thursday i will be armed will lots of question around diet.
Apols- logged in under mum’s name as using her laptop incase you are wondering who Marysia is!