[ivanwarwickParticipant]

I'm suppose to start chemo treatment today. I have all the tablets and injections to start my chemotherapy in one big bag. Its a simple process I take 10 cyclophosphamide chemo tablets at once along with a 4 day course of steroids and a thalidomide tablet and a blood thinning injection. Then another 10 tablets again in a weeks time etc for 6 months. I'm sitting here fit and healthy at the moment and wondering what options do I have. Has anyone other there tried alternate remedies or treatment. I was reading online that Apricot Kernels were good at fighting cancer, has any one tried them? could I take them along with my chemo? Is there any other alternate remedy advice?
Ivan

[eveParticipant]

Hi Ivan
I cannot tell you much about alternative treatment,there are lots out there,Took me all my time to get Slim to eat at one stage,drinking water is very important as it helps the kidneys flush through,your taste buds will change from,month to month.Slims always been a wine drinker,cannot stand the stuff now:-)(more for me):-P
My advice is to eat healthy,if you have a blip in your treatment the weight will soon drop off,so enjoy eating.;-)
Toms in to cucumbers in a big way he keeps going on ward and upward LOL

[HelenParticipant]

Hi Ivan
Glad yesterday went ok.
Re treatment I took a few apricot kernels before they gave me the chemo, then gave them back to my mate, decided to toe the line and follow instructions to the letter as this is best chance.
I took all drugs at exactly the same times every day- as already said, take dex and anticoag in morning cyclophos after food and revlimid in evening, even set alarm to take them as this is how the pharma industry tests these things and how the results are worked out ( I used to be a clinical trials nurse- ho hum how things change!!!!!!)
Keep an eye out for side effects and phone the hosp if you are worried.
good luck with them – there is something very weird and counter intuitive about taking all these meds when you feel so well and you know they might make you feel ill!
Warn the family that your moods might be all over the place and you are not totally responsible for the grumpiness!
Listen to your body and eat what feels right and don't forget to drink the fluids- very important now.

Good luck
Helen

[DaiCroParticipant]

Hi Ivan,

May I wish you a reluctant welcome to the board, I truly wish you were not here!

But, as you are, welcome. CDT worked very well for me and I was in a right mess when I started… with horrendous bone damage… but within a few months I was in Complete Response and ready to move on to the next line of treatments. 😎

Dex in such high doses can cause mood problems but they did not affect me at all on CDT as far as i can recall – I enjoyed the mood delights on a later/current treatment.

There are a great bunch of people here who will support and nurture you wherever and whenever they can and I am sure that true friendships will develop as you progress. Some of us are entering the latter parts of their journey, others mid-term and some, like yourself just starting… everyone has something to offer… through experiences, tips, blogs of particular treatments and often just a good old moan, groan or let-loose… all are equally valid in their way and you never know what is going to 'speak' to you. 🙂

All the best as you get going and we hope to learn more about Ivan as we go along… the rest we are already in touch with. 🙂

Dai.

[MinParticipant]

Hi Ivan
My husband tried curcumin as an alternative treatment after his SCT. I read that asparagus was amazing and fed it too him as often as I dared. But if these things worked no one would be taking chemotherapy or thalidomid.
It was difficult to say if it kept the beast at bay or not but when he came off it his numbers rose significantly. It may well be that they would have risen anyway. But I know at the time he was on no other medication.
If you are going to take alternative therapies you need to tell the team what you are on as there may be one of the meds your on that reacts badly with it.
Many people swear by these things for some of the side effects, that the drugs cause. Like for instance leg cramps or runny nose or hiccups all of which are pretty routine with the CDT treatment and pretty annoying when you feel rough.
If you manage to succeed without any side effects from the drugs it will be easy. But together they are a toxic combination and can and will make you feel lousy from time to time.
Enjoy you weekend
Min

[DaiCroParticipant]

I remember asking my consultant about Curcumin/Tumeric a while back… it was a parting aside about diet and supplements in general following a quite positive session… and I caught something I can only describe as pity in her eyes… almost as if she was saying that 'despite our conversations about medicine and science you still want to hang onto the possibility of 'miracle cures' or 'cure alls' coming to rescue you'. She said that there were certain combinations that did not go together but if I wished to try complementary medicine or dietary supplements etc., then she would recommend putting them to the test 'after' medicine and science had had its go…

As Min so succinctly points out 'if these things worked no one would be taking chemotherapy or thalidomide'. Okay, they may help as a supplement, they may even complement standard medicine… for me I'll put them in the right pecking order… and trust in the big guns for now.:-)

Dai.

[BADGERParticipant]

Hello Ivan

I think some times alternatives are as good for the mind as the body I see no reason why you could not take some cumin along with the regular chemo as long as they dont fight I have also seen that cinnamon is another good spice that might help fight cancer if it helps do it the medical proffesion guess it half the time anyway as you can see with the different doses consultants give you
GOOD LUCK for your journey keep us informed how you get on
Love Jo x;-)

[CarolBradley1Participant]

Hi
Hope everything is going ok and you are getting on top of the routine – I found it very confusing to start with. Yours sounds very similar to my protocol and althought the steroids did make me feel quite upset and grumpy it has been worth it as I have come through the transplant well.
Very best of luck – if you feel grumpy you can always come on here and "grump" at us at 3 am in the morning, we have all been there and well understand. Carol

[ivanwarwickParticipant]

Thanks for that Carol I may just take you up on that if i feel grumpy.

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