My mom was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer last april. She's gone through chemo and radiation but now is on all sorts of drugs. One drug, "Chantix" is to help her quit smoking and the others are to keep the cancer from coming back. She's taking Armidex to keep the cancer from coming back and Clonidine to help with the side effects from the Armidex. The drug label says that if she misses more than two doses it can lead to heart attack or stroke!!! She says she'd rather smoke marijuana like in the old days because all this stuff is so scary. I appreciate any advice and information. Thanks!!! I'm asking for ADVICE. She doesn't want to take all these scary drugs... are there any alternatives?
Cancer - 10 Answers
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1 :
no
2 :
Whats the question?
3 :
You might find some advice and information from these links...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chantix or http://www.chantix.com/content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp?setShowOn=../content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp&setShowHighlightOn=../content/Chantix_Branded_Homepage.jsp
4 :
Ask her own doctor, they sometimes have clinical trials in cancer clinics that also are free, so meds are free and she is actually monitored closer, as she is a study. My Mom had breast cancer 6 yrs ago and was in a clinical trial for her treatment and meds and is still cancer free. Best wishes!
5 :
The FDA is approving a drug this year that is for breast cancer it was proven to keep cancer at bay 8 months longer than any other treatment even Chemotherapy. Look into the drug called . Tykerb
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My Mother died from liver cancer, this was long before all of these drugs were available. The reason people smoke pot is to help ease the nausea from chemotherapy. She should stay on the meds her Dr prescribed. I don't know how pot will get her through the side effects from the meds, if at all, but she should stay on them!!!
7 :
There are some alternatives that can help alleviate some of the pain that she is going through. However, I am not sure if they can actually "cure" her of her symptoms. Most natural treatments are not instant "cures" but work over time. I found this reference section on breast cancer for you http://www.healthandwellnesscentral.com/Category/Breast-Cancer/80
8 :
Yes its a natural product that kills cancer cells and is called graviola, it comes from the amazon rain forest and so far results show that its effective on 12 different types of cancer. One of the major studies was done by Purdue university and commissioned by the National Cancer Institue. Another study was done on mice that had cancer and it was found to have an impact on 62% of the cancer cells in just a short span of two weeks. Anyway you can check it out on the email address below.
9 :
The Clonidine is a simple Alpha agonist blood pressure pill. It is fairly safe but you want to wean off of it ... not stop it abruptly or the blood vessels can over-react and constrict more than normal causing the blood pressure to abruptly rise. Just take it as prescribed. We even use this drug on A.D.D. and A.D.H.D. children. MISSED DOSE: If you miss a dose, take as soon as remembered; do not take if it is almost time for the next dose, instead, skip the missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not double-up" the dose to catch up. The ARIMIDEX 1MG blocks the estrogen receptors on malignant tumors. This shuts down the excitement switch for the tumor to grow. As long as your mom is not experiencing excessive diarrhea or vaginal bleeding it does seem to work rather well to prevent the spread of the cancer to other organs. Another option would be Novaldex (Tamoxifen) which also reduces the risk of additonal maligancies from spreading. It is extracted from a specific species of pine tree that grows in the Northwestern USA and Canada. But if I were going to put all of what you have disclosed in order of severity... by far, the worse drug your mother is on are the cigarettes! It is up to her... she can go without the Arimidex or Novaldex but if she does, her 5 year survival rate goes way down due to spread to the bones, brain, and liver. So for at least for the next 3 to 5 years... she should be on something unless she is willing to just give up. I hope she chooses wisely. Most of my patients are 10 + years survival while on the meds. Marijuana works like alcohol in high enough doses to distract the mind from what is going on....but like alcohol... it merely allows the person to put their head in the sand.It treats nothing but awarenes of a problem. It is a solution to nothing but avoidance of the reality. I would also suggest that if all of this is scary to her that she joins a breast cancer support group and get real information rather than to be scared off of taking some meds that can give her years of good life. What she needs to do now is not written in stone. They are required now... not for the rest of her life. Tell her to breathe and let the meds do their job, get some support from friends who share similar problems. This is a survivable form of cancer... Lung cancer and some others, my advice to you would be radically different. Hope that helps.
10 :
Try Vitamin C therapy. A few years ago a cancer researcher came out with a paper saying that the best cancer and infection fighter as yet found was Interferon, but, at the time, it cost $15,000 a gram. The good part was that Interferon was a product of the natural breakdown of Vitamin C in your system. Shortly after that paper came out the FDA tried to make Vit C by prescription only. Guess why? The FDA says that the RDA for Vit C is 64 mg a day, just enough to prevent scurvy. Linus Pauling, who got a Nobel Prize for his work with Vit C and a second Nobel Prize for organic chemistry, said 1000 mg a day as a minimum and 2000 mg a day if you are sick. On a personal note, I was sick twice a year, for 2 weeks at a time, for 20 years, and was flat on my back for at least a week each time. To this day the doctors have no idea what the problem was. After I gave up on the doctors I tried Vit C. I took enough to keep from being sick and just below too much to get diarrhea. It followed a bell curve over 2 weeks with a peak at 40,000 mg a day – about 300,000 over the 2 weeks. I was not sick for those 2 weeks and after a couple of years of that I have not been sick since. I did not dissolve my kidneys, as some doctors said would happen. I did not get any calcium build up or stones and did not dissolve my cones or solidify my joints. Try it, but drink a lot of water – Vit C is a natural diuretic.
