Milk Thistle ... your thoughts and experiences are requested (update)

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  • jasminsaba
    jasminsaba Member Posts: 157 Member
    #22
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    Milk Thistle a no-go
    Hi everyone - I'm writing to provide an update on this topic... Mom started her maintenance Xeloda & Avastin this week ... we met with her oncologist and I brought up the possibility of adding milk thistle and melatonin (for sleeping aid) to mom's supplement list. Her onc was OK with her taking melatonin to help her sleep; however, she objected to her taking milk thistle while on xeloda. She mentioned that the interactions and possible contraindicatiins are not well researched and she can not be certain that there would not be any harm in taking milk thistle.
  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #23
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    jasminsaba said:

    Milk Thistle a no-go
    Hi everyone - I'm writing to provide an update on this topic... Mom started her maintenance Xeloda & Avastin this week ... we met with her oncologist and I brought up the possibility of adding milk thistle and melatonin (for sleeping aid) to mom's supplement list. Her onc was OK with her taking melatonin to help her sleep; however, she objected to her taking milk thistle while on xeloda. She mentioned that the interactions and possible contraindicatiins are not well researched and she can not be certain that there would not be any harm in taking milk thistle.

    we went elsewhere...
    You might want a more experienced opinion on this by someone who has actual patients and has scoured the niches for their view on the Xeloda-silymarin combination. Her onc may be right about level of data (lack of phase III testing) but miss an important opportunity. We've decided to focus on silymarin and other polyphenols/flavanoids for COX2 inhibition and other benefits while on a different 5FU oral chemo that has less metabolic processing (UFT). Approaching 2 years, hepatoprotection with other benefits is the watchword.
  • jasminsaba
    jasminsaba Member Posts: 157 Member
    #24
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    tanstaafl said:

    we went elsewhere...
    You might want a more experienced opinion on this by someone who has actual patients and has scoured the niches for their view on the Xeloda-silymarin combination. Her onc may be right about level of data (lack of phase III testing) but miss an important opportunity. We've decided to focus on silymarin and other polyphenols/flavanoids for COX2 inhibition and other benefits while on a different 5FU oral chemo that has less metabolic processing (UFT). Approaching 2 years, hepatoprotection with other benefits is the watchword.

    what other 5FU oral chemo?
    Hi tanstaafl - thanks for your comments. I'll definitely continue to research additional options ... there are several other supplements I've come across at our local wholefoods store that are specifically forumated to address liver health. Looking into the possibility of introducing one of them, perhaps, into mom's supplement routine.

    Your comment about a different 5FU oral chemo piqued my interest as I was not aware there are other options than Xeloda in the arsenal ... can you please let me know the name of this pill? Thanks.
  • tanstaafl
    tanstaafl Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #25
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    jasminsaba said:

    what other 5FU oral chemo?
    Hi tanstaafl - thanks for your comments. I'll definitely continue to research additional options ... there are several other supplements I've come across at our local wholefoods store that are specifically forumated to address liver health. Looking into the possibility of introducing one of them, perhaps, into mom's supplement routine.

    Your comment about a different 5FU oral chemo piqued my interest as I was not aware there are other options than Xeloda in the arsenal ... can you please let me know the name of this pill? Thanks.

    UFT
    Tegafur-uracil (UFT) is a generic pro-5FU drug that was developed in the 1980s in Japan. It's licensed in UK, Spain and over 50 other countries, especially in Asia, but not US-Canada. The FDA stopped it on the technicality that its competitive DPD inhibitor, uracil, is not chemotherapeutic in its own right ca 1999. It's cheap, low toxicity, and in skilled hands as a continuous multimodulated treatment, been effective at stopping metastasis, without wiping out the white cells [with reasonable leukovorin use].

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