activated charcoal

VictoriaSF
VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
in Ovarian Cancer #1
hello
i would like to see if anyone had heard about benefits of activated charcoal to lessen chemo side effects.
friend of mine who worked at onco instritute in Moscow told me that they had huge study on that topic years ago, that patients who took activated charcial few days - to a week prior to chemo had less side effects and less severe. Main key - charcoal absorbs toxins before chemo.

thank you
Victoria

Comments

  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #2
    Thoughts on charcoal
    Thank you for posting a comment about activated charcoal. My mother is a HUGE fan of the stuff and keeps trying to suggest that it would be good for me to take.

    However, I am leary about doing anything that might inactivate the chemo--there are so many different types of chemo, too. So I think it is important to know what type of chemo was used in the research.

    I probably would have benefitted from taking activated charcoal about four days AFTER chemo when I was still early in my treatment. I had a lot of tumor die off the toxins from that put me in the hospital with encephalopathy. I was given carbo/taxol. It was the second treatment of taxol alone that really poisoned me--I could taste it on my skin and in my nasal secretions and was staggering & stammering and not talking sense.

    I'll see if I can find that Russian research.

    thanks,

    Carolen
  • VictoriaSF
    VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
    #3
    carolenk said:

    Thoughts on charcoal
    Thank you for posting a comment about activated charcoal. My mother is a HUGE fan of the stuff and keeps trying to suggest that it would be good for me to take.

    However, I am leary about doing anything that might inactivate the chemo--there are so many different types of chemo, too. So I think it is important to know what type of chemo was used in the research.

    I probably would have benefitted from taking activated charcoal about four days AFTER chemo when I was still early in my treatment. I had a lot of tumor die off the toxins from that put me in the hospital with encephalopathy. I was given carbo/taxol. It was the second treatment of taxol alone that really poisoned me--I could taste it on my skin and in my nasal secretions and was staggering & stammering and not talking sense.

    I'll see if I can find that Russian research.

    thanks,

    Carolen

    keep me posted
    thank you Carolen
    please keep me posted if you will find out anything.
    i will try to research it too.
    i am drinking dandelion tea and i have consulted with my oncologist and she said it is ok and not interfearing with chemo, but it is good cleanser.
    best
    v
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #4
    VictoriaSF said:

    keep me posted
    thank you Carolen
    please keep me posted if you will find out anything.
    i will try to research it too.
    i am drinking dandelion tea and i have consulted with my oncologist and she said it is ok and not interfearing with chemo, but it is good cleanser.
    best
    v

    Dandelion tea
    Victoria

    I'll share info if I find anything out about that research on activated charcoal & chemo.

    There are two kinds of dandelion tea: one from the leaves (ariel parts) and one from the root (radix). Which one are you drinking?

    The dandelion leaves are diuretic (will make you pee a lot) and the dandelion root is a kidney cleanser.

    Carolen
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #5
    carolenk said:

    Dandelion tea
    Victoria

    I'll share info if I find anything out about that research on activated charcoal & chemo.

    There are two kinds of dandelion tea: one from the leaves (ariel parts) and one from the root (radix). Which one are you drinking?

    The dandelion leaves are diuretic (will make you pee a lot) and the dandelion root is a kidney cleanser.

    Carolen

    Here's a link to some information on research done in 1984:

    http://www.springerlink.com/content/h86x1v1126w07248/

    The research showed some benefit in reducing the toxic effect of the chemo agents.

    The drugs used in the research were:

    sarcolysine
    methotrexate
    5-FU
    cyclophosphane
    adriamycin

    I would think that the side effects of any of the other antibiotic-based chemo agents would also be reduced. I don't know the therapeutic dose of the charcoal but I do know that the charcoal makes black stools which is kind of freaky if you are not expecting to see that!

    Carolen
  • VictoriaSF
    VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
    #6
    carolenk said:

    Dandelion tea
    Victoria

    I'll share info if I find anything out about that research on activated charcoal & chemo.

    There are two kinds of dandelion tea: one from the leaves (ariel parts) and one from the root (radix). Which one are you drinking?

    The dandelion leaves are diuretic (will make you pee a lot) and the dandelion root is a kidney cleanser.

    Carolen

    root
    hi Carolen,
    i dring organicroot tea
    for kidney and liver cleansing
    v
  • VictoriaSF
    VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
    #7
    carolenk said:

    Here's a link to some information on research done in 1984:

    http://www.springerlink.com/content/h86x1v1126w07248/

    The research showed some benefit in reducing the toxic effect of the chemo agents.

    The drugs used in the research were:

    sarcolysine
    methotrexate
    5-FU
    cyclophosphane
    adriamycin

    I would think that the side effects of any of the other antibiotic-based chemo agents would also be reduced. I don't know the therapeutic dose of the charcoal but I do know that the charcoal makes black stools which is kind of freaky if you are not expecting to see that!

    Carolen

    taking carbo/taxol
    hi
    thanks so much for research
    i am getting carbo/taxol treatment ,
    this coming week it will be #3, so almost mid-way
    i am also leary to take something that can absorb chemo and make effect not as intended.
    i'll ask my oncologist.
    she does not like me to take lots od supplements during chemo.
    i do take B-complex, magnesium and D.
    thinking to take turmeric for neuropathy.
    Any thoughts os that?

    best
    V
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #8
    VictoriaSF said:

    taking carbo/taxol
    hi
    thanks so much for research
    i am getting carbo/taxol treatment ,
    this coming week it will be #3, so almost mid-way
    i am also leary to take something that can absorb chemo and make effect not as intended.
    i'll ask my oncologist.
    she does not like me to take lots od supplements during chemo.
    i do take B-complex, magnesium and D.
    thinking to take turmeric for neuropathy.
    Any thoughts os that?

    best
    V

    help for neuropathy
    Victoria

    I have read that turmeric shows benefit in preventing chemoresistance when given before chemo but I have no idea what the therapeutic dose is for that. I do know that turmeric is used in everyday cooking in India and the people of India have an extremely low incidence of Alzheimer's Disease. Turmeric can be irritating if you have gastritis or GERD.

    I am using alpha lipoic acid (ALA) 300 mg 1-2/day w/ food for neuropathy and think that it makes a difference. I have only brief periods of mild neuropathy in my feet and (so far) it has cleared up after taking the ALA.

    I know that the unwanted carboplatin effects accummulate over time and I have only had 4 of the carbo treatments so far. It is hard to say whether or not the supplement makes a difference for sure because I don't have an identical twin to serve as the "control" in the experiment. If it is a placebo effect, I am OK with that.

    As a naturopath/nurse practitioner, I have recommended ALA to diabetic patients and have had many of them reverse peripheral neuropathy AND lower the hemaglobin A1C levels also. I think ALA falls into the category of "can't hurt and might help."

    The only caution that I have to say about using ALA is that it can be irritating on the stomach if you have gastritis/GERD (it is somewhat sour) so I never take it on an empty stomach.

    take care,

    Carolen
  • VictoriaSF
    VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
    #9
    carolenk said:

    help for neuropathy
    Victoria

    I have read that turmeric shows benefit in preventing chemoresistance when given before chemo but I have no idea what the therapeutic dose is for that. I do know that turmeric is used in everyday cooking in India and the people of India have an extremely low incidence of Alzheimer's Disease. Turmeric can be irritating if you have gastritis or GERD.

    I am using alpha lipoic acid (ALA) 300 mg 1-2/day w/ food for neuropathy and think that it makes a difference. I have only brief periods of mild neuropathy in my feet and (so far) it has cleared up after taking the ALA.

    I know that the unwanted carboplatin effects accummulate over time and I have only had 4 of the carbo treatments so far. It is hard to say whether or not the supplement makes a difference for sure because I don't have an identical twin to serve as the "control" in the experiment. If it is a placebo effect, I am OK with that.

    As a naturopath/nurse practitioner, I have recommended ALA to diabetic patients and have had many of them reverse peripheral neuropathy AND lower the hemaglobin A1C levels also. I think ALA falls into the category of "can't hurt and might help."

    The only caution that I have to say about using ALA is that it can be irritating on the stomach if you have gastritis/GERD (it is somewhat sour) so I never take it on an empty stomach.

    take care,

    Carolen

    ALA
    Hello Carolen
    thanks for your comments, they are very detailed and useful.
    i will try ALA,as neuropathy is very annoying and i am afraid it will get even more with each treatment.

    As for the turmeric - a came across many articles about turmeric being used for cancer prevention and cure. Statistically people in India have siginificantly lesser number of cancer cases than Europe or N.America.

    i will post here if i will come across another article.

    thank you again
    best
    V
  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #10
    VictoriaSF said:

    root
    hi Carolen,
    i dring organicroot tea
    for kidney and liver cleansing
    v

    Neuropathy
    I use alpha lipoic acid for neuropathy and am getting good results so far.
  • VictoriaSF
    VictoriaSF Member Posts: 165
    #11
    LaundryQueen said:

    Neuropathy
    I use alpha lipoic acid for neuropathy and am getting good results so far.

    thank you
    thank you LaundryQueen for the advise, i have heard from few more people about alpha lipoic acid, i will give it a try,
    how many mg do you take and how many times per day?

    best
    v
  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #12
    VictoriaSF said:

    thank you
    thank you LaundryQueen for the advise, i have heard from few more people about alpha lipoic acid, i will give it a try,
    how many mg do you take and how many times per day?

    best
    v

    Alpha lipoic acid
    I forget to take the alpha lipoic acid sometimes so when my feet feel numb or just weird, I take 300 mg. Sometimes once/day, sometimes twice/day. Right now, I am just taking it once day (when I can remember to take it). lol!

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