Wine Question

cahalstead
cahalstead Member Posts: 118
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,

Does anyone have any info on the negative effects of drinking wine while undergoing chemo? I'm not sure if it has any significant effect on the effectiveness of the chem. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Comments

  • JADot
    JADot Member Posts: 709 Member
    #2
    Although a devoted wine drinker, I made a decsion to stop drinking alcohol while I was on chemo. I simply wanted to do all I can to minimize the amount of toxicity that my liver had to deal with. We know both chemo and alcohol contribute to liver toxicity, so why burden your liver when it's overworked already. Instead, I took a daily dose of a milkthistle supplement which was supposed to help with liver detox. I went through 16 round of Folfox and my liver enzyme remained totally healthy through it all.

    I must confess that since the end of chemo, I have zinned again :-)

    Cheers,
    Ying
  • oneagleswings
    oneagleswings Member Posts: 425 Member
    #3
    Hello:
    Our Oncologist said no alcohol on day of chemo (24 hrs) but other than that has no problem with wine..enhances appetite (very important while trying to combat "chemo taste"..and allows you to relax and be "normal"..hugely important for quality of life and "mind over matter"...my husband is dealing with stage 4 and we are getting close to 3 year mark..on the other hand the onc (and pharmacologist) is VERY against milk thistle or any other liver detox since if the cancer is in the liver you want to keep the liver as "toxic" as possible to combat all the cancer cells.(to detox teh liver lessens the effect of chemo on erradicating the cancer cells)
    Bev
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #4
    Hi -

    I avoided wine / alcohol the day of chemo and the day after, but after that, while I didn't 'drink like a fish", I didn't worry about an occasional glass of wine. And, I was NED after two chemo cycles. SO, while I am not recommending wine, I think in moderation, most things are ok.

    Take care,
    Betsy
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #5
    Run it by your onc, he/she is running the show...some even say don't drink green tea while being infused....
    Now, I am a Merlot fan...but a cheap drunk....one glass, and I'm tipsy...chemo made me such a lightweight!!!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #6
    I'll chime in with the others here. My oncologist told me also that an occasional glass of wine would do no harm. Sometimes I couldn't drink wine due to nausea, but when the nausea passed, I chose petit syrah! Cheers!

    Kerry
  • 2bhealed
    2bhealed Member Posts: 2,064 Member
    #7
    hi,

    I have to put my .02 worth in here. so what else is new.

    Alcohol is sugar. Sugar feeds cancer. The point is to starve the cancer. Personally, I would hold off on any kind of alcohol while being treated for cancer. Alcohol is acidic on the system. Cancer likes acid.

    as for having your onc give you nutritional advice, I have not had any good experience with this either and I always give the example of what an oncologist was feeding his cancer patients at a chemo clinic here in Minnesota (it was in Maplewood, MN). They were being fed donuts. If that is any example of oncology nutrition then I would be highly suspect of their opinions in this area. Remember, our mothers were told alcohol was fine during pregnancy. Now we would be appalled if we saw a pregnant woman drinking.

    Chemo treatments are usually, what, about 6 months in duration. Why not forgo for the time being. What can it hurt?

    If I were you, I would want optimal nutrition during chemo and personally, I don't think wine is optimal cancer healing nutrition.

    peace, emily

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