Alternative therapies

Nigel,

What stage are you currently, what treatments have you already had and where do you reside?

Nigel,

What stage are you currently, what treatments have you already had and where do you reside?

Nigel,

What stage are you currently, what treatments have you already had and where do you reside?

There are lots of claims of alternative therapies and often "trials" for them as well. One thing to note is that these "trials" are not under FDA regulation so insurance companies most often will not pay for any of your doctors visits, bloodwork, imaging, etc if you are enrolled in one of them. I'm not a big proponant of alternative therapies on their own, though I know there is some evidence supporting some things (recently there was some discussion about diet and supplements on another thread). Earlier on in my battle when I was looking into clinical trials one of my mother's friend's daughters (who is a macrobiotic) sent along an ad for one of these "trials"- their tiral consisted of going to live and be monitored at center where they would feed you a calorie restricted macrobiotic diet. Their therory was that cancer cells have a higher metabolic rate than normal cells so by restricting the calories they would "starve" the cancer to death. You want to know what else has a high metabolic rate? Your brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and any other active tissue. Additionally, every cell in your body (especially your brain) runs on sugar. EVERY CELL- healthy or not. So you're not just starving your cancer- you're starving your whole body. Even proteins and fats are converted into sugars so that cells can use them for energy. The only things that aren't are vitamins and minerals, but those have no caloric value, so you wont' live very long on vitamins and minerals- you need calories. In the absence of calorie intake the body begins to convert it's own tissues into calories- starting with muscle, then fat stores- the body sends signals for tissues to break down and the products are delivered to the liver to be converted into sugars to keep vital organs (again, the brain, heart, lungs, etc) functioning. Tumor cells are not excluded from this- in fact they are very very good at feeding themselves at our body's expense (hence the tumor formation to begin with). Starving your body does not starve your cancer- that's not how physiology works. So do be a little bit careful with alternative therapies and trials- both from a health and a financial (insurance) perspective, and do make sure your doctors know what you're doing/taking so as to avoid the possibility of one interfering or causing an adverse reaction with the other. Also make sure you report any side effects you are having regardless of therapy choices.

Best of luck

There are lots of claims of alternative therapies and often "trials" for them as well. One thing to note is that these "trials" are not under FDA regulation so insurance companies most often will not pay for any of your doctors visits, bloodwork, imaging, etc if you are enrolled in one of them. I'm not a big proponant of alternative therapies on their own, though I know there is some evidence supporting some things (recently there was some discussion about diet and supplements on another thread). Earlier on in my battle when I was looking into clinical trials one of my mother's friend's daughters (who is a macrobiotic) sent along an ad for one of these "trials"- their tiral consisted of going to live and be monitored at center where they would feed you a calorie restricted macrobiotic diet. Their therory was that cancer cells have a higher metabolic rate than normal cells so by restricting the calories they would "starve" the cancer to death. You want to know what else has a high metabolic rate? Your brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and any other active tissue. Additionally, every cell in your body (especially your brain) runs on sugar. EVERY CELL- healthy or not. So you're not just starving your cancer- you're starving your whole body. Even proteins and fats are converted into sugars so that cells can use them for energy. The only things that aren't are vitamins and minerals, but those have no caloric value, so you wont' live very long on vitamins and minerals- you need calories. In the absence of calorie intake the body begins to convert it's own tissues into calories- starting with muscle, then fat stores- the body sends signals for tissues to break down and the products are delivered to the liver to be converted into sugars to keep vital organs (again, the brain, heart, lungs, etc) functioning. Tumor cells are not excluded from this- in fact they are very very good at feeding themselves at our body's expense (hence the tumor formation to begin with). Starving your body does not starve your cancer- that's not how physiology works. So do be a little bit careful with alternative therapies and trials- both from a health and a financial (insurance) perspective, and do make sure your doctors know what you're doing/taking so as to avoid the possibility of one interfering or causing an adverse reaction with the other. Also make sure you report any side effects you are having regardless of therapy choices.

Best of luck

There are lots of claims of alternative therapies and often "trials" for them as well. One thing to note is that these "trials" are not under FDA regulation so insurance companies most often will not pay for any of your doctors visits, bloodwork, imaging, etc if you are enrolled in one of them. I'm not a big proponant of alternative therapies on their own, though I know there is some evidence supporting some things (recently there was some discussion about diet and supplements on another thread). Earlier on in my battle when I was looking into clinical trials one of my mother's friend's daughters (who is a macrobiotic) sent along an ad for one of these "trials"- their tiral consisted of going to live and be monitored at center where they would feed you a calorie restricted macrobiotic diet. Their therory was that cancer cells have a higher metabolic rate than normal cells so by restricting the calories they would "starve" the cancer to death. You want to know what else has a high metabolic rate? Your brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and any other active tissue. Additionally, every cell in your body (especially your brain) runs on sugar. EVERY CELL- healthy or not. So you're not just starving your cancer- you're starving your whole body. Even proteins and fats are converted into sugars so that cells can use them for energy. The only things that aren't are vitamins and minerals, but those have no caloric value, so you wont' live very long on vitamins and minerals- you need calories. In the absence of calorie intake the body begins to convert it's own tissues into calories- starting with muscle, then fat stores- the body sends signals for tissues to break down and the products are delivered to the liver to be converted into sugars to keep vital organs (again, the brain, heart, lungs, etc) functioning. Tumor cells are not excluded from this- in fact they are very very good at feeding themselves at our body's expense (hence the tumor formation to begin with). Starving your body does not starve your cancer- that's not how physiology works. So do be a little bit careful with alternative therapies and trials- both from a health and a financial (insurance) perspective, and do make sure your doctors know what you're doing/taking so as to avoid the possibility of one interfering or causing an adverse reaction with the other. Also make sure you report any side effects you are having regardless of therapy choices.

Best of luck

Hello Nigel,

I'm sorry to say that there is no one single Alternative treatment out there proven to cure melanoma or cancer in general.  Although you may find individual people that may swear they were cured by one treatment (and they may even be right) that same treatment does not work for many more.  Of course, the exact same thing can be said of the various drug treatments currently available.  We are unique and so are our cancers.  What works for one doesn't work for another (whether alternative, Ipi, PD1 or braf inhibitors).  So the goal is to find what will work for you.  This takes thoughtful evaluation and research, weighing the risks versus rewards and quality of life if that matters to you.

If you are truly interested in learning more about Alternative treatments to cancer, I suggest you sign up for the upcoming online video series "The Quest for the Cures".  You can watch the trailer for the series at the link below.  If you are intrigued by the trailer, you can submit your email address and then you can watch the series as it airs (one episode per day) starting October 13th.  Many doctors and researchers are interviewed as well as cancer survivors describing what worked for them.  I watched their previous series and found it informative.

http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/fall_quest2.php?af=1587332

My own approach has focused on achieving optimal health overall, first to see if it might be enough to kick my own immune system into action, but if it doesn't, then to be in the best shape possible to handle the drugs and their side-effects.  I have been blessed with a low tumor burden and slow disease so far.  Or maybe its slow because of the changes I've made.  No way to know for sure but I continue to do what I believe is right for me and my disease.

Best of luck to you – Maggie

Hello Nigel,

I'm sorry to say that there is no one single Alternative treatment out there proven to cure melanoma or cancer in general.  Although you may find individual people that may swear they were cured by one treatment (and they may even be right) that same treatment does not work for many more.  Of course, the exact same thing can be said of the various drug treatments currently available.  We are unique and so are our cancers.  What works for one doesn't work for another (whether alternative, Ipi, PD1 or braf inhibitors).  So the goal is to find what will work for you.  This takes thoughtful evaluation and research, weighing the risks versus rewards and quality of life if that matters to you.

If you are truly interested in learning more about Alternative treatments to cancer, I suggest you sign up for the upcoming online video series "The Quest for the Cures".  You can watch the trailer for the series at the link below.  If you are intrigued by the trailer, you can submit your email address and then you can watch the series as it airs (one episode per day) starting October 13th.  Many doctors and researchers are interviewed as well as cancer survivors describing what worked for them.  I watched their previous series and found it informative.

http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/fall_quest2.php?af=1587332

My own approach has focused on achieving optimal health overall, first to see if it might be enough to kick my own immune system into action, but if it doesn't, then to be in the best shape possible to handle the drugs and their side-effects.  I have been blessed with a low tumor burden and slow disease so far.  Or maybe its slow because of the changes I've made.  No way to know for sure but I continue to do what I believe is right for me and my disease.

Best of luck to you – Maggie

Hello Nigel,

I'm sorry to say that there is no one single Alternative treatment out there proven to cure melanoma or cancer in general.  Although you may find individual people that may swear they were cured by one treatment (and they may even be right) that same treatment does not work for many more.  Of course, the exact same thing can be said of the various drug treatments currently available.  We are unique and so are our cancers.  What works for one doesn't work for another (whether alternative, Ipi, PD1 or braf inhibitors).  So the goal is to find what will work for you.  This takes thoughtful evaluation and research, weighing the risks versus rewards and quality of life if that matters to you.

If you are truly interested in learning more about Alternative treatments to cancer, I suggest you sign up for the upcoming online video series "The Quest for the Cures".  You can watch the trailer for the series at the link below.  If you are intrigued by the trailer, you can submit your email address and then you can watch the series as it airs (one episode per day) starting October 13th.  Many doctors and researchers are interviewed as well as cancer survivors describing what worked for them.  I watched their previous series and found it informative.

http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/fall_quest2.php?af=1587332

My own approach has focused on achieving optimal health overall, first to see if it might be enough to kick my own immune system into action, but if it doesn't, then to be in the best shape possible to handle the drugs and their side-effects.  I have been blessed with a low tumor burden and slow disease so far.  Or maybe its slow because of the changes I've made.  No way to know for sure but I continue to do what I believe is right for me and my disease.

Best of luck to you – Maggie

Not sure about alternative meds but i do know that too much Vit D is not good for you, you should have your levels checked before you decide on taking any vit D suppliments..Mine was in the low normal range so my dr suggested i take a Vit D 3 pill daily..Good luck..I did Yervoy and it's working so far..

Not sure about alternative meds but i do know that too much Vit D is not good for you, you should have your levels checked before you decide on taking any vit D suppliments..Mine was in the low normal range so my dr suggested i take a Vit D 3 pill daily..Good luck..I did Yervoy and it's working so far..

Not sure about alternative meds but i do know that too much Vit D is not good for you, you should have your levels checked before you decide on taking any vit D suppliments..Mine was in the low normal range so my dr suggested i take a Vit D 3 pill daily..Good luck..I did Yervoy and it's working so far..