Surviving Chemotherapy

When you are diagnosed with cancer, many people feel helpless and surrender everything to chemotherapy. Many of you have known someone who struggled with chemo or have even experienced the unpleasant side-effects yourself. Having a proactive approach combining traditional medicine with alternative treatments, can help someone get thru chemo with fewer side-effects. In addition, some supplements actually increase the killing efficacy of the chemo drugs!

Dr. Miles’ Cancer Journey

General Tips to Improve Your Experience

We would be happy to help you take an active role and work on preventing or at least decreasing side-effects. We plan a supplement regimen based on your type of cancer and chemo drugs/radiation being used. Some supplements actually increase the killing efficacy of the chemo drugs!  Listed below are some general chemo tips.

Hydrate Well

Make sure you hydrate the day before, during and several days after chemotherapy. General rule is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. I always tried to drink more than this for the first several days after chemo.

Gentle Exercise

Continue to exercise to your tolerance level. A good rule of thumb is do not over exert yourself to where it takes longer than half the amount of time spent exercising to recover. I found gentle exercise the day after chemo helped me feel better faster. Ideas include setting up a stationary bike in your house and riding it at a slow pace for 10-15 minutes. If you feel unsteady then stretching or gentle yoga on the floor might help.

Positive Attitude

This is probably the most important thing. Nobody chooses to have cancer and we certainly don’t volunteer for chemo. Remember though, if you do choose chemo then it is not the enemy. It is your friend that is trying to help fight the cancer with you. You do not have to be at its mercy, either. With an integrative approach, most people should be able to continue to function and feel well enough throughout chemo.

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Help for Side Effects

Remember, chemo is cumulative so the more rounds you get the more side-effects you may have. In many cases, the best treatment is prevention.

  • Metallic Taste
    Eat with plastic utensils for the week or so after chemo. Do not drink out of metallic cans. Lemon drops or flavored water (use powdered propel or Gatorade) also help.
  • Nausea
    The best way to combat nausea is to prevent it. If you are having a hard time with nausea, anti-nausea bands placed on your wrist like JAM BAnds may help some. I would also recommend acupuncture. The acupuncture protocol is to have acupuncture the day before and the day after chemo. IT WORKS!! You can also chew raw ginger root (warning – it is a bit spicy and don’t swallow the root, just the juice you generate with chewing). For those of you with access to a great herb store, you can make and sip a tea made from yarrow. Personally, I was very nauseated with my first chemo round despite medication given to me by my oncologist. I think my toes were even nauseated! I decided I was not going to do that again and started having acupunture. I was not nauseated again – even with my last treatment! Find a licensed acupuncturist in your home town by going to NCCAOM.org.
  • Fatigue, mouth sores, diarrhea, numbness and tingling
    Again, these are best prevented and there are things you can do that do not deter from your chemo regimen. It is important for a person knowledgeable with your specific chemo drugs to tailor a plan for you because some supplements can be a problem with chemo medications. In addition, some supplements can actually enhance your chemo’s effectiveness.
  • Hair Loss
    I created a video on hair loss because so many people I spoke with described losing their hair as the most devastating part of chemo. In my video, I give tips on how to approach this event.

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