ASPIRIN & CIMITIDINE

[hart2hart]

Hi -

How many take aspirin daily after treatment ends?
Baby or Full? Day or evening?

Pete also wants to know if anyone takes cimitidine long term or mainly before
surgery? His treatment, Hai and Systemic has just ended at Sloan and now we
are trying to figure out whats best to take to prevent reoccurence.

Good news: Since he is feeling better the projects have started outside: garden, painting,
garage cleaning, etc. Great to see a smile on his face. Oh yeah, even his taste buds
are coming back! Hooray!




Julie H
Stamford, CT

[Deb m]

My husband takes asprine daily since his last treatment. His oncologist at MD Anderson cancer center told him to. He said you only need to take one baby asprine (81mg) a day to get the benefit. Along with that we try to eat a healthy diet and get some exercise. We did do some other supplements in the past, but have stopped them now and just do the asprine.

deb m

[KWT]

81mg here too.

[annalexandria]

I took 800 mg of cimetidine for one week before and one week after surgery. That happened to be the last of five surgeries, although I can't say for sure whether or not the cimetidine made a difference. I don't take it long term, as it is an antacid, and if you don't actually have excess acid, it can get your system out of whack over time.

I also took baby aspirin for several months, but I developed blurred vision, which apparently is one possible side effect of aspirin. It went away not long after I stopped taking it, so just something to watch out for.

[Ehut]

81 mg in the evening every day. I also take Cimetidine, although I've cut back from 800 mg to 400 mg daily and expect to end it in a few months. I also take a few other supplements, some for cancer, some for other issues.

[exaussie]

What's the reasoning of aspirin therapy, I have not heard about this before.

[rp1954]

Aspirin use here, 81 mg.

Long term cimetidine works on a large fraction of the advanced colorectal cancer patients, those with a certain biology that is likely to metastasize sooner than later. If that biology is not present, long term cimetidine has no benefit and is a drag on digestion and the body. I would question long term cimetidine use without any CEA and CA19-9 results above common background levels, or, more rigorously the tissue stains similar to Matsumoto (2002) to identify the biology. Those with both initial CEA and CA19-9 elevated above common background or much higher are likely to benefit with 5FU. If either marker's peak value was very low, especially if peak CEA less than 1, or peak CA19-9 less than 2, long term cimetidine simply doesn't show net benefit.

As for taking it, one approach is to take cimetidine at bedtime to minimize digestive interference.

[gfpiv]

Hi Julie,

That's great to hear that Pete is doing so well. If possible reduction in blood clotting is not a concern, then low dose aspirin may well be helpful (I've been using 81 mg/daily myself). I've also heard good things about cimetidine for reducing recurrence risk, both before and after resection...though I'm not sure how long after resection they recommend to keep it up. Another thing that studies have shown can reduce recurrence risk is continued, regular exercise (so keep cracking the whip as necessary, and make sure he keeps up with those active outdoor projects, lol). Incidentally, Vitamin D3 supplementation might not be a bad idea, if he is not already taking it, and his onc is okay with it.

Best wishes,
Chip

[JDinNC]

So what does one take if they are allergic to aspirin????

[chemo sabe]

JDinNC - no replacement if aspirin allergic.

Hart2hart - Julie, my oncologist manages my aspirin regimen. 81mg per day, I take it in the morning. Even at this low level, I would talk to a Doctor before starting the aspirin regimen.

Exaussie, - Aspirin is believed to suppress an enzyme associated with CRC. Randomized trials, which are the gold standard for gauging effectiveness have not been accomplished but my Oncologist has an open mind and told me he would manage that treatment for me.

[GrouseMan]

My wife takes Cimetidine 200mg 4 times a day. Usually with meals. She has had no stomach upset so far as I know, and isn't using any anti-nausea drugs any more. She is on maintenance chemo, of 5-FU, Lecovorin, and Avastin once every three weeks. I would rather it were a total of 1200mg but I at least talked her into this much. We think it's helping, so far, and although her oncologist is not convinced by the published trial data for this, he doesn't think it will hurt, and might possibly help, since there is a lot of incidental evidence suggesting for some it does help, though they don't know exactly how or why. So he hasn't forbidden her to take it. I have asked a couple of times about using Celibrex or low dose Aspirin, but he isn't on board with those. I research these things pretty carefully as I was formerly an anticancer drug discovery scientist.

The studies I have read are older ones, and usually people were taking up to 1600 mg long term. 800 mg was I believe to be the median dose, and what we settled on to try. Like I said, I think it's helping, she is currently stable on what is a very tolerable maintenance therapy. With the exception of the treatment week, where she has a lot of fatigue. The rest of the time she is pretty normal. She has actually started to train for a race again, though now a 5k rather than a marathon as she was doing prior to dx.

But as with anything having to do with drugs be careful. Everyone reacts to them differently. Other supplements I have very little faith that they even contain enough of the active components that are proported to be active against cancer. So I won't waste money on those.

Regards
GrouseMan

[Cherie]

I take 100mg a day only because my oncologist wants me to. Why? I have no idea.