In late 2016, my husband started to appear very sick. He was pale, puffy, short of breath, and extremely obese. Without really knowing what was going on and without health insurance, I feared that he was in really bad cardiovascular health. So, I started giving him kyolic garlic, omega 3s (DHA and EPA), curcumin 95, vitamin D, magnesium malate, vitamin C, and zinc with carnosine (though I discontinued that when we found out he was severely anemic because zinc can interfere with iron absorption, and then just giving him carnosine while we worked on his red blood cells), in addition to his usual Men's Total Health multivitamin (which is excellent although the formula was to be changed about a half year or so later). Kyolic garlic, omega 3s (DHA and EPA), curcumin, and vitamin D are anti-inflammatories. Magnesium is important to all cellular function. Vitamin C is an antioxidant. However, orally, greater than 1 gram of vitamin C becomes oxidative, so we stick to 500 mg/day.
In February 2017, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure which was caused by edema which was caused by anemia which was caused by the occult bleeding that had been going on in the colon cancer’s invasion of which he had been unaware. He was on the verge of having a massive coronary event and on the verge of death. Had he not gone to the hospital, I am certain he would have had a stroke. A CT scan done in the ER showed the primary tumor in his descending colon (radiologist missed a second tumor that was there at the transverse-ascending colon juncture). Now knowing that he was anemic and had colon cancer, I dropped the zinc (see above) and continued the carnosine. Carnosine helps with the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal system. His congestive heart failure cleared up and was resolved by the summer 2017.
I did some research and discovered scientific support for the use of cimetidine pre- and post- surgery for helping prevent metastatic spread. I got my husband’s doctor to prescribe 800 mg/day for him. It’s available over the counter as “Tagamet.” He has taken it since spring 2017.
I can’t really remember exactly what supplements he was taking between then and now, except that I added graviola and milk thistle extract to the mix. The only concern I had about that was the small chance of developing Parkinsons from long term use of graviola, so I gave him just one capsule a week. I dropped it after the bottle ran out a couple months ago. Milk thistle is known for its liver protective properties.
That brings us to the present. Presently, he takes Men's Total Health multivitamin, vitamin D 5000 iu, curcumin complex, zinc, decaffeinated green tea extract, echnicaea, milk thistle extract, magnesium taurate, modified cirtus pectin, and EFA & DHA.
PLUS, I recently added Life Extension Se-Methyl L-Selenocysteine, Natural Factors Dandelion Root Extract, Life Extension Optimized Quercetin, Jarrow Formulas OPCs Plus 95 Grape Seed Extract, and MAAC10 - Trans Resveratrol 500mg Very High Potency Formulation (99% Purified MICRONIZED Trans-Resveratrol Extract + BioPerine for Superior Absorption) (2x 250mg Capsules 60ct). These compounds are all components of Cellgevity which has scientific backing, although mega doses are to be taken with extreme caution.
I will be adding n-acetylcysteine as soon as it arrives. I placed an order yesterday. It’s a precursor to glutathione. Healthy cells are metabolized the “normal” way, e.g. using glutathione to produce ATP. I had previously given him straight glutathione in 2017 between his August 2017 colon surgery and fall 2017 chemo. But since then, I have read that direct glutathione supplementation is pretty much pointless, in the same way that folic acid supplementation is pointless for me. I have a heterozygous genetic disorder that makes me predisposed to hypercoagulation. Long story…
Lastly, I will be doubling his vitamin D dosage in about a week and will continue that for about a month post-surgery. There is plenty of scientific support for vitamin D supplementation in colon cancer patients and it is the one supplement recommended by NCCN guidelines. The reason I will double it to 10,000 iu is because this dosage is currently being studied at Dana Farber:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT ... =US&rank=1His first liver tumor, the one removed in January 2018, was rather quick growing at a rate of .5 cm per month. He had little opportunity for significant supplementation prior to that time due to chemo in fall 2017. This recurrence he currently has is slow growing and actually at bay. I credit the supplements for this as I can't see any other reason for it.
Hope this helps those people interested in supplementation.