Essiac

[NICK THE BRIT]

Hi guys

Has anybody heard of or used Essiac before? Its a herbal tea which is meant to have many benefits. A friend of mine has gave me a load of literature on it. Just wondered if anyone had experienced it???

[missjv]

hi,
i have heard of it to but if your are on chemo or still being treated watch out with herbal stuff. memorial sloan kettering website has a great site for herbs and drug interactions with the herbs while on standard treatments.

missjv

[Guest]

Hi Missjv,

Does it effect the chemo them??

[missjv]

hi,
yes many herbs and too much vitamins can effect the chemotherapy drugs and cause them not to work correctly and make you feel sick. i worked for a doctor who at 32 was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to lymphs, she did chemo and added all sorts of herbs and extra vitamins on top of her chemo against doctors wishes and basically killed herself because cancer continued to spread because the high doses of herbs and vitamins basically made chemo worthless. i am all for natural stuff to a point. if plants cured or prevented diseases then modern medicine would not have been invented. now after chemo is through and body has had time to heal from chemo then supplementing with herbs and vitamins is good but you need to go to a person who is trained in the field to get correct doses cause alot of herbs can be toxic if not taken the right way. especially those of us with advanced cc we would not want to take herb supplements that could be toxic to liver if taken incorrectly. i hear of alot of people who just put themselves on herb and vitamin supplements which is a bad idea, you need help from a perfessional in that area.

[Guest]

doctors in traditional medicine are going to tell you only what they know to be true, which is what they were taught. they were taught about the big chemo drugs from the big pharmeuceutical companies, who by the way, have absolutely NO incentive to get people to take cheaper, easier herbal medications. i personally have been on essiac for several years now. the first year i had treatment, i didn't take anything except chemo. the next three years i have been on both traditional chemo and herbal medications, mainly essiac. Essiac might not cure cancer, but it sure does a lot to take away the horrible toxic way chemo leaves you feeling. there has been periods of time were i went off of essiac, and everytime, i can feel the difference. not immediately, but after a couple weeks, i can really start to feel worse. i do agree, you cannot overload your body with too much of anything, or you will feel the results. i would worry more about the toxic side effects of chemo, than i would the so-called toxic effects of herbs.

[missjv]

hi,
nothing wrong with essiac it is the combination of herbal supplments and chemo that can be harmful. i worked for a doctor who pretty much dug her own grave because she was on chemo and added a ridiculous amount of herbs and vitamins that it made the chemo pretty much useless and her cancer spread like crazy and she died from a cancer that was to start with stage 2 very good chance of being cured to stage 4 because she refused to listen to docs. her onco even told her it is one way or the other you cannot mix it up and she did several different herb and vitamin combos. i would just be careful i have heard alot of folks rave about essiac but everyones bodies are different it might not cause a problem mixing it in some people and in others it can be harmful.

missjv