European Milk Thistle, Does anyone use this?

[SuppWife]

Does anyone use this and if so would you share your dosage/protocol?

[SuppWife]

Thank you so much!

[jdm3 in reply to SuppWife]

FYI, I don't know if this is relevant to your situation, but my naturopathic oncologist recommended no milk thistle when I started Zytiga because it may interfere with liver metabolism of the meds.

[pjoshea13 in reply to jdm3]

Something I posted a year ago:

-Patrick

I haven't heard that milk thistle is a CYP inhibitor.

"Cytochrome P450 Isozymes

"Studies of milk thistle coadministered with various drugs in humans suggest it is unlikely to affect the most common cytochrome, the P450 (CYP450) isozyme. In a pharmacokinetic study, 9 healthy subjects were given 4 probe drugs—caffeine, tolbutamide, dextromethorphan, and midazolam— to test for the effect of milk thistle on CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4.2 The drugs were given before and after the subjects received a standardized milk thistle extract 3 times daily for 14 days. Milk thistle had no effect on any of the drugs."

pharmacytimes.com/publicati...

On the other hand, the Mayo is cautious:

"Milk thistle may interfere with the way the body processes certain drugs using the liver's "cytochrome P450" enzyme system."

mayoclinic.org/drugs-supple...

-Patrick

[SuppWife in reply to jdm3]

Thank you. My husband's only therapy right now is Firmagon.

[pjoshea13]

I also use the LEF product.

Partly for my liver; partly for PCa.

-Patrick

[SuppWife in reply to pjoshea13]

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it!

[johnscats]

Hi I saw a posting about milk thistle from malcare he also added several other supplements such as 4MU I was thinking of adding these to my treatment trying to find out will thier be a problem mixing rso oil with these new suppliments best of luck j

[SuppWife in reply to johnscats]

My husband uses 5 mg 3x a day of Modified Citrus Pectin (15g daily) on an empty stomach, 4 grams twice a day of IP6 (8g daily) on an empty stomach (empty stomach = 2 hours after or 30 minutes before eating), plus 120 mg CoQ10, a lot of Vitamin D3, a little K2, plus a couple of capsules of Real Mushrooms / 5 Defenders. He and I both use CBD oil every night for sleep but I'm not sure how much we're using. The oil we use is 35% CBD and comes in a syringe in a pasty oil. I order it online. It's wonderful for sleep. After reading about anti-oxidants being contraindicated with a diagnosis of cancer I stopped some of the things he was taking and stuck with the ones (MCP and IP6) that were the most interesting/showed the most promise and had no side effects. He was taking quercetin, grape seed oil, alpha lipoic acid, and turmeric, too. We stopped the turmeric when he was taking the alpha lipoic acid because I believe they're contraindicated, but we never started the turmeric again after stopping the ALA. He's being very faithful to the current protocol outlined above, but we're always tweaking and interested in adding the most beneficial elements and I really appreciate the input of people like pjoshea13 and Nalakrats and a couple of others here who use complementary and supplementary treatments. That's why I'm interested in introducing European Milk Thistle, which I'm sure I saw first on this site. The doses are the hardest thing to figure out.

[Kevinski65 in reply to SuppWife]

I've taken milk thistle for quite a spell. My MO said she couldn't comment about herbs. This was at Beth Israel in Boston. Later I found a paper she wrote a paper on milk thistle ( at Cornell) while she was in medical school of the promising reaction milk thistle had on cancer cells and nude mice. I think allopathic doctors have to stay silent on vitamins , herbs, and minerals. I'm 6 years out with Lupron and Xtandi. Xtandi added after 3 years on Lupron. PSA was 31 , Gleason 9, doubling every 5 months. PSA is now .02, 🐈 scan, PET scan, and Bone scan all clear of cancer. I did have bone mets(3). I'm stage 4, M1. I always have 2 or 3 herbs going. Currently Zyflamend, tumeric, and Mexican oregano. Good luck everyone!

[SuppWife in reply to Kevinski65]

Wow, Kevin! That's fascinating! I just hope one day all our supplements aren't classified as drugs and regulated and overpriced. I'm also so thrilled by your story and progress! My husband (65) is also G9, big prostate (88 grams), lots of positive margins and extensive EPE, but no known mets (pt3b M0 N0). He had surgery in April 2018 after complete loss of ability to void in late February...ER visit, catheterization, then gallbladder attack/surgery in March the weekend before scheduled biopsy, which delayed the biopsy and subsequent prostatectomy. It was a tough spring. PSA was 34 (measured in Feb), but 6 weeks post surgery PSA was still 17, then two months later 22. Firmagon took it to .66 in 30 days (testosterone went from 634 to 22.5). RO recommended no radiation because he said there's a good chance it's somewhere else and he doesn't want to do more damage than good. My husband's health is otherwise excellent except for chronic constipation and persistent incontinence from the surgery, complicated by pelvic floor dysfunction/proctalgia fugax/levator ani diagnosed about six weeks after surgery (right side very focused pelvic pain (extending to right testicle) and spasms), which dramatically improved when the Firmagon was started...nobody seems to think it's connected to the PC, but we wonder). He's also getting PT for the pelvic floor issues and they're starting to focus more on the incontinence. That's what is the most troubling (and limiting) to him. He's doing well with the side effects of the Firmagon so far. He's had two Firmagon treatments and that was started 7 1/2 weeks ago. He's having some hot flashes which are annoying, and some loss of energy, but he's working hard to fight it. Thanks for sharing your story and info about your doctor. It's cathartic to share my husband's (our) story and I really appreciate the supplement discussion.