Oncologist said I can eat whatever I want to eat.
My son said they will continue as is and won't give me the variety I'm seeking. They say all I have to do is go in my freezer and pick something else to defrost for the next day. I'm too sick to cook.
Resistance meet resistance! Here comes a heavy dose of depression I've never experienced before. That argument leaves me feeling weak.
Low income. Mature Adult. Can't buy food services.
Never wrote a negative post like this one.
Hi Marheart - it must be disheartening to want to try different foods with your illness but meeting resistance from family. I expect they see the certain diet you have been on has been successful as you may have had problems with some foods. May be the resistance is more a control response by someone. You are in a difficult position but may be it will be best to stick to the diet unless you can order items on line yourself.
There are some good psychological methods to try and break down the fear you may have encountered towards to foods and anxiety. It's great to know that you want to try different foods. May be with encouragement from your oncology team or nutritionist
linked to your personal history, you might get more support in writing. There is a good
website with different health food recipes, which make good reading and give ideas - it is
healthyeating.com, I think. The administrators are very supportive of people with all sorts of problems. Each step you make towards your own independence is to be admired
as coping with an illness is difficult.
Control? That's worth thinking about to figure out how to have our needs met.
Seems my small support group wants to control my eating.
Controlling the work it takes to provide the meals is a deep issue too.
One 30 something person out of the three does not work. She has plenty of time. Has Anxiety issues too. She is not a blood relative but offered to help.
And maybe my Control issues are pushing me to want to be in control of me and that can't be done without loads of money to order a delivery service with fresh foods.
Contacted close to 100 agencies in the past couple of years. The need is ever present to help ill people like me. More Grants are definitely needed to help a small Village of sick people.
Psych, Oncologist, Primary Care and Talk Therapist have run out of ideas.
Well if you are in the UK and over a certain age you can have meals on wheels. These are cheap and nutricious.
Or how about ordering online? Don't forget too that frozen veg is just as healthy as fresh.
To be honest though I wish I had family who cared enough to make meals for me.... x
USA getting less and less generous with mature people's needs.
We live in a disposable society. Don't fix when broken. Just replace it!
Even people aren't fully respected when their useful shelf lives begin to expire.
that is perfectly true regarding being past your sell by date and meals on wheels are Not that great gone downhill like everything else in the home-care department!
Hi Marheart - control over making your decisions over preparing and choosing food is an issue in your mental health. You have a lot of phobias related to food and your own ability to cook and prepare food which have been induced over a period of anxiety linked to your illness. Expect you feel better after the fluid has been removed from your abdomen. Cognitive behavioural therapy should be available under your healthcare provider. You have many phobias which lead to automatic negative thoughts. How behaviour therapy can help with phobias can be found -
verywellmind.com/therapy-op... phobias.
What you need to know is why the fluid is building up in your abdomen.
Has any one explained to you why this happening? You might ask for progesterone and oestrogen tests as this could be to do with female hormone imbalance.
If you cannot take a diuretic the swelling will increase the swelling in your abdomen.
If the swelling is due to progesterone deficiency with cysts on the ovaries this could well explain if hormone balance is linked to your illness or due to a natural hormone imbalance which has contributed to your illness. I would think you should ask your health care provider about your hormone levels as part of the health plan available to you. Information on a rising your progesterone balance found in foods and reducing oestrogen dominance, can be found on some websites. Will send them if you want links. Interesting post - thanks for it as it has helped me and other women who have similar problems. I take diuretics and it has helped my health tremendously.
Taking BP meds and they do help, especially with the White Coat Syndrome!
Have to find something like a lotion instead of something to ingest. Every new med. in the past 4 yrs. has made me sick.
Can't figure out how a lotion will tell the Anxiety/Panic/Depression Beasts to go away. However, essential oils were suggested.
House smells lovely with lavender oil in the air. Helping to calm me down? Don't think so. Don't know.
There are patches which can help - they are slow release and can stay on for a week. Are you thinking of oils to calm? Lavender oil can be infused but is not recommended for use on the skin if you have cancer. Lavender pillows are great-
Coconut oil and olive oil can be rubbed into the skin so you may find these can help
anxiety and depression. Will try and find some calming patches!
Please send info. for topical helpers for the anxiety/panic/depression.
I'm in the USA.
I can give you links for anxiety patches on Amazon.com but you have to pay for them. The essential oils such as chamomile oil will do the same. You can rub it round your knee caps and down your legs, to get the benefits. I used to do aromatherapy with massage, and the oils can penetrate the skin and get into your system. Lavender is very soothing but not recommended for aromatherapy massage with cancer. There is a new patch for depression Emsam which can be prescribed but a small amount of people can have allergic responses. with Gleevec. Propanalol is used for anxiety and blood pressure and think you can get it in patches with prescription. Another oil which can help with tension and depression is black seed oil but it is made from a hot peppery substance and again might have a reaction. I am wary of certain products but lemonbalm oil can help with passionflower. Valerian is great as a lift tonic.
Redicalm is a natural product but is not used by prescription. Will look up some
valerian lotion or cream which might help.
Will send any info soon. Have to check essential oils with your medication.
Health Insur. will cover the cost of the patch, not the oils. Dr. is not allowed to recommend non-script products. I take 1/2 of the lowest dose of Valium as needed, no more than every 4 hrs. Sensitive me!!!! Main area of concentration for me is now the Anxiety/Panic/Depression so I can deal with the Cancer, ETC.
An article "Has anyone tried MAOI (Emsam)patches for depression
what was your experience might be useful.
reddit.com/r/depression comments.
You could take the propanalol patch and the Ensam patch together.
The propanalol patch will give you 24 hours of slow release which might help.
As you are sensitive to substances, and may be food interactions you could check
about grapefruit and citric fruit. According to Drugs.com these might be avoided as they increase the level of the drug in the blood. This might not be a bad think as you are taking such a small dose. You must ask your oncologist about Ensam.
The grapefruit enzyme is the same as that found in your drug. This might lead you to think that a grapefruit diet on its own would help cancer.
If you stick to a diet without the monooxidase inhibitors you will be ok but there is always a small chance of adverse reactions. Think cheese and dairy are some of the foods you have to omit.
The gist article is well worth reading as it gives a positive response to the drugs you are on as does the article on Emsam which highlights the benefits. It helps to chat to people who have had similar experiences and are on the drug. It might be a useful post to ask if anyone has been on the same drug and has it helped. Toorah.
LDN and cancer is used for depression as well as for many types of cancer.
The drug is Naltrexone. It is used in low doses and can be used for two days and then a gap of two days, - the bad cells die, and it is used for mental health problems. I would ask your specialist if this can be combined with your current drug. It can be used with other drugs - but your specialist will help.
Essential oils which can calm you are chamomile - roman chamomile is recommended. Chamomile tea is recommended too. Other oils which can actually help cancer are rosemary oil for colon breast liver and stomach. Results from oregano oil show it helps skin and breast cancer - thyme oil can help breast lung and prostate cancer. Coconut oil cream can be found at I herb and in your local store. Couldn't find any patches.
Wishing you a happy Easter - may be Propanalol pattches will give you 24 hour cover instead of the tablets? Have been chatting to an expert in psychology courses. She recommends Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for anxiety and depression.
Information can be found from psychologytoday.com
(The Seleni Institute 5 ways to stop your racing thoughts.)
healthline.com//racing thoughts
& ( OCD Bipolar and agitation and depression)
How to reduce thoughts at night due to insomnia.
Guided imagery is a technique you can look up to make you associate with
images which are safe and calm.
Hope you can ask your health team for a specialist course in cognitive behaviour therapy as your health provider should be able to refer you to one under your health care scheme. Have fun with family. Thinking of you.
Absolutely recommend therapy for anyone with anxiety issues.
Meds help most people. For 4+ yrs. they have all made me sick, so I'm going it with only half of the recommended components to CBT.
That's why I'm searching for an external way of getting the medicine so it doesn't have to pass thru the Gastro Cancer.
Yes, control is important when you feel it is dissolving. When you feel this way, try to think of the first thought that brings you to the present moment and consider what is the first thought you come to that will help you gain the control you need. Try not to judge it, just listen to your inner voice (thought). It has all the answers, but we judge it without trying to figure out what is being said.
Hi Marheart.
Both coconut oil and olive oil can help with cancer and immune system.
Recommendations for coconut oil is to take 2 tablespoons a day - but as you
like small doses then you could halve it.
Websites which give information for anxiety and depression for use of these two products which can be bought in a grocery store are invaluable for your health.
healthline.com/nutrition/to...
dherbs.com/articles/does-co...
Think you will be pleased to see the advantages for health and moods with these two foods.
Hi Marheart - Amazon.com list some anti anxiety patches. They are Via ant stress patches
which contain valerian and passionflower. Valerian may react with your Buspar and Valium. If you were to ask your oncologist or nurse about these patches it might help.
The Emsam patches might be recommended by your oncologist but there are side effects in using these patches with the Gleevo in a few people.
From personal experience I found a low dose of Stemetil helpful. 25gm. Stemetil is used as a travel aid and for anxiety. Higher doses are used for severe anxiety. If I were you I would ask if you could change the Valium and Buspar and try Stemetil which may make you feel better. You can get this through your health care provider.
I found Stemetil helped an inner ear condition relaxing the nerve where I lost my balance.
25mg was very effective.
The essential oils rosemary, chamomile, in particular may be helpful to rub on your skin to calm you down. There are cosmetics with chamomile and lotions too. There is a product made from essential oils on Amazon.com called Calm Balm but it is on the UK website.
Passion flower and valerian tablets can be bought online but your chemist might have these cheaper.
If you have a chemist or online US cosmetics or online pharmacies you may be able to find these in different forms. We have cheaper ranges of preparations such as Nivea and Dove
which might have some of these in lotion form.
You were right about bacon and cured foods and some processed hams red meat and lamb. Egg too can be a culprit for cancer. There are articles about the risk of certain foods such as those listed above. Do you think you can find the information through asking about bacon ham egg red meat being linked to cancer, and then send the page by email to your family or show them the info on line so they might reconsider your meals? Your family seem to be helping, but now you are needing to screen out certain foods and add different ones within your budget.
gistsupport.org/gsi-communi...
is an ace site explaining how to take Gleevec with food to lessen side effects. It suggests most people are on 400 gram doses but these can be split into 100mg and taken throughout the day. Hope the lavender smell is helping to calm you. I am looking at other information on food which increases your serotonin and Gaba balance which may help calm your nervous system. The patches for anxiety Via don't have any interaction with
Gleevec but if you want to stop your meds you have to do this carefully or you can get withdrawal symptoms. If you are under your psychiatrist/doctor then you may have to ask
if it is safe to take the patches with your current Buspar and Valium.
This site gives us the opportunity to journal our feelings then look back and see how things have changed in days, weeks and months.
Anxiety & depression 
Depression and Anxiety
Anxiety and depression 
Anxiety and depression
