Has anyone had experience of Avastin?

[Sally-r-abcd]

Hi, Has anyone been given Avastin? My Oncologist has said I should have it, and is just checking whether or not it will be funded. I just wanted to know if anyone has had any experience of it, and whether or not it had any side effects. Sally XX

[Hidden]

Hi Sally,

I've just spent 2 train journeys (to see the tennis semi-finals at Queen's club- brilliantly played, Andy Murray and James Ward)re-reading Servan-Schrieber's 'Anticancer'. He refers to Avastin several times and (if I've understood correctly), it's a drug that has a certain amount of success in decreasing the inflammatory reaction that tumours set up, and starving them of blood. Interestingly; one of the most potent anti-inflammatory foods we can take ad lib is turmeric which needs to be mixed with ground pepper to help it be absorbed, so if you need avastin, you might find that adding turmeric, pepper to organic olive oil and using it to flash fry some broccoli, garlic and other fresh veg, will help you respond to the chemo as required!

I have had turmeric in this way (in veg curries, etc) most days since diagnosis, and so far so good. Sorry - don't know anything 'conventional', but I thought I'd share this.

Love,

Isadora.

[Sally-r-abcd]

Hi,

Thanks for that. One drawback is I can't stand curry, and pepper in excess doesn't agree with me, but I have found some turmeric supplements that should work!!

Take care, Love Sally XX

[jape]

My herbalist friend advised me to take turmeric and it is cheaper to buy powdered turmeric and fill the capsules yourself (Tesco sell big bags of it for under £2) You can buy vegicaps on ebay. The first time I did this I didn't wear plastic gloves - big mistake as I looked like a 100 cigs a day smoker - it stained my t shirt too. My CA125 was 259 8 weeks ago and it has now gone down to 195, don't know if it is the turmeric or just a blip ??

[jape]

Had hoped that the turmeric was helping my CA125 decline from 259 to 195 but now my CA125 is up to 336 so it was just a blip. I am now left thinking 'why bother' with the turmeric and other supplements ? I suppose I am feeling quite fed up at the moment as I know another round of chemo is just around the corner.

[Sally-r-abcd in reply to jape]

Thanks for that. I've started taking it anyway, as I thought it wouldn't do me any harm.

Hope all is well with you after your chemo.

Sally XX

[gmsk]

Yes I had avastin. My private healthcare provider approved it. It worked initially and ca125 reduced, then it stabilised for a while, then slowly started going up so we stopped. It's definitely worth giving it a go. I got one horrible side effect from it.....my ankles and Achilles got very stiff and I could hardly walk! I'm 48 and felt 100! Good luck xxx

[Sally-r-abcd]

Thanks for that. I have started it, and had my third dose on Monday. I seem to have got off lightly, my sickness has got worse, but that may have been the chemo anyway, and I already get painful legs from the chemo, and they don't seem to have got worse.

Take care, and hope all goes well.

Sally XX