Immune system

[Euebdbdbddh]

Hi , what do you drink or eat to boost your immune system please ?

[Hidden]

Hi!

I make sure I eat a healthy diet year round, with lots of fruit and vegetables (salads, steamed vegetables, especially greens like spinach, broccoli, peas etc). I also eat fruit with every meal, starting with around 3 pieces of fruit at breakfast, a couple of pieces at lunchtime and teatime, and fruit for snacks in between if I am still hungry. When the weather starts to cool off, I eat lots of homemade soups and other "comfort" foods to keep me warm and to hopefully ward off the bugs. I also make sure I get a flu jab every year. I also drink 3 litres of water each day and I try to drink more herbal teas than black tea. If I feel a sniffle coming on, I add lemon and honey to my tea and a few drops of whiskey.

Are you having chemotherapy? If so, you might want to talk to your oncologist or oncology nurses and ask for any special tips they would recommend to help boost your immune system. One of my friends who has had Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma recommends buying a thermometer to check your temperature. Whenever hers was raised, she would be admitted to hospital and then given antibiotics if she had come down with something. That way she would be quickly treated before her condition worsened.

All the best,

Sophie x

[Crazydentist in reply to Hidden]

Hi Sophie

That’s interesting re flu jab as I was going to ask my oncologist whether I ought to consider having this as on Ibrance and letrazole combo

Never had a flu jab and never had flu either..I guess low white cells may change the plan ..confused whether would react to the jab and be poorly or risk getting flu and getting really ill??

Barb xx

[Hidden in reply to Crazydentist]

Hi Barb,

I've never had the flu either, whether that's because I've always been conscientious about getting the flu jab, or being healthy up until my diagnosis, I don't know. Some years I was given the nasal flu vaccine, so I am going to check this year if I should get that or the injection. I'm planning to have it, as I don't want to risk getting sick.

Sophie x

[Hidden in reply to Crazydentist]

P.S. I take Letrozole too, but not Ibrance.

[Crazydentist in reply to Hidden]

Hi

Yes it’s the Ibrance that messes up the bone marrow

Barb xx

[Hidden in reply to Crazydentist]

Oh, OK. I see. It's best to check with your oncologist then.

Sophie x

[Teddielottie in reply to Crazydentist]

Hi Barb, I had my first flu jab last year just before starting ibrance /Letrozole and I am booked in again next week ( on my week off of ibrance). Whether it was just luck or the vaccine , I didn’t catch a cold last winter (even when my husband and daughter had several) and I have never had flu . I was careful too with avoiding crowded places in flu season and ultra cautious with hand washing hygiene etc x

[Crazydentist in reply to Teddielottie]

Hi

I’ll ask advice about it then

I must say I’m not obsessive about hygiene..Lucky so far not caught anything nasty..obviously kitchen hygiene is important but having worked close to people in my job and messing around with animals I hope I have a good immune system

Barb xx

[blms in reply to Crazydentist]

I never really take flu shots but my onco has me take one in December before Ibrance. Haven’t asked this year yet!

[Bobbie86]

Hi my Mum has Apple and ginger shot that I batch make and freeze, she puts it in a cup of boiling water with a spoonful of lifemel honey. We also eat a lot of greens, broccoli and spinach & beans are good. She has quite a healthy diet and eats fruit also and a few treats aswel and her immune system has got better when we have upped the greens and immune boosting foods. X

[blms in reply to Bobbie86]

A big part of the answer for us, I believe

[Dianne417]

Hi, Euebdbdbddh! I would recommend getting some version of the flu shot. Ibrance leaves you immunosuppressed and much more vulnerable to infection, because of the drop in your white blood cells. You want to do everything you can to head that off at the pass.

I never used to get the flu shot, either, but now my PCP insists that I have one each year. The risks are far less in getting the shot than they would be from getting the flu.

[Sjjohnson52]

Hello! In addition to the fruits and veggies, I also take black oil seed pills which are supposed to boost your immune system. So far so good. I have been taking letrozole and ibrance since May.

[JoyBe]

I've been on Ibrance and Letrozole since April. I started taking a Propolis 1,000 cap daily. I started tasking it on a New Moon, since it's my understanding it's the best time to start something new if you want success.

1. healthline.com/health/propo...

2. here's where I first discovered the benefits : greenmedinfo.com/blog/7-hea...

I don't take the flu shot. I had it once and had terrible side effects and will never take it again.

I haven't been sick for years and since starting the Propolis my WBC has never been low enough for a Filgrastim shot.

The healthy diet suggestions are critical well.

Interesting information on those 2 websites above.

[PJBinMI]

At the most recent bc conferences I've attended, several onc speakers mentioned the role that inflammation plays in cancer. My primary care doctor had recently recommended that I use fish oil, tart cherry juice, turmeric (aka curcumin, the spice) and glucosamine chondrotin to lessen inflammation in a joint I had previously fractured. I could see a noticeable difference in less than two days just using the turmeric and cherry juice. I use all four episodically now. My onc oked all those but I have a hard time remembering them. I buy tart cherry juice at the grocery store, It is very tart and I generally mix it with a sweeter juice, like OJ--it looks awful but tastes good.

[Barbteeth in reply to PJBinMI]

Hi

Glad I read that your oncologist recommends turmeric as I’ve read conflicting opinions on this

Do you have er+ mbc? I do and even before diagnosed with mbc I was taking daily turmeric for back pain/inflammation

Barb xx

[PJBinMI in reply to Barbteeth]

IT was not my onc who recommended turmeric--it was my primary care doctor. My onc oked it along with the other recommendations from the other doctor. I do have an E + her2neu - cancer, but I don't that that makes any difference as far as combating inflammation goes.

[blms]

Thanks, I'll wait until then or until my immune boosts back up.

[Hidden]

Thanks for the advice. I called the immunisation department today and it will be a fortnight before the flu vaccine is available. When it is, I plan to go get it. I don't mind getting the jab, rather than the nasal spray, this year or from now on. My immune system is not compromised, as I am not having chemotherapy, but I will find out what I need to do.

Thanks again,

Sophie

[blms]

Where the Possible problem comes in is not with the Tumeric itself but what could be additionally put in tablets that you take. So try to get the cleanedt form possible. Or make yourself some golden milk. I don’t like the golden milk is much is I make a version of golden tea.