Guest guest Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I was informed recently by a fellow lister that her doctor told her not to take vitamins during her F/R treatment. Has anyone else been told or know anything about this issue, during F/R or any other treatment? Thanks, Karni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 There are a lot of different opinions regarding this. The concern has always been that the vitamins will protect the cancer cells from the chemotherapy. It is important to remember that this is all theoretical, and not anything ever proven clinically. There were even reports published in the 1950s that CLL cells accumulated vitamin C. One thing to remember regarding this is that we do not know whether the vitamin C (or others) will help or hurt the cancer cell. We actually use vitamin C in association with arsenic trioxide to treat other lymphomas and leukemias. The other thing to remember is that being able to tolerate and receive the therapy has been proven to be of the utmost importance in receiving the maximum benefit from chemotherapy. There is, in all likelihood, going to be a benefit in terms of marrow recovery, decreased mucositis, etc in patients who are well nourished and take vitamins. With all this in mind, I advise my patients to not take " mega " doses of vitamins or supplements, but take a standard " one-a-day " multi- vtiamin and a well-rounded, balanced diet. Rick Furman, MD > > I was informed recently by a fellow lister that her doctor told her not to > take vitamins during her F/R treatment. Has anyone else been told or know > anything about this issue, during F/R or any other treatment? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Karni > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Dr. Furman, Thank you for your response. Regarding your statement, “It is important to remember that this is all theoretical, and not anything ever proven clinically,” it might be of interest to note that, at least in my case, taking vitamins didn’t seem to dull the effectiveness of chemo (F/R), since my counts went from 140K to under 3K as a result of the first round. I’m guessing that the fact that my lymphs were apparently all circulating and not squirreled away anywhere made them more accessible and possibly vulnerable, though of course, there may be other variables at work. I’m continuing with multi-vitamins. Thank you, Karni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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