Pills, cures, depression, anxiety, cancer - was: I need reasonably priced source of Cialis

[Guest guest]

Tom wrote:

> ... I am taking mega this and that and I am not sure if

> they are effective and of course my digestive system seems to

> be effected by the number of pills I take.

Tom,

It may not be the number of pills, it may be one particular pill.

I suggest you cut out one pill for a few days, then try a

different one, and so on, to see if you can find one that's

causing a problem for you. If you do find one, you might do well

to cut the dosage or cut it out altogether.

I found that a green tea extract that I was taking was upsetting

my stomach. I decide I would live without that.

> No one wants to help me define cure. Ok cure is undetectable

> PSA in they system for five years. I do not like this

> definition because selfishly I am not likely to live that long

> and two I was undetectable for 6 years after my prostectomy and

> it then reoccurred. Please refine and comment. I have decided I

> will pursue that goal for my son and grandson-a prize for the

> cure. I think that it will be possible to get enough to make it

> tempting to find as cure. Only I want to start now. So guys you

> have been at this longer than me and are scientist. Please

> refine even if it is not as complete as you would like.

I think what's happening is that some scientist will discover an

interesting new fact about prostate cancer. Perhaps it utilizes

a particular hormone, or it has a hormone binding site that can

be fooled by a molecule like abiraterone, or it has a chain of

several unique molecules in its reproduction pathway that might

be disrupted.

That leads the same or other scientists to wonder if there is a

way to use that new discovery to attack cancer cells. They think

it might possibly help, but they have no way of knowing, until

much more research is done, whether the approach they've taken

will produce life extension for some patients, for all patients,

be a complete cure, do nothing at all, or even do harm. So they

try to get a grant and do more research.

It's not that the researchers start out with the idea - " Let's

find a way to add two months to a cancer patient's life " , it's

that they have discovered something that might help and they want

to pursue it to find out whether and how much it might help.

Cancer is a vastly more complicated disease than, say, a

bacterial infection. It doesn't have a single cause. It doesn't

have a single pathogenic agent, like a particular strain of

bacteria, that you can completely wipe out, thereby curing the

patient. The disease comes from within, from the patient's own

cells, that start doing harmful things they don't normally do.

We know tremendously more about it now than we did 20 years ago,

and 20 years from now we'll know that much more again. But we

still only know a fraction of what we need to know in order to

fully understand it. It's going to take decades of additional

research - but we are making definite progress.

> PS Oh Alan you wrote a wonderful comment of encouragement to me

> when I first joined. I asked about assistance with the

> depression, anxiety, lack of sleep and no energy etc. I will

> see a psychiatrist on Feb 8. Tell what works for you please.

> Thanks this lupron started kicking my ass and I could not with

> it. I am using Sam e 400 x 4 is helping until I get to the

> psychiatrist. Help Allan please and others too/

Thank you for the kind words.

One thing I've noticed about you, and a great many others of the

people in this group, is that you don't just ask for help, you

try to offer help to others too. That's important, and it means

that, even though you may often feel depressed and anxious, you

haven't become totally self-absorbed. You still feel sympathy

for other people's pain. You still want to remain engaged with

life.

That seems to me to be a key to dealing with depression and

anxiety. Our biggest enemy is total self-absorption. Our

biggest friend is engagement with life. We need to continue to

care about others. We need to continue to take an interest in

others. We need to continue to take an interest in the things

that have interested us and that we cared about in the past -

friends, family, perhaps books, music, movies, food, photography,

dancing, volunteering, hobbies.

I remember a guy in another cancer group who loved cooking and

shared many of his favorite recipes with the group. He also

played the organ and found a way to play one in a church. I know

other guys that have always loved sports and they've continued to

workout and play handball or basketball, or golf, or just go for

walks if that's all that they could do. I'm sure that, like most

of us, those guys were depressed and anxious from time to time.

Everyone is. But they didn't let it rob them of the pleasures of

life.

I myself got interested in science. I had a liberal arts

education, studying philosophy, literature and history. Not long

after being treated for cancer, and very near age 60, I got

interested in biology and read a college textbook. Since then

I've read about a dozen serious textbooks in biology and

chemistry and learned a great deal. It's given me a new interest

in all kinds of things, including seeing cancer from a more

scientific perspective.

I don't want to urge you specifically to take up cooking, the

organ, basketball, golf, chemistry or biology. What I want you

to do is to think about activities that *you* like and renew your

interest in them. I want you to think about activities that

engage you, that involve you with other people, that have some

importance to you or to others.

At some point when we were children we all learned that we would

die some day. We all felt bad about it and didn't know what to

do. But most of us found that there were lots better things to

do in life than worry about dying. That fundamental truth that

we learned as children is just as true in our old age. There are

still lots better things to do than worry about dying. There's

still a lot of living to do and a lot to enjoy. I hope that if

and when I find out that I'm going to die the next day, I'll

still find something interesting and enjoyable and meaningful to

do in the day I have left.

When you see the psychiatrist, don't just get a prescription for

pills - though pills may help. See if he can talk to you about

how to find more interest in life. If he can't do that (many

psychiatrists today don't do " talk therapy " , they just write

prescriptions), ask if he can refer you to a social worker or

counselor, or support group that can do that, or find one on your

own. This group is pretty good for that sort of thing but a face

to face encounter could be even better.

Best of luck to you and to all who face these problems.

Alan