Saturday, 14 January 2017

Start DCA while on dex?

So, I have DCA in the freezer, ready to use.
Bought from PureDCA.com.
They recomended  600mg dca + 375mg of thiamin TWICE daily for 80kg man. My husband now is 84.6 kg.
Not sure if he can start DCA (sodium version) if he is on 7mg of dexamethasone and thus should have low sodium diet.
He currently does not have any treatment. 
Last DC vaccine was on 31st November 2016. 
SPMF treatment ended on 12th October. Were told that therapy 'lasts' for another three months (forgive me my imperfect English).

Current drugs:
Dexamethasone 4-3-0 (mg)
Omeprazole 200-0-0
Levetiracetam 750 mg1-0-1 
Endoxan 50 mg1-0-0 (cyclophosphamide)
MGN-3 1000 mg1-1-1 (shitake powder)
Rytmonorm SR 325 mg1-0-1 (propafenonum for heart)

Supplements:
Vitamin D 5000 UI0-1-0
Vitamin C 1000 mg0-1-0
Caltrate Plus0-0-2 (calcium)
Magne B61-0-1 (magnesium)
MarineOmega1-0-1 (omega 3)
LifePak1/2-0-1/2 (multivitamine)
Cordyceps2-0-2
Reishi 

We also plan to start applying 25% DMSO gel from Jacobs labs topically on his head.
(We hope to decrease his significant edema in the brain.)

Any advice on DCA start/not to start/when will be much appreciated.

Husband has all kinds of side effects from dex. Started higher doses on September. Moon face, insomnia, big abdomen, myopathy, osteopenia...

God bless,
Hana

7 comments:

  1. Hi Hana,
    The minimum human daily requirement for sodium is 500 mg and a low sodium diet should include no more than about 2000 mg.

    Sodium makes up only 15% of the weight of sodium DCA, so a daily dose of 1200 mg of sodium DCA would only contain 180 mg of sodium. This 180 mg is 36% of the minimum daily requirement or 9% of the 2000 mg sodium target for a low sodium diet. Therefore, as long as he is limiting salt intake in his diet, it would still be possible to meet the requirements for a low sodium diet while taking sodium DCA.

    600 mg of sodium DCA twice daily for an 80 kg human equates to 7.5 mg/kg twice daily. This is a medium dose, but probably enough to cause side effects like peripheral neuropathy after a few weeks or months in someone who is a slow metabolizer of DCA (it's very difficult/impossible to predict in advance whether someone is a slow or fast metabolizer of DCA without genetic testing). The purpose of the thiamine is to limit such potential side-effects (this was shown to prevent such side effects in rodent studies, but hasn't really been scientifically validated in humans). Any pain or tingling or numbness in the extremities after a while on DCA are probably a sign the dose is too high for that individual.

    See a more detailed overview here:
    http://medicorcancer.com/dca-dichloroacetate-frequently-asked-questions/

    Drugs and supplements that could alleviate cerebral edema (swelling) caused by brain tumors and possibly allow a reduction in the dose of dex include Boswellia [human studies], COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex [rodent studies], the -sartan class of drugs such as telmisartan [human studies], and metformin [rodent studies].

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  2. Thank you Stephen for such a detailed response.
    He was taking Boswellia before. He did not like his capsules so I ordered powder. Then his stomach was irritated. So I need to look for other Boswellia capsules.

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  3. Hana, maybe try melatonin with insomnia? for my husband is better to take dex once a day in the morning to avoid problems with falling asleep ( my husband has 8 mg in the morning). To avoid problems with digestion, we use enzymes, probiotics, choleretic herbs (dandelion, burdock root, corn silk), and my husband takes milk thistle to support liver. With osteopenia you can take a look at vitamin k2.Vitamin K2 is responsible for proper distribution of calcium in the body. Nettle contains a lot of this vitamin. But we must be careful with the platelets, it can increase their number.

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  4. Thank you Tatiana,
    he did have melatonin before as it fights glioma cancer cells and is also very good antioxidant.
    It did not help with insomnia.And from some time he did not want to take it.
    Thank you for other suggestions. I will have a look.

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  5. Tatiana, let me ask:
    Your husband did not take whole dex daily dose in the morning before? And he slept not good?
    And since he started to take daily dose in the morning, his sleep improved?
    Thinking about doing the same.

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  6. Hana, if my husband has dex twice a day, he has behavior problems and he cant sleep long time, maximum 2-4 hours and after 2-3 hours he cant sleep. If he takes dex in the morning whole doze, he has 6-9 hours of sleeping in the night and he had no some problems with behavior ( emotion control). It was a recommendation of his chemotherapist. As for melatonin - it is possible to try increase to 20-30 mg in the bed right before to asleep. For my husband 10 mg is anough. Also you can try give him magnesium in the evening ( it helps relax), but in this case without vitamin b6, it can brace.

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  7. THC oil can help with sleeping. I take 2-3 pumps of the level 6 Rick Simpson method (RSM) oil and it knocks me out in about 2-3 hours. Then I sleep for about 10 hours.

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