Question about herbals vs Rx for pain relief

I'm currently on valium as a muscle relaxer (muscle spasms in my neck causing headaches) and vicodin (muscle/bone pain from treatments). I'm not currently on chemo; I am on Herceptin and Zometa.

My question is has anyone used Arnica for pain relief and/or Valerian as a muscle relaxer (I guess you can use as a sleep aid as well) and how did it work vs Rx muscle relaxers and pain pills.

My Mom gave me some Valerian today and rubbed some Arnica gel on my back after my entire back went into spasm (from chasing my 2 year old down a hall way at school...). It gave me about 2 hours of relief; but I also didn't have the spacy side effect (although I was quite relaxed). So I don't know if I was taking it in large quantities if it would give the same level of relief as the Rx drugs without the side effects? Of course there is also the issue of whether or not the oncologlist will ok it as safe with my treatment meds!

THANKS

Jessi

6/9/06 - biopsy positive for cancer
6/23/06 - DIAGNOSIS: stage IV (T4d N2 M1) invasive ductile carcinoma NOS with bone and liver mets; 17 cm mass (primary tumors), inflammatory breast cancer(IBC); HER2/neu+, HR-
6/26/06-12/11/06 - Chemo FEC/Taxol w/Herceptin & Aredia
12/20/06 - right modified radical mastectomy, 7 of 13 removed nodes showed evidence of prior disease
12/21/06 - No Evidence of Disease (stage IV/NED); complete remission
2/6/07-3/22/07-Radiation 28+5 boost, 6040cGy.
CURRENT: Still NED, taking Herceptin and Zometa without end. Heart and kidney function remains normal.

Funny thing, some chemo's actually are "herbal"; one that I took Taxol is made from tree bark! So yeah, herbals are drugs they just aren't regulated! A good point my kid's peditrician made is that the dosaging isn't the same from bottle to bottle because they are "dosed" based on volume and the plants potency can be stronger or weaker based on environmental factors (sunlight, water, soil quality, ...) so you don't really know how much of the "medicine" part you are getting. It's too bad there isn't some sort of certification program in the states on herbals so we have a specialist to help work with the doctors on combining the use of perscriptions with herbals!

THANKS

Hugs

Jessi

6/9/06 - biopsy positive for cancer
6/23/06 - DIAGNOSIS: stage IV (T4d N2 M1) invasive ductile carcinoma NOS with bone and liver mets; 17 cm mass (primary tumors), inflammatory breast cancer(IBC); HER2/neu+, HR-
6/26/06-12/11/06 - Chemo FEC/Taxol w/Herceptin & Aredia
12/20/06 - right modified radical mastectomy, 7 of 13 removed nodes showed evidence of prior disease
12/21/06 - No Evidence of Disease (stage IV/NED); complete remission
2/6/07-3/22/07-Radiation 28+5 boost, 6040cGy.
CURRENT: Still NED, taking Herceptin and Zometa without end. Heart and kidney function remains normal.

You're so right about the potency of herbals can be different due to different plants from different regions, and regulation has been a big issue that the herbal companies have been fighting against. Many people use herbals and rely on them (my friend does)so I wish the potency issue could be resolved.

I think you have a great idea of a certification program for mixing herbals and prescriptions.

Take care and hugs.

Post edited by: Suz, at: 04/09/2008 11:50