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Living with Multiple Myeloma in Hyderabad , India . Random musings .

Tag Archives: ayurveda


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My Diet on fasting and non-fasting days

I am sincerely following the advise of my ayurvedic doctor since last 6 months.
It is now time to change my diet and incorporate ‘Fasting’ along with his medication.

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Diet prescribed by my Ayurvedic doctor for 2 weeks is as follows :

Monday,Friday : Fasting ( I can eat 2 or 3 fruits maximum during the day if feeling very hungry , I can have tea 2 or 3 times. For dinner I can have vegetable soup )
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
Breakfast : idli/dosa/upma with 2 egg whites
Lunch : rotis made of jowar/Bajra/Ragi flour with vegetable curry and Dal
Snacks during Tea time : dry fruits/fruit/poha with tea
Dinner : vegetable soup and kichdi (moong dal) before 8 pm and papaya along with a few black raisins before sleeping.

Following foods to be avoided :
-white polished rice
-curd at night (butermilk is allowed)
-fried food
-all purpose flour/maida
-sugar
-Toor dal
-wheat
-Non veg at night

Following foods are allowed: Urad , Moong and chana dal, Brown rice

Being a South Indian , basically from Hyderabad my typical breakfast consists of Idli/, dosa/upma with coconut/groundnut chutney on weekdays . On Sundays it is Puris/chapati/pesarattu . My lunch/dinner usually consists of Rice with vegetable dal curry , vegetable fry , vegetable chutney, curd or rasam .

With the new diet breakfast is not a major problem.
I bought Jowar , Bajra and Ragi flour from the supermarket . Thankfully all are available . What next ?!. My cook nor I have never prepared rotis with these flours. Started watching youtube videos (my favourite pastime) on how to make rotis with these flours. After watching a few videos , it was time to get moving….Oh no ..we failed miserably…the process requires experienced hands to roll the rotis .
What next !?
I was beginning to get worried. What would i eat for lunch ?? 🙁
I am allowed to eat Brown rice but nooo i dont like Brown rice. 🙁

I remembered watching a video on making ragi dosa ..yesss… i searched for ragi dosa again . I then got an idea. If one can make Ragi Dosa surely there would be recipes for jowar dosa and bajra dosa too….yayyy….i did find a few videos…wowww what a relief.. phew .
But dosas would require oil whereas rotis can be made without using oil. I have no choice and decided to use olive oil to make the dosas. My cook and I made Jowar/Bajra/Ragi Dosas for 2 weeks 🙂

Coming to Soup for Dinner.. I never prepare soup at home. But when we go to restaurants we always order soup.
So it was time to look up some videos on youtube. Found a simple recipe and felt happy.
Kichdi is no big deal and not a problem.

I successfully incorporated this diet for 2 weeks.

On the first day of fasting ie Monday ,I had one cup coffee and 2 cups of Tea. I also had 3 fruits during the day. I was so hungry end of the day that as soon as I went home after work I directly went to the kitchen and started preparing vegetable soup.

Aaah the first spoonful of the veggies in the soup tasted so yummy. I finished off the big bowl of soup in no time. Felt full and so good.

The second day of fasting was on Friday and I went home a bit early , relaxed for a while before I made the soup.I had one cup coffee, and 2 cups of Tea during the day. I also had 3 fruits. Had vegetable soup for dinner.

The soup was made with cabbage , carrot, capsicum , baby corn and spinach. Will write about the soup in my next post.

Fasting during the second week was not very difficult. I was able to manage with 2 fruits and 3 cups of coffee/tea 🙂 This time I tried a different method of making soup. Turned out yummy too. I didn’t feel too hungry and I guess my body understood what I am upto and is beginning to help me 🙂

Will post recipes on my dosas/soups soon.

I am so glad I could successfully complete 2 weeks of the new diet and am confident that I can continue if required.
Anything to improve my health and to forever change and strengthen the cells in my body.
This diet is recommended for all Cancer patients but only under the strict supervision of an Ayurvedic doctor.


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Curing diseases by Fasting ?!!

I am currently taking ayurvedic medication along with Lenalidamide 5mg for Multiple Myeloma.
My ayurvedic doctor has advised me to fast twice a week on Monday and Friday.
I have been fasting since last week and today is the second day in this week.
I can sip warm water through out the day. I can also take tea/coffee( 2 or 3 times) and fruits ( 2 or 3 ) if i feel very hungry. I am allowed to take vegetable soup for dinner. I started fasting without asking any questions.

This is my food for the day.
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I have never fasted in all my life and always wondered why people fast , especially when it is linked to religion and rituals.

I have been able to manage last week and this week but a lot of questions have been popping up in my head.
What if i become too weak in the process? what if my immune system weakens further? What will my Oncologist say if i tell him about my fasting? Can i take allopathy medicines during fasting? Am i doing the right thing ?

My ayurvedic doctor has been asking me for the feedback as to how i feel during and after the fast and i did express my concerns this morning.
He told me to read an article on ‘fasting before chemotherapy’ in the ‘Biomed journal’ . Googled for these words and found a few links .
Read the information in one of the links http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/15/652 . Found the article too technical for me but got a gist of what was being researched. Seemed interesting. The cells which get damaged due to chemotherapy recover faster if a patient has been fasting prior to chemotherapy.
Also protects normal cells from the side effects of chemo.
Came across articles where people got cured of gall stones , cancer after fasting.
Other articles suggest when the body is on a fast all the cells go into a ‘repair’ mode . The DNA repairs itself and the result is a stronger immune system. Fasting enhances the functioning of cells and kills the cancerous cells.

Wowww sounds great !!

While reading this my mind wandered to know more about Ayurveda and fasting. Googled and found some interesting information. Ayurveda mentions cleansing the body of toxic wastes that have accumulated in the body, balancing of doshas , improving the digestive system etc.

I am now convinced that fasting is a must.Fasting has always been a part of life for the devout and intrinsic to most religions , although common man fasts with an intention of salvation rather than for health, which is a side effect of fasting anyway :).

“The best of all medicines are rest and fasting.” – Benjamin Franklin.


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My ‘Curcumin Regimen’ and other Natural supplements for Multiple Myeloma

I have been using the following Natural supplements since 2 months ,inspired by Margaret . Some i have included based on other research  . I am confident that these natural supplements are doing a great job .
1. Haridra (Circuma Longa/Turmeric) 400mg from Himalaya  – 2-3 times a day
2. ‘Flaxseed oil’ capsules 500mg from Sri Sri Ayurveda – along with Haridra
3. ‘Garlic oil’ capsules 500mg from Sri Sri ayurveda – 2 times a day ( self discovery . noticed that severe itching in my throat because of Lenalidomide subsides with Garlic)
4. ‘Ashwagandha’ capsules (Withania somnifera)  250mg from Himalaya – 2 times a day
5. ‘Guduchi’ capsules 250mg (Tinaspora cordifolia) from Himalaya – 2 times (advised by my Oncologist)
6. ‘Shigru’ capsules 250mg (Moringa pterygosperma) from Himalaya 250mg – 2 times a day
7. Amla candy (Goose Berry , rich in Vit C ) 4-5 pieces – 2 times a day .
8. Every morning i drink ginger (one inch piece)  decoction to which Lemon juice (quarter lemon) and turmeric powder (from my kitchen) is added.
9. At times i replace ginger decoction with decoction made with leaves of Simarouba Glauca (There is a post on this in my blog ) I add Turmeric powder (from the spice rack in my kitchen 🙂 ) and lemon juice.
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Apart from the above i continue to take the following Allopathic medications as per the advise of my Oncologist and Physician :
1. Renerve (Methylcobalamin ie B12)– One per day
2. Antoxid HC (Beta carotene,Selenium,Zinc Sulphate,Manganese , Copper) – One per day
3. Calferon plus ( Calcium,D3 (Vit D) )- 2 times
4. Acivir (Anti viral)- 800mg (one every alternate day)
5. Lenangio (Lenalidomide) – 5mg ( one per day)
6. Dexorange (Hematinic syrup) – once or twice a day whenever my Hb count is below 11
7. Ecosprin 75mg (Aspirin) – One per day after lunch
Have been using the above for 2 months . I feel energetic, my constant muscle pains have disappeared , I feel less anxious.
My current results are M spike : Not seen and Plasma cells < 1% .


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M spike – Not seen !!

My Bone Marrow test results , 4 months after changing to Lenalidomide from Thalidomide , are out.

For 3 yrs prior to Dec 2014 , post Autologous Stem Cell transplant in Jan 2012 ,  i had been taking 50 mg and 100mg of Thalidomide.

My hubby , dad and I went to the hospital yesterday , to pick up the reports.

We were very apprehensive as to what the results would be. We opened the reports while walking towards the lift and saw the words ‘M spike – Not seen’ . Whatever that implied !!??

My Bone marrow aspiration was done exactly 5 days ago and that day i had asked my doctor about M spike ,what it meant and what should be the ideal value. He said that the value is ‘zero’ in a healthy individual.

When we showed the reports to my doctor , he said that the results are absolutely fantastic. ‘Not seen’ implies the M spike is ‘zero’ . He was extremely happy for us and we were very excited. The plasma cells too were less than 1% which was 10-12% 4 months ago ( a relapse)

I asked him if Lenalidomide is the reason, he replied ‘ you are responding very well to Lenalidomide’

In Dec 2014 my doc had said ‘ Sorry, you may have to be prepared for another round of SCT after 3 months’ and yesterday he said ‘No worry , we need not do the SCT now ,we can postpone till we reach 25 mg of Lenalidomide which is available in 5 mg , 10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg and 25 mg and it may be 2 yrs or 5 yrs before we reach that dosage’

For now he told me to get back after 2 months with CBP , LFT and RFT reports.

Dad was so excited , he called up Mom and Sis and updated immediately.

Hubby immediately opened the first BMA report after 6 months of my transplant and showed us that the latest report is the best ever. The results even after the transplant were not as good as they are now 🙂

We thanked the doctor and the Almighty and came home.

We hadn’t mentioned the Alternative natural products that i had been using for the last 45 days.

I had discussed these during my visit last month when i went to show the CBP,LFT,RFT reports.

He had said i can go ahead with these products and that he is not against alternative treatments. His reply gave me a lot of relief.

I strongly believe that using natural supplements and immune boosting foods did have a major role in bringing down the M spike and plasma cells.

Will write all about my Ayurvedic protocol , inspired by Margaret , in detail in my next mail.

I am so excited that i wish to scream to the world about my Ayurvedic discovery and share with other patients suffering with Multiple Myeloma.

Here is an interesting article on Circumin( Turmeric) and Multiple Myeloma

http://www.myelomabeacon.com/news/2010/02/17/curcumin-and-multiple-myeloma-preclinical-and-early-clinical-studies-are-promising-still-awaiting-more-clinical-evidence/