In a recent email one of my CLL buddies wrote and told me about her improvement in neutrophil count She had been taking 600 mg of shitake, four tablets of Maitake-D Fraction, 1950 mg (3 tablets) of Reishi, and two tablets of AHCC. She noted that her neutrophil count went up to a high normal at her next blood test! Great news!!!
After this success, she experimented by dropping to a 1/4 of the dosage. Unfortunately, at her next blood test, the neutrophils showed a rapid descent. It was no longer in normal range. This CLL friend of mine wanted my opinion of what to do.
Management vs. Cure
Of course, I told her to go back on the dose that worked for her! Not as a doctor (of course) but as a CLL friend. The reason being — and this is so important — we are not curing our CLL by everything we do and all the supplements we take; we are managing it! Let me repeat…it would be wonderful if we all could have a home-made cure. I’ve spoken to three men who feel that they have, in fact, beaten CLL by DIY, home-done efforts. This has NOT been the case for me. I still would be diagnosed today if I had a blood draw for the first time. They would call me in or call me back to give me the hideous news. And yet, here I am, alive and quite well (thank you very much) after 17.5 years at this. Why? Because I am managing the disease, and this is working for me!
Now, why do have the photo of mushroom powder on the top of this post? Good question. Because of this CLL friend’s email, I reviewed my own history, my supplement notes in particular. I used to take the Maitake D Fractions, and that was at a time when I was starting to show real improvement. (At that time, my WBC went down over 20 points and for a change my RBC didn’t nosedive along with it. Whew!) I was also cooking low and slow at that time, and I gave that one thing a lot (maybe too much) credit.
After I stopped taking the Maitake D Fractions (recommended by one of the CLL healed, no less) I substituted by buying dried shitake mushrooms and grinding it to add to soups and stews. Later (I really don’t know when) I started buying organic mushroom powders, and adding a scoop to my smoothies I have about five days/week. The good health, including normal absolute neutrophil counts, continued, and continue to this day.
I mix up the type of mushrooms. The pictured above are just four of the variety that I alternate day by day. If you do a search on each of these mushrooms, along with “CLL” you will see there is evidence that this food (not a medicine) is good for you! It helps people with CLL! The types of mushrooms I take regularly include shitake, maitake, reishi, cordyceps, lion’s mane, and turkey tail. I have no favorites; once they’re mixed in the smoothie I can hardly tell they’re there.
Are Mushrooms ‘the’ Cure?
Do I recommend that you drop everything else and start taking mushroom powder and that this alone will heal you? Not such a good question this time. The answer is NO! Getting cancer or leukemia is a comprehensive process, and so it healing yourself enough so that you can continue to live a good life. All the other pillars that create health matter: clean food, clean air, clean water, reduced/managed stress, good sleep, meditation, finding joy in life; these are ALL critical, and not something that you will find in your oncologist’s office. Perhaps not even in your alternative practitioners office. We need all our professionals, but to be well you have to count on yourself.
What about the Peak Immune? I’ve written about this product before. I am NOT affiliated with this company or any other. This is a non-profit site written only to share and help! I started Peak Immune years ago, at the advice of a Chinese herbalist (himself recommended by an alternative MD I traveled to see in New York.) Peak Immune is an immune modulator. This means that it regulates your immune system to the place it should be. Not ramped too high, and not dropped so low that you are in physical danger.
Peak Immune is not a mushroom. I believe it’s rice bran arabica, in this case a food derivitive. I’ve taken Peak Immune for years (cheapest in the States at LuckyVitamins.com, when you buy via autoship). It has been the one thing for certain that has increased my neutrophils. On the literature it says that it “increases the activity of NK (natural killer) cells.” So when I first started taking it, I wasn’t expecting it to increase my neutrophils But it most certainly does. Now, with the mushroom powder, I take only three Peak Immune capsules a day, and I seem to be holding steady.
You have to test this for yourself. Once again, this is my experience, along with the stated experience of a woman who wrote me recently. It is not harmful; it is a food. The mushrooms are not inexpensive, and neither is the Peak Immune. You don’t have to buy an arsenal like I do, but change it up, one at a time. And if you do try this, and test your results at your next blood draw, let me know — good or bad — how it works out.
Special request: While I do respond to emails, I think it’s kindest of everyone to respond directly on this site, to the pertinent post. This will help people on a search find not only my words, but your concerns, questions, worries, and your own answers and experience as well. I promise you will remain anonymous. It all helps!
As a final note, I am still working on my book. I will check in again, not necessarily “soon,” but please know that it is in progress.
Wishing you peace, joy, and the very best of health! – Denise