All my test results relating to my liver enzymes during the time I took fenbendazole and my understanding of what it is and how it works and its effects and why I stopped.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Two years ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable pancreatic cancer. Against the odds
00:08I'm still here. In those dark days I searched for survivor stories and came across Joe Tippins,
00:14a stage 4 lung cancer patient who incredibly sent his disease into remission using a dog
00:19dewormer drug. Last time I shared Joe's story and my Fenben experience, including fears it spread
00:26my cancer to my liver. In this video I'll dive deeper into my blood results from the time to
00:33see if there's any evidence for this and look closer at how Fenbenazole works, its side effects
00:39and the research specifically on pancreatic cancer and how it has worked for some people like Noel
00:46Watson. I spent quite a lot of time researching how Fenbenazole works and I thought I'd take a few
00:52minutes to summarise what I learnt. Fenbenazole works mainly through its action on tubulin.
00:58Microtubules or tubulin is everywhere in your body. There's even a cool theory that microtubules
01:04or tubulin is actually responsible for consciousness and drives quantum theory. But back to how tubulin
01:13is present in your body, two cells of tubulin, an A and a B cell stick together to make a heterodimer
01:20and more stick together to make chains of protofilaments and 13 protofilaments stick together
01:28to make a tube called a microtubule. Maybe this picture is clearer. Microtubules are essential in the
01:36process of cell division because they form the ropes that pull the chromosomes apart. Later you'll
01:43see they're also critical in the operation of metabolic pathways as they form the track to move
01:49materials around the body. Fenbenazole's first action against cancer is to destabilise tubulin
01:55to prevent heterodimers from connecting together to make the protofilaments and this prevents cell
02:02division. This is important as any cell, whether it's a normal cell or a cancer cell, needs these
02:09protofilament ropes to be able to divide. Researchers have known this for years. Traditional chemotherapy
02:15drugs derived from periwinkle, vinca alkaloids, or pine trees, which give the taxanes, use the same
02:24method of action at different binding sites on the heterodimers or the microtubules. When a cell which
02:34was trying to divide is prevented as the rope or protofilament doesn't operate correctly, it stops
02:42cell division and triggers apoptosis and death of the cell. Just like this process is necessary for
02:49rapidly dividing cells such as parasites or the worms in animals for which fenbenazole was licensed.
02:57It's necessary for cancer to replicate and is one reason why fenbenazole and some chemotherapy drugs
03:04are successful against cancer cells. The second way fenbenazole has been identified to act against
03:11cancer is through its action on p53. p53 is a protein which can be found in the nucleus of cells. p53 acts
03:22as a tumour suppressor which means that in normal cells it regulates cell division by identifying cells
03:29which are growing and dividing or proliferating too fast or in an uncontrolled way and initiating their
03:39destruction. In cancer the p53 protein is often missing and in half of all cancers the gene which provides
03:49the instruction to produce it tp53 is mutated. The results of my circulating DNA test revealed that I
03:57also have the tp53 gene. The p53 signaling pathway is disrupted in the other half of cancers. p53 travels around
04:08the body along tracks of microtubules which remember are made of tubulin protofilaments to the centre of a
04:17nucleus with DNA damage such as a cancer cell. Low dose fenbenazole facilitates p53 protein reaching cancer cell
04:28nucleuses. The research shows that as the dose of fenbenazole is increased this effect on p53 diminishes
04:38and it isn't unique to fenbenazole. Chemotherapy which is invariably given at high doses generally prevents this p53 effect from taking place
04:53as the microtubules are destroyed or unable to be built. But low dose chemotherapy also facilitates p53
05:04getting to the cancer nucleus just like low dose fenben. This appears to be because where the tubulin is
05:12slightly bound or depolymerized the microtubule network is still intact and p53 operation is enhanced
05:22as well as its target gene MDM2. When the microtubules are hyperstabilized or depolymerized
05:31the p53 networks also struck out. This aligns well with what Jane McClelland and others who've advocated
05:40preferring low dose chemotherapy have said. p53 is so important because it promotes pro-apoptic
05:51cell death functions within cancer cells to initiate programmed cell death. So the second helpful thing
06:00fenbenazole does at low doses is help increase p53 levels. The third way fenben has an action against
06:08cancer is through metabolic pathways. Understanding metabolic pathways is critical to understanding cancer.
06:16the way i think of it is that a metabolic pathway is like a train track within your body which enables
06:25proteins or genes or other material to be moved around. Tubulins are key ingredient but there are lots of
06:34different types of A and B tubulin and so lots of different heterodimers. Microtubules of specific
06:43heterodimers are arranged together to form pathways to transport specific proteins or cells around the
06:49body. Cancer cells need much more energy than normal cells in the form of for example glucose or glutamate.
06:59Certain of these metabolic pathways or ways that cancer feeds itself can be disrupted by fenbenazole
07:07to inhibit the cancer cells to inhibit the cancer cells from feeding. Research has documented
07:12fenbenazole regulating glucose transporters like GLUT4 and STAT3 and NFKB which stands for nuclear factor
07:25kappa beta I think, HK2 and other glutamate pathways such as glutaminolsis and proline oxidase fueling
07:36tumor growth essentially starving the cancer of energy. Additionally, fenbenazole appears to reduce
07:44tumor formation and cancer cell colony growth through unknown mechanisms. I suspect these are related to
07:52p53 and tubulin. So let's look at the side effects. While fenbenazole seems to selectively target cancer
07:59cells over healthy cells it can still impact some rapidly dividing populations. Jo believes that the
08:05only side effect is diarrhoea for 10% of people. If you have cancer one hallmark is usually you have
08:12something wrong with your poo so if this is a side effect you might not notice a difference.
08:19I think diarrhoea could also be a sign fenbenazole's working as it could be the drug working to eliminate
08:27parasites or other things which shouldn't be there. Jo Tippin's Facebook group often claims that there
08:32are no side effects with fenbenazole and you might not notice any. However, just like the chemotherapy
08:39drugs to which fenben is similar it can also have serious side effects despite its promising anti-cancer
08:46properties. While cancer cells may be particularly vulnerable due to their rapid division and metabolism
08:53animal studies show that fenbenazole can also affect normal cells that are rapidly dividing. Most people
09:01trying fenbenazole will be worried about beating cancer rather than affecting the rapidly dividing cells
09:07linked to fertility but fenbenazole has been linked to altered fertility in some animals likely due to its
09:16impact on rapidly dividing germ cells. It increased the fertility of female baboons who were struggling
09:23to conceive but decreased the fertility of male turkeys. The effects of fenbenazole mean that
09:31comprehensive monitoring is crucial to manage the potential side effects. It's advisable to exercise
09:38caution when considering fenbenazole if you're pregnant or trying to conceive.
09:42Or if you're young and still growing. Fenbenazole has also been documented to cause myelosuppression
09:47in animals which is the suppression of the immune system by depleting, rapidly dividing, bone marrow
09:55stem cells responsible for producing blood cells. This can lead to a condition called hyperplasia
10:03where there's a lower count of cells in your bone marrow often resulting in reduced white blood cell
10:10and red blood cell counts. I noticed myelosuppression was also raised in Jo's Facebook group from time
10:15to time. I suffered from neutropenic sepsis. For this video I've looked back on my haemoglobin levels
10:22before and after starting fenbenazole on the 14th of June 2022. Prior to fenbenazole my levels were
10:30around 124 to 139. Immediately after starting they dropped to anaemic levels and then recovered.
10:40The first drop occurred before I began my chemotherapy in mid-July which also caused further declines.
10:47The graph indicates that in my case both fenbenazole and also chemo seem to cause myelosuppression.
10:58Notably in my case fenbenazole's effect preceded chemo. Given I was doing a combination of fenben
11:06and chemo I'm so glad I was getting my blood monitored as often as I was. Based on rat studies fenbenazole can
11:13remain in your system for three to four weeks and potentially longer in younger individuals.
11:19In hindsight spacing out fenbenazole and chemo treatments might have been safer and might have
11:25helped me avoid neutropenic sepsis. Since fenbenazole is not licensed for human use there's a lack of
11:31information regarding its potential drug interactions leaving us navigating uncharted territory if we choose
11:37to take it. The effect on the liver is something I did believe I experienced and is reported a lot in
11:45the Facebook group. I'm unusual and fortunate in how many blood tests I had done while I was seriously ill.
11:54About 50 blood tests during diagnosis and my first two chemos and recovery. I've made a chart of my
12:00liver enzyme data to see if there's any evidence my liver was impacted. You can see that when I was
12:07first ill my first blood results showed very high liver enzymes. This was due to the cancer.
12:15I believe. They normalised again. You can see my liver enzymes spike up again in early June.
12:23Per my first video I initially thought this was the fenbenazole but now I think it was the result of
12:30my first biopsy on the 7th of June 2022. I can see from the blood tests that my liver enzymes are fine on
12:39the 6th of June 2022 at 18 but then elevated on the 8th of June 2022 at 42 which was several days before I
12:50started the fenbenazole on the 14th of June 2022 but just after the biopsy. I wasn't on anything.
13:00at this point so I can't see a reason why my liver markers were elevated other than the biopsy.
13:06My liver markers spike up again for a third time on or around the 6th of August 2022.
13:13I don't have an explanation for this right now. Possibly the cancer attempting to make a resurgence
13:20as I'd had to cut back on all pills around this time due to my very low blood pressure. I then went
13:26into my second chemo and my liver markers then come down for a prolonged period. There is another spike
13:32at the end of October but I can't work out what this is attributable to right now. So for me,
13:38having carefully reviewed, there is no evidence of fenbenazole materially affecting my liver enzymes
13:45or liver. I also now think that the liver metastases were attributable to the cells
13:51spread by the two biopsies rather than fenbenazole. However, just because I didn't have them, this is
13:58not to say that liver side effects could not be possible. Fenbenazole has been shown in animals
14:03to impact certain cytochrome P450 enzymes which are responsible for metabolizing many drugs in the liver.
14:10And there are a lot of reports of fenbenazole affecting the liver in the Facebook group.
14:15This means that if you take fenbenazole along with other medications that rely on those same
14:21enzymes for their breakdown and removal from the liver, the levels and effects of those other
14:26medications could change. This could potentially cause issues or side effects. As far as possible,
14:33I prefer to put up with the pain and take painkillers. And this was lucky as paracetamol,
14:40aka acetaminophen or Tylenol is one common painkiller that does rely on these enzymes.
14:48A study on mice revealed a staggering 63% mortality rate in the group receiving high doses of paracetamol
14:56and fenbenazole together. Definitely glad I happened to avoid taking paracetamol and
15:02fenbenazole together. The wisdom in the Facebook group recommends taking a liver protectant like
15:09milk thistle alongside fenbenazole in any event to protect the liver. Moreover, some of the enzymes
15:16which fenbenazole upregulates can metabolize pro-carcinogens, which may explain unusual cases
15:24of hyperprogression observed in mice with lymphoma using fenbenazole. This was what I was worried I'd
15:31triggered, though this actually wasn't true in my case. The same research suggests that fenbenazole
15:37works more effectively when combined with vitamins and other metabolic components rather than as a
15:45standalone treatment. This makes sense if cancer does feed via metabolic pathways and that cancer cells
15:53can switch metabolic pathways can switch metabolic pathways and that fenbenazole blocks only a few of
15:59these pathways. By following Jane McClellan's logic, blocking multiple pathways simultaneously through
16:06a multi-pronged approach such as done here in the lymphoma mice research by inadvertently adding
16:15vitamin pills alongside fenbenazole could potentially elicit a stronger response against the cancer.
16:22Incorporating specific vitamin supplements and other targeted treatments alongside fenbenazole
16:28makes theoretical sense rather than doing it as a standalone treatment and that's reflected in
16:34Joe Tipping's evolving protocol which now recommends the use of ultra botanica products alongside
16:40fenbenazole. While Joe's documented fenbenazole working across many cancer types, the results vary.
16:47Joe refers to it as cancer agnostic which means it works for all types of cancers but it's important
16:53to notice it works much better for some cancers than for others. The evidence from animal studies suggests
16:59that fenbenazole works particularly well for non-small cell and small cell lung cancers like Joe's cancer
17:06and glioblastoma which was the original Merck researches cancer. Anecdotally, it also appears to be very
17:15effective for prostate cancer. However, fenbenazole does not seem to work as well for more complex cancers
17:23like triple negative breast cancer or pancreatic cancer especially at Joe's usual protocol doses.
17:31Joe has a few success stories for these usually after much longer periods of time trying such as 18
17:36months or two years and at higher doses but there are a handful of cases compared to the seemingly large
17:44number of patients who have tried. If we look at some of the published research on this,
17:49one research study on anti-helminths compared the effect of different wormers on two different
17:56samples of pancreatic cancer cells. Mebendazole, the drug licensed for humans against pinworm,
18:03actually worsened cancer for both pancreatic cell lines in standard doses so I'm glad I avoided this
18:10for my pancreatic cancer and didn't try it. It's often prescribed as part of the care oncology clinic
18:17protocol but mebendazole and fenbenazole are not the same. Parbendazole, a chicken wormer which was
18:26discontinued in the 1960s was the most effective against pancreatic cancer. I tried to get it due
18:34to my activities as a chicken farmer but failed because I was not able to get through compliance
18:40without a VAT number. I used fenbenazole instead as it was possible to get hold of this. I managed to
18:47get the Merck Panacure product for my worm-prone 60kg Vichler Bruno from an online pet pharmacy
18:56and needed a repeat prescription. I took the fenbenazole. I explained how this went for me and
19:03why I stopped in the prior video. In the study on pancreatic cancer cells, lower fenbenazole doses of
19:10222mg showed no effect, while 500mg hinted at minor benefits. Joe, in June 2024, cited 10 pancreatic
19:23cancer cases where fenbenazole helped, with two achieving no evidence of disease status after
19:30having taken fenben for 18 to 20 months. But these are small numbers out of potentially hundreds or
19:38thousands of cases. I'm not sure how well it worked for me. My cancer did reduce during the
19:44time I took it, but I was doing a lot of other things as well. And while having really looked
19:51hard at my blood tests, I don't hold it responsible for my liver metastases any longer, I do think it
19:59played a key role in tipping me into neutropinic sepsis. And that really did nearly kill me.
20:05But I'm open-minded. Noel Watson's stage 4 pancreatic cancer case illustrates the potential benefits and
20:14also limitations of fenbenazole for pancreatic cancer. Noel had a tumour which was diagnosed at
20:19stage 4, though fortunately he's never had distant metastases. Initially, his tumour grew to 10.4
20:29centimetres after chemotherapy. But after adding 2 grams of fenbenazole per day alongside chemotherapy
20:37and switching to a vegan diet, his tumour shrank to 6 centimetres, then 2.5 centimetres over the
20:45following months. However, when chemotherapy was paused, the tumour grew back to 3.5 centimetres,
20:54i.e. the fenbenazole wasn't enough on its own. Noel then modified his alternative protocol and his tumours
21:04remained stable for the past four years while continuing to take fenbenazole plus other off-labels
21:12and other supplements. You can find Noel on Facebook. I know Noel was not always buying genuine Merck products,
21:22so it may be, as Joe Tippins found when he tested them, that other suppliers provide a different and
21:28less potent version. I'm very glad I only ever bought genuine Merck products. Thanks Bruno!
21:35In summary, while it seems that fenbenazole can act as an anti-cancer agent through mechanisms like
21:43tubulin disruption and metabolic inhibition, I learnt the hard way why cautions advise due to
21:50potential side effects and drug interactions. Remember, it's not licensed for humans, so when
21:55I tried it, I had to own all the risk myself. The anecdotal evidence of Joe Tippins and other
22:01survivors is powerful testimony that it has an effect on cancer, but still it's unpredictable
22:09and it won't work for everyone. That's what I found and that's why I stopped taking it for my
22:14inoperable metastatic pancreatic cancer. But I can also see how well it's worked for others like Noel.
22:21While Noel's cancer hasn't gone, it is stable and against pancreatic that is already a big win.
22:29But fenbenazole wasn't enough on its own. When it started growing again, he only managed
22:36to halt it with additional off-label drugs. So that combination was crucial.
22:41I think I'm done covering my experience with fenbenazole for the moment.
22:46If you do decide to give it a try, please follow Joe's advice and only buy genuine Merck products.
22:51Watch his Q&A videos. Heed the investigations he has done into the products supplied via random
22:59Facebook groups and the lesser levels of purity identified in non-Merck products.
23:04Fembenazole's become big business, so make sure you're not scammed. Joe Tippins does not sell
23:12Fembenazole himself. I like knowing more about unconventional approaches to cancer,
23:17hearing your success stories and I love reading the comments. If you'd like to follow my unconventional
23:24journey against stage 4 pancreatic cancer, please click subscribe. Please don't worry about me dying
23:29in between video releases. And if you are concerned, you can follow me on social media. Until next time, bye!