Originally posted Jan 19, 2008

Most people would think I’m nuts for being excited about burning myself, but well.. when you have MS little things mean a lot, right?

I lost the ability to feel hot and cold in my hands when I was 17 or 18…I’m 37 now. . My left side has had the most sensation deterioration. I feel pressure, but not pain in all 3 fingers and the thumb on my left hand. My left pinky-finger has been mostly numb for years. I know when something is touching my pinky, but beyond that.. nothing. I’m famous for pulling hot things off the stove or from the oven sans oven mitt or potholder because I forget that I shouldn’t do that… it doesn’t hurt and so, I don’t think about it.

But, yesterday afternoon, as I pulled cheese crisps off the baking sheet for my kids’ lunch, I burned my left thumb. The thumb isn’t blistered, or even red, but man did it hurt enough that I dropped the cheese crisp and yelped. I’ve noticed that today my left pinky-finger tingles, too. Like when an arm or leg falls asleep and wakes back up. Sure it hurts every time I use that finger to type.. but yesterday I had no sensation in it at all… So.. that’s progress.

These little thing show me that my treatment methods for the MS are working. I started a new treatment last weekend, and I think it’s the new method that is giving me sensation back. I interviewed a brain researcher and hypnotherapist this weekend for a book series I’m writing, and while we were on the phone she asked if it was okay for her to work with me a bit on the stuttering so she could better demonstrate what it is that she does.

I agreed and she lead me through an exercise surrounding the stuttering. I’ve not stuttered ONCE since. But more importantly, she and I talked about the Spiritual nature of disease and how spiritual, emotional and physical health are interrelated. During that discussion, I told her of how I quit smoking by simply deciding I was done with it. No cravings, no temptation.. nothing. She made the comment that if I could do THAT, then I can overcome asthma and MS the same way.

Somehow I had forgotten that I used meditation, Spiritual Law, and paying attention to my thoughts to greatly improve almost fatal asthma 13 years ago. The asthma was so serious I was on daily steroid therapy and could not do a lot of things. Then I landed on a respirator and it scared the hell out of me. My pulmo told me “if the asthma doesn’t kill you in the next 5 years, the meds WILL” I came home from the hospital and studied herbal and spiritual medicine. A year later, I was completely off the meds and doing well.

I told her what I had experienced with asthma, and although she didn’t voice it, the unspoken comment was obvious… — why haven’t I used that knowledge in regards to the MS? –

Good question. So for the past week I’ve been using the techniques I used during the interview, along with the techniques I learned years ago to track down and eliminate the roots of the illness. It has been an interesting week. I’ve gone off the LDN and the supplements so that I can see if what I’m doing has any real effect on the symptoms. I am still following the gluten free, meat free, and processed food free diet.. our entire family eats that way to help treat mental illness and autism in my step kids.

so.. have I seen any real differences over the past week? I think I have. I’ve completely stopped stuttering, my balance is good, my thinking clear, even though I’ve been off the LDN for a week, and I have pins and needles in my left pinky finger even though it’s been numb for several years. Of course, it’s very possible that the changes I’m seeing are still residual effects from the LDN. I’ve had wonderful symptom reversal with LDN. I guess only time will tell.

If symptoms return, I will go back on the LDN

Did you know inflammation causes or contributes to most of the diseases that effect Americans? That’s right– Heart disease, stroke, arthritis, asthma, migraine, type 2 diabetes, allergies, ADHD, multiple sclerosis, fibroneuralgia, and gingivitis are all diseases of inflammation. In fact, the majority of conditions ending in the suffix “itis” are caused by inflammation. Now, that doesn’t mean that if you control inflammation your MS will just go away. But it’s a good bet that the pain, stiffness and possibly even some balance problems will be significantly reduced.

There are several ways to reduce inflammation. You could, of course take a pill designed for just that purpose. NSAIDS are popular pain relievers, and they work primarily by reducing inflammation. But, they can be dangerous. Did you know that more people die of side effects of NSAIDS than of HIV? Additionally, over half a million people a year develop some sort of complication from the use of NSAIDS.

A better way to control inflammation is to watch what you eat and take supplements of those substances known to reduce inflammation in the body.

Omega 3 oils found in deep sea fish. I include mercury tested salmon in my diet 3 – 5 times a week.

Cayenne pepper- I take 3 cayenne pepper caps with each meal. Some people have to take this between meals because it upsets their stomach or makes  food taste bad. Don’t be afraid to experiment to find when it works best for you.

Saint John’s Wart – In addition to being  great for MS related depression, St Johns also helps reduce inflammation.

Switch from vegetable oil to olive. Yes, it’s more expensive. but most vegetable oils convert to an inflammation causing chemical when broken down by the body.

Eat more green leafy veggies, nut butters, avocados and macadamia nuts they all have anti-inflammatory abilities.

With simple dietary changes, we can manage our MS and make our lives just a bit easier.

he other night I fell asleep while cuddling with my son at bedtime. I was very tired, and so my husband and older kids let me sleep.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon, when my kids asked why I was forgetting so much, stuttering and off balance that I realized I had missed my ldn the night before.

By 9 pm that night I was almost unable to walk because my balance was just so horrible. My left leg was completely numb up from toes to the knee and the inside of my left arm felt weak and tingled. Vision was as bad as it was before I started the ldn, and I was stuttering so bad my own kids couldn’t understand me. I finally switched to sign language because speech was almost impossible and for some reason, when I can’t talk, I can usually still sign.

From what I’ve learned from the ldn experts, my response to missing a dose was extreme. Most people who see symptom relief from ldn do regress when the go off the med, but it usually takes a couple days. Of course, not every person who takes ldn for MS has any symptom relief. That’s not the purpose of the med. Ldn is taken stop progression of the disease.

I resumed the ldn that night, and was perfectly back to my new normal two days later. Yeah. it took 2 days to get back to where I was before I missed that dose. My family now has explicit instructions to wake me up for my med regardless of how tired I am or if I’m sick. I’ve gotten used to having no MS symptoms, and I’d like to keep it that way, if I can.

Even after a month, it is still amazing to me how much ldn has given me my life back, I can keep up with my kids, and stay up to spend time with my husband.. I’m not exhausted all the time any more, and I’m almost never in pain anymore. No more muscle twitches.. I can play football with my 12 yr old daughter again..I’m thinking about coaching her team next season – something she’s wanted me to do for over a year now, but I’ve been unable to because of the MS. I’m not too inclined to call any medication a “miracle drug” but ldn is about as close to it as you can get. I will be forever thankful for the person who introduced ldn to me

Also, after talking to the new doctor a little more, he’s fairy convinced the MS had changed from RRMS to SPMS. He made this determination because I was to the point where I had symptoms every day without a break. Every day at the same time I would start to have symptoms, and the pain never went away. It seemed to have stopped remitting. Of course, I’m not too sure that he’s right about the change in MS classification, and honestly, I’m not even sure it matters.

The new dr isn’t doing as much research into ldn as I’d hoped. And while he supports my using alternative treatments and is willing to work with what I’m doing, he won’t be helping me figure out the best ways to treat my ms and asthma with nutrition and herbals. But that’s okay.. I can do my own research just like I always have. As long as he’s willing to understand that herbals and nutrition will always be my first treatment choice for ANY illness, we’re good. I did find out from another patient of his that he does suggest using garlic to treat bronchitis and pneumonia, though.. so that is a huge point in his favor.

Just a note for those who are exploring the gluten free and msg free lifestyle… I have put together a booklet of 10 recipes using gluten free and msg free ingredients.

The featured recipe of this booklet is my GF Chocolate Drizzle Cake.  This is the perfect chocolate cake for anytime you need an an elegant and delicious gluten free cake. Also included in this booklet are recipes for GF Tuna Burgers, Enchilada Pie, Yummy Chocolate Mousse, and 6 other kid tested and approved gf and msg free versions of everyday foods.

This booklet Gluten Free and MSG Free for LIFE! booklet 1 is the first in a series of booklets to help families avoid gluten and msg for optimal health.

Booklet cost is $5. payable through PayPal.
If you are a member of MW, TWM, low dose naltrexone or mscured on yahoogroups, please contact me for discount information.

To order, or for more information, send an email to orders@atlanteanproductions.com

I found the coolest doctor. Finally! It only took me 4 MONTHS of research, but I think I found a doctor here that my family and I can work with and be comfortable with.

If you’ve been reading, you know I was in the hospital a few weeks ago for a killer asthma attack.. of course I needed to follow up on that , so I got serious about finding a new doctor. Since the move, I’ve been calling and interviewing about one doctor ever 2 weeks or so. Trying to find some one who is knowledgable (or at least willing to work with.. ) about alternative treatments – specifically herbals, nutrition and LDN.

Ive been having a really difficult time. It seems conventional medicine is alive, thriving and king here in Nebraska.  The mere mention of herbal treatments and nutritional therapy has been met with comments like “we don’t do that HERE” and “Well, what do you expect, this IS Nebraska, you’ll have to go back to where ever you came from if you want that” I even had one MD tell me “well, if that really works then there must be nothing wrong with you that a good psychiatrist can’t fix because you can’t treat ANY illness with nutrition”

I had almost given up.

Until yesterday.

After 30 referrals from friends, and a phone call to my insurance company, countless phone interviews I *finally* found a doctor I can work with.

He’s a D.O and although he isn’t particularly up on the latest alternative treatments, he was at least knowledgeable enough to know what I was talking about and to understand that yes, certain nutrients CAN be used to treat illness. He had never heard of using low dose naltrexone in the treatment of MS, but he did listen and took down the info on clinical trials I shared with him. So, maybe he’ll research it and start using ldn for some of his MS, Crohn’s and cancer patients. Who knows.. but at least the next time he hears “ldn” he’ll have at least passing knowledge of what it can be used for and how it works.

His nurse was very up on nutrition and supplements. We had a good 10 minute conversation about gluten and msg and the damage they can do to the body. She also keeps her family msg and chemical free.

He was also very comfortable with the idea that I can and will do my own research into any treatment option before I put anything into my body.

“If all my patients were as informed as you, my job would be a whole lot easier, ” he told me.

I like a doctor who likes his patients to be informed.

Since I haven’t updated on my ldn adventure in a while here’s the scoop…………..

I started ldn about a month ago. I had my first MS symptom 20 years ago (at 17 yrs old) was dx’d about 10 years ago (at 27). I’m not ‘very disabled” but I did have significant balance and dizziness problems, my left leg was over sensitive (read if anyone touched my shin it hut to tears) and at the same time I had diminished sensation in other parts of my left leg and foot. I also have vision issues, and stuttering.

With LDN everything except the vision and stuttering are completely gone. My vision is 90% better than it was, and I only stutter now when I accidentally eat something I shouldn’t.  The other day my husband and I went to a homeschool group meeting at a coffee shop. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to discern speech at the table from the background chatter of those around us. Not this time. I was able to follow the conversation at our half of the table completely, and I only had to ask those at the far side to repeat themselves two or three times. I was able to see on the way home well enough to drive. That’s a huge change for me. Night driving has been a problem for at least 15 years, maybe longer.

We’ve also started my 6 yr old stepson on ldn. (he has either Asperger’s or Autism with ADHD and impulse control difficulties)  And he’s doing wonderfully! His speech and general language has improved tremendously, as has his ability to concentrate and pay attention to his school work. Even his reading abilities have seen improvement. He seems to understand more, is able to follow conversations better and has better impulse control. His negative behaviors have decreased dramatically because he can now understand and communicate with us a lot better.

Before ldn, he was hyper, with almost no attention span. He had almost no impulse control and I had to watch him do everything and provide verbal prompts to help keep him on task. Eating breakfast and brushing teeth used to take him over an hour because he would get so side tracked. If he eats gluten or msg it’s even worse. Since he started the ldn he gets up, gets dressed and comes down for breakfast. Makes his cereal and eats it. Then simply puts his bowl in the sink and goes off to brush his teeth and hair. Sounds like a simple thing, doesn’t it? And for most of us it is, but for my stepson morning routine was difficult and took real concentration to accomplish. Most pre lnd days he could not do this without lots of verbal prompting.

There are a couple doctors specializing in Autism who use ldn to treat it with wonderful results. There have been cases of “cured Autism” with ldn and dietary changes. For more info check out Autism_LDN@yahoogroups.com

I was in the hospital last week for a nasty asthma attack. It seems I am allergic to the pollens here in Nebraska and my lungs revolted against the invasion of pollen and whatnot they’ve not had to breathe since I was a child.

The FIRST time I was in the ER on Tuesday night the doctor sent me home almost as soon as I said “no prednisone” I’m serious .I had taken 3 breathing treatments at home, with no relief.  When I went into the ER, the asthma had taken my ability to walk or talk. After they ran my insurance, they did vitals..and THEN (15 min after I got there) they started a breathing treatment using a different medication that what I normally use. It helped enough that I could talk, so long as I didn’t actually get up for anything or move around to much.

Dr came in, “I’ll give you some prednisone and we’ll see how you do.”

“Um, I can’t take prednisone, I react violently to it.”

Dr, “well, you have no choice in the matter. You need the steroids. It’s the only way to treat this.”

Me.. “No, it’s not the only way to treat an asthma attack. There are other treatment options. (I listed out 4 or 5 other things she could do instead of steroids) I always get prednisone induced psychosis, and I’m not taking steroids.”

Doctor walked out of the room. A few minutes later she came back in and listened to my lungs.

“You’re still very tight. I think you need  prednisone to break this up.”

me.. “sorry, I do not want the prednisone.”

Dr. “Fine, I’ll give you a shot of epi, and you can go home.”

Keep in mind that by this time, I was almost unable to speak again.

Nurse came in 2 minutes later, gave me a shot of epinephrine and handed me discharge papers. Under her breath, she said, ” when you get bad again, come back and I’ll make sure you get better treatment.”

There is only ONE hospital in our small town. I didn’t have the choice to go to another hospital.

so.. home I went. By the time we got home, I was tight and wheezing again.

Took a breathing treatment and went to bed. I woke up 2 hours later and could not breathe. Took 2 breathing treatments with no relief. So, back to the ER we went.

As I walked in, the same ER doc looked at me, Back, huh. Are you going to take the prednisone now?”

“No,” I told her, “I told you before, I have a nasty reaction to prednisone and medrol — I become violent, and psychotic, and I hallucinate.”

“Then you can go to (the city 30 min away)”

The nurse brought me another shot or epinephrine while the doctor called ambulance transport. The doctor didn’t even come in to see me. I could hear her in the hall way telling the ambulance service that I was being combative, difficult and refusing treatment.

Excuse me?! I was not being combative. and the only treatment I was refusing was the one that my former and well respected pulmonologist advised me to never take again unless I was looking at a respirator.

She treated me like some sort of medical criminal because I refused her standard treatment. So, she sent me to an ICU 30 min away from my home and family. — the ultimate payback… I didn’t do what she wanted, so she sent me as far away as she could get away with. The local hospital had beds open, she could have admitted me there.

And, she did it on purpose. When I arrived at the receiving hospital the nurse informed me that the report she got from my local hospital was that I was on a ventilator and not breathing on my own. Which is why I was now in an ICU unit.

So, here I was taking up ICU space that could have been better utilized for someone who really needed to be there. I should have been on a general floor.

Sometimes the arrogance of doctors amazes me. And people wonder why I prefer to treat my MS with natural and alternative methods.

on and on that note, several of the nurses and even one doctor from the 2nd hospital are now informed,and sold on LDN for MS. .. more on that later.

It’s been almost a week on the LDN and all seems to be going well. I increased my dosage to 3.0 mg and I feel great. I’ve had no dizziness or pain since I started the LDN. Although, after I increased from 1.5 to 3.0 my vision flaked out again. No worse than it usually is, but not as great as it was the first few days on ldn. So.. I don’t know, maybe I increased too quickly or maybe it’s a healing reaction. I’m not sure. Target dosage is 4.5 mg, but I think I’m going to wait  few weeks before I increase again.

I do know my family is thrilled by the changes brought on since I started the low dose naltrexone. I have a lot more energy and oceans of patience. Which is good because I have 6 kids to keep up with.

All my kids, and my husband say they notice a difference in my patience and energy levels. I was able to take my boys to the library three times this week, and I spent several hours outside, playing in fallen leaves with my kids. We had a blast, and I wasn’t exhausted afterward. Normally, I would be.

Of course, ldn is actually only meant to stop progression of multiple sclerosis. All current symptom reduction is just an added benefit.

And as far and stopping disease progression goes — I met someone this week who has been treating her ms with ldn for almost 10 years. In those 10 years she has had absolutely NO flare ups, and her MRIs have actually shown reduced brain and spinal lesions.

Encouraging, yes?

On Sunday, I went off all my supplements in preparation for receiving and starting the ldn. I want to be supplement free so I know what, if anything the low dose naltrexone is doing for me. After a few weeks on just  the ldn, I will reevaluate my supplements, decide what I need to continue taking, and add those supplements back in. I am still following my gluten free, dairy free, chemical free and meat free eating.

I received my order of Naltrexone on Tuesday afternoon. Mixed it and started my first dose Tuesday night.

Day 1

I started with 1.5 mg at bedtime. Since it was such a small amount, and my first dose, I didn’t expect anything at all.

But…..
30 min after I took that dose, my left ear started to buzz. It sounded like a fly in my ear. This lasted maybe 15 minutes. One of my MS symptoms is a constant high pitch ringing in my ears.

at the same time, my limbs started to feel heavy. Not weak, just heavy. This is one of the side effects of ldn and it usually goes away as your body gets used to the med, so although it was unnerving, it wasn’t worrisome

I had a little bit of trouble sleeping – again, a common side effect when you start ldn.

When I finally fell asleep I had vivid dreams, not scary, just vivid.Again, common

The next morning, my face itched but I felt good. Better, in fact than I’ve felt in 15 years. I’m usually sore, stiff and in a lot of pain first thing in the morning. It takes a good hour for that morning pain to wear off and go away. Wednesday morning, there was NO pain, No stiffness. Nothing.

Through the course of the day, I noticed my vision was a lot clearer than it has been in months. I could read the numbers on our wall calendar from across the room. I’ve not been able to do that since this time last year.

My thinking was a good bit clearer, no “ms brain fog” at all.

My kids noticed I had a good bit more patience and  I didn’t go into overload at all .

My left arm was numb and weak most of the day. I had trouble using the arm for much of anything, but one of the effects of ldn is that your body “revisits’ old symptoms before they disappear. It’s a healing reaction.

Wednesday night, as I got tired, I did not start to stutter, nor did I lose my balance. Usually, getting tired leaves me bouncing off walls and sounding like Porky Pig with speech problem. Not so on Wednesday. I had a little vertigo, but nothing that knocked me off my feet.

Took 1.5 mg ldn at bedtime and went to sleep.

Day 2

Woke up Thursday morning feeling great!  Still no stiffness or soreness in joints or limbs. Felt pretty much the same as on Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon, I was outside playing with the kids, and I my 2 yr old asked me to spin her around. Usually even the slightest spinning puts me on the floor and steals my balance and speech for hours. As I stopped spinning and leaned over to put my toddler down, my two older kids stepped into position to catch me.

I didn’t need them to.

I wasn’t dizzy, I didn’t fall over, nothing.

I was able to spin her again 10 minutes later with no ill effects.

My husband says I seem to have more energy and I’m in a much better mood. (major fatigue and depression are also part of the MS). He claims to be able to see a difference in my face. Says I’m less pale and more vibrant.

Took bedtime dose of 3.0 mg

Day 3

So far, I feel the same as I did yesterday. No major differences, but it’s not even 10 am here yet, so I have the whole day ahead of me. I have noticed some minor pain in my fingers and hands, and I had a short (less than 2 second) dizzy spell but since pain and dizziness are both major symptoms for me, it could be a healing symptom.

I will keep you all updated.

Several people have emailed me privately asking how to make LDN from the standard dose. So, Instead of answering everyone individually, I’ll post the info here, and leave the link, as well. Keep in mind, that I have not actually done this yet, although from what I’ve heard and read, it’s very simple. My naltrexone hasn’t arrived yet, so I’ve not started the process myself.

1. measure 50ml distilled water into a glass container. You need something with a lid.
2. drop 1 50mg naltrexone tablet into the water.
3. close the container and shake well
4. refrigerate.
5. alternate shaking and refrigeration until tablet is dissolved completely. Your LDN is now ready to use
6. at bedtime each night, shake container well, use a medicine syringe (like you use to administer medication to babies) and draw out the prescribed amount of LDN.
7. take your ldn, and follow it with a glass of water.

Now, many of you may be wondering what the advantages are of mixing it yourself over having a compound pharmacy do it.  For many people, there is no advantage.

BUT, when the compounding pharmacist makes the ldn into proper dosage pills, they will have to add a significant amount of filler. From what I understand, either a starch, sugar or yeast is used. And of course, if you are following the BBD, any raw or organic diet or a gluten free, you will want to avoid the added fillers.

So far, there has been no evidence of reaction or allergy to naltrexone itself, although, several people have reacted to the standard fillers used in making ldn pills.

If you choose to make ldn yourself, the most important thing to remember is you need 1 ml of water for every mg of naltrexone in the mixture. When dissolved, the mixture will contain 1 mg of medication per 1ml water. So, if you are taking 4.5 mg naltrexone, you will need 4.5 ml of mixture.

Remember, if you choose to make your own LDN, I am not a doctor, nor am I a pharmacist. I am simply sharing information I have learned from various sources. Follow my instructions at your own risk.