Becca from England shares her Crohn’s Disease and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Story

I would like to introduce Becca from England who takes LDN for Crohn's disease.

Thank you for joining me, Becca.

Becca: Hello Linda.

Linda Elsegood:  Could you tell us a bit about your experience? What led to your diagnosis?

Becca: Five years ago I was bedbound with chronic diarrhoea, couldn't keep any food down. It went on for about six weeks before I was finally admitted into a  MI and I was in the hospital for over a month, and they diagnosed Crohn's disease.

Linda Elsegood: Were you bleeding at that time?

Becca: Yes, absolutely. I was losing a lot of blood and mucus. Not a normal bowel movement at all.

Linda Elsegood: So did you become anaemic?

Becca: Yes, I did. I lost five stone in weight. Couldn't keep any food down at all.

So by the time I was admitted to my organs started to fail and my family were told to prepare for the worst.

Linda Elsegood: Oh goodness. How old were you even then?

Becca:  I'm in my late thirties, and I had two young children at home.

Linda Elsegood: Oh, that must've been devastating. Absolutely devastating.  What happens then?

Becca: After some intravenous steroids and lots of different treatments I was sent home after six weeks with lots of different medications. I was on 20 different medications a day. But nothing really seemed to have to work, and nothing was really settling it down.  I think to be in a continual flare-up of the Crohn's for over six months.

So during that time, I couldn't leave the house. I was completely incontinent. I was terrified to even go into the garden in case I have an accident. I wouldn't really leave anywhere unless I had a toilet right next to me. It was a very scary time.

Linda Elsegood: Were you able to sleep?

Becca: My normal day's bowel movements were about 20 a day so I'd be up to five, six times in the night to sit in on the toilet sometimes for up to an hour. I can joke about it now. My husband would say to me: "I'm just going to move you into the toilet." to stop disturbing his sleep. It was a pretty difficult time.

Linda Elsegood: I can imagine. And how did your children cope with that?

Becca: I couldn't take them to school anymore, so they were finding it really hard. And they will be in total don't stress mummy hell because she is got this bowel disease. They found it really hard. I wasn't really a hands-on mama in that period.

I had to really take a back seat.

Linda Elsegood: How old were they?

My youngest daughter was eight at the time, and my oldest daughter had just started secondary school. So it was a bit of a crucial time for her. And I just wasn't there for her at that time. I couldn't be.

Linda Elsegood: What led you to find LDN? How did you hear about LDN?

Becca: I heard about LDN from a friend who has Ms. She read a little bit on the website about other illnesses that LDN could help. She'd had a lot of success with LDN. I didn't really take her word for it. I just thought: " It's another miracle cure, and nothing's going to really help me."

It wasn't till about six months later that I actually did my own research into it. Did take me a while to come around to the idea of something would again help me. I just didn't think it would.

Linda Elsegood: Did your own GP prescribed it for you or did you have to get it privately?

Becca:  My own GP was quite happy for me to take it but didn't know anything about it.

So they didn't want to prescribe it. I wrote various letters and sent things that sent through the LDN research to my own consultant at the Royal Boucher hospital and he said, he was happy to do more research, but it would take him up to a year. So I knew I didn't have that long to wait because my life was pretty much impossible. So I did a private prescription via clinical on private.

Linda Elsegood: What were your experiences? Did you notice any initials side effects?

Becca: Yes, when I first started taking it symptoms were a little bit worse for a couple of weeks, and then they became a lot better. As I increased the dose, every time I would have a couple of days of discomfort, but then again, the benefits would kick in then after a few days. So now up to 4.5 mg. I take it every day and there are no side effects at all now when I increase.

Linda Elsegood: How are you feeling now? I mean, how often are you happy to go to the toilet?

Linda Elsegood: About twice a day, which is pretty much a miracle.

I have no inflammation. I have no blood. I lead a normal life. I don't have to wear nappies or incontinence pads. I've been abroad since I've been taken LDN, which was something I could never even consider before and I've actually had another child. I've got a two-year-old son and a perfectly normal pregnancy all the way through. And I really do think that's all down to LDN. Because I wouldn't have been able to even live a normal life or even think about having a relationship with my husband. And now I'm a normal mum, and I go swimming with my son and, do the school runs and just work as well. So it's been a real transformation.

Linda Elsegood: When did you start the LDN? Was it before you got pregnant with your youngest child?

Becca: Yes. I've been taking the LDN for a little while now. So when symptoms settled, and I felt WEDI, then we considered having a baby. I've had no problems taking LDN through pregnancy and just had no problems since cyber.

My consultant is pretty impressed. Colonoscopy showed that I have no inflammation at all and he was astounded. So he's now decided that he's going to prescribe LDN to others with similar symptoms. I think it's fabulous because he's quite a well-known guy in the crimes world in this area.

 I'm really, really impressed that I managed to sway him.

Linda Elsegood: And what does your GP think?

Becca: GP is just absolutely delighted with it. As I said, when I first came out of the hospital, I was taking 22 tablets a day and now down to four, which is fabulous. So  I've slowly tailed off all my medication apart from the four essentials and just take these four and my LDN every day. And that's it.

Linda Elsegood: And your husband's got his wife back and your children.

Becca: Yes, I've got my life back as well which is so important.

Linda Elsegood: What a success story! That is absolutely amazing! So what would you say to other people with Crohn's who are contemplating trying LDN but are a bit scared?

Becca: I would say, don't hesitate. You're already suffering. You've already got all the problems. Your symptoms might flare a little bit initially for the first two days. When I was at my worst I was in a wheelchair for about six weeks. I had a blue badge because obviously I was too weak to walk anywhere. And the steroids that I have on affected my bones which meant I had so much weakness, I could hardly even wash myself. And my husband had to bath me on a daily basis. So I was pretty much totally disabled for a short time and really opened your eyes to how much you take for granted when you're like that.

Linda Elsegood: And how close were you to having surgery?

Linda Elsegood: I was told that I needed a colostomy bag urgently and if I refuse, I was at risk of my bowel bursting and actual death. But when I spoke to the colostomy nurse, and I had my markings for surgery, something in me just said, "No, actually this isn't for me."

I just need to see if I can manage this on my own. There must be some other way. So I pulled out an hour before surgery and said, "No, I'm changing my mind." And that was the best decision I ever made.

 

Any questions or comments you may have, please contact us. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for joining us today. We really appreciated your company. Until next time, stay safe and keep well.