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Linda Elsegood: Today. We have Kathy joining us. Kathy has multiple sclerosis. She's originally from England and now lives in France. Thank you for joining me, Cathy.
Could you tell us how old you were when you first started to experience your ms symptoms? And what did you notice at that time?
Kathy: Well something, I just have a strange sensation down my right-hand side. I'm not completely numb, but just strange, um, tingling almost. And my local doctor, his thought that I had possibly had a mild stroke. So that's why I was taking the hospital immediately. And when they found out it wasn't a stroke, they, um, then went ahead and tested for ms and said that I seemed to have a mild form of ms.
Linda Elsegood: What would you say? Your condition was like before you found LDN.
Kathy: Uh, well, all I had up to that point, as I say, was this, this numbness down the right-hand side, which came and went a little bit, was always there in the extremities, not debilitating, purely sensory didn't really cause me any problems as they only, because I thought it was a stroke that it became a bit of a medical emergency. Um, The doctors here were keen that I started, uh, sorry. My MRI scan did show that I had, uh, one active lesion and the doctors who were keen that I started the DMDs, which I was very keen not to start. Um, and basically stayed off of that. We didn't even entertain the idea until a year later or last March. I had optic neuritis in my left eye, um, which didn't. Totally take away my vision, but a sort of less it blockchain. And then, of course, the doctors started again with, uh, the DMDs, which I'm afraid I have no faith in whatsoever. Um, and I've been reading already about LDN. I'd explored it. Very very, very thoroughly kind of seemed a bit too good to be true.
But I spoke to my local GP here who said his advice was, do not pay the DMDs, but if I wanted to try this, it certainly wouldn't do me any harm. And he was all for it. Although he hadn't heard of it in France for ms at all. There's no information here. It's all. Unfortunately, what was your, your, your, um, Uh, an information sheet is the only information I can get in French.
There's nothing else. It's all. So, um, he was very out for it and that was that.
Linda Elsegood: And how have you, how long have you been taking LDN?
Kathy: I started last June. Um, I am denied for a while, and it spoke to my family about it because obviously it was a big decision as to did that go down the, um, advisory roots at the property or did I try something? Off-label and all my family were very supportive.
Bearing in mind. I did have mild ms. And apart from the optic neuritis, it hasn't caused me any problems. So I started last year and which is actually only a month after my mother died. It was a very stressful time. And I have been absolutely fine ever since. In fact, I felt better than myself from something years.
Linda Elsegood: Wow. And when you say you felt better than you have for years, could you explain what you mean by that? How you felt.
Kathy: I started to get, I suppose, fatigue which I put down to being probably premenopausal. Um, but just fatigue. don't know, just not feeling a hundred per cent.
Um, but I just have energy. I'm enthusiastic. I can take on tasks and finish them without, you know, feeling exhausted halfway through or mentally feeling like I can't do it. I just, I feel good. Basically. I feel 100% almost all of the time, which is probably better than I felt before I was diagnosed.,
Linda Elsegood: you've probably had ms. Longer than when you were diagnosed, you know, that's amazing. Isn't it? How fantastic is that? Oh,
Kathy: absolutely. And I have total faith in the job, and I mean, as far as the neurologists are concerned, that could be the thing. And I said I don't care. To be honest, I don't care what it is.That's making me feel okay. Is if it stops the relapses. Brilliant, um, or, you know, keeps them at Bay for as long as possible. If it makes me feel better or even improves the symptoms where they're all a bonus. Um, really, I'm just trying to do something positive to stop the disease from progressing. But so far, I've been a year without any relapses.
And as I say, feeling great and loving life and living life, not being dragged down by drugs that make me feel horrible.
Linda Elsegood: Wonderful. Well, thank you very much for sharing your inspirational story with us, and we will see what we can do with LDN in France.
Kathy: Oh, is there anything I can help with? I have, I am rapidly translating bits as badly as I can with range, but I do have a friend who has translated quite a lot from my local neurologist, and I'll be happy to send that information over.
And she, she translated some comprehensive stuff from one of the earlier books. Um, but anything I can do to help, I'm certainly educating the doctors here as best I can.
Linda Elsegood: thank you very much.
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.