LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

May - US: Fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, Asthma, Allergies (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Mae from the US takes Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for Fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, Asthma and Allergies.

Mae started having skin issues as a teenager and at 37 was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Her rheumatologist put her on amitriptyline and after two weeks she started losing her vision. Mae tried diet changes, elimination of certain foods and additives and managed to get control of her migraines. Feeling a little better but not as well as she could have been she was prescribed prednisone which made everything worse still. 

Feeling at her lowest she admits to feeling suicidal and finally found mention of Low Dose Naltrexone in a blog and she researched it. Mae got a prescription from her doctor and took her LDN the first night and woke the following day feeling better than she had in a long time. Within three days of taking LDN she felt better brain function, less pain and stiffness and she had renewed hope for the future. 

May - Netherlands: Hailey-Hailey Disease (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

I’d like to introduce May, from the Netherlands, who takes LDN for Hailey-Hailey disease. Thank you for joining me. May 

May: You're welcome. My pleasure. 

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell me about Hailey-Hailey disease to start with? That would be a good point. 

May: Yes, I can. Hailey-Hailey disease is a very rare skin disease. Most of the time you inherit it from one of your parents or family members. In my case, I don't know anybody in my mother's or my father's family that has the disease. So I don't know if I inherited it or was just born with it. We’re always born with the disease. It's very rare. It causes blisters into the skin layers, as there is a defection in the calcium pump, which doesn't make the skin layers to layer in a normal way. So actually the skin just collapses in the way. And blisters come from the inside and they come to the outside. And you will get some blisters on your feet and soles. And most of the time the sores will get a secondary infection or bacterial infection. And very often it isn't treated very well by the doctors either, because they don't know much about it. In my case, I was diagnosed with Hailey-Hailey in 2011. I know now that I had it for many years before because my doctor always said it's kind of exceeding eczema or an allergic reaction to something, or she also said it was herpes simplex, but now I know that it was Hailey-Hailey

Linda Elsegood: Did it break out where it gets worse some periods of time than others. 

May: For instance, when your immune system is weaker, or you're going to be sick, like the flu or having a cold, my experience is that the break has come then. I think because, at that time, your body isn't strong enough 

Linda Elsegood: What about stress?

May: Yes, definitely. I try to avoid stress as much as I can. And I guess other fellow sufferers also experience when they are stressed that it's more common to have a breakout. Also heat; you have to try not to sweat a lot, so heat can also be a trigger to let the disease come out.

Linda Elsegood: What treatments did the doctors give you? 

May: When I got diagnosed in 2011, I got steroid cream from my doctors, and in the beginning, it worked, for just a couple of months; but after that, it didn't work anymore. The first time when I had a major breakout it lasted for about nine and a half months, the breakout, and it was under my breast, also covered most of my stomach and on my back. My doctor didn't actually treat me very well, because in the beginning, she said it was shingles. I just became very ill, and I almost couldn't walk. I couldn't drive my car anymore, and I couldn't sleep. I only slept for two, three hours a night, and I wasn't taking the medication themselves. So just my normal, my normal life was just, I couldn't do anything anymore.

Linda Elsegood: It sounds very uncomfortable and very painful.

May: Very uncomfortable It's very painful because it takes a big part of your life, because you can't function in a normal way anymore. So I went back to my doctor - actually, another doctor was sitting there as she was sick - and when he saw the sores he says this doesn't look very good, because the sores, the crust, they were just greenish or yellow and it was smelling. So he said there is something wrong here and I want to take a culture to see if there was any bacterial infection. And at that time I had a major, major bacterial infection. So I had to be treated with antibiotics and the infection went away, but the sores didn't go away. So he said, I can't treat you anymore, I have to send you to a dermatologist. And they took a biopsy, and that's the only way they can say that this is Hailey-Hailey, the only way is to take a biopsy. And that's when I go to the steroids or the cortisone, and they've worked for a short while, just a few months. And then the breakouts came back again, and with both breakouts, I have a major breakout. I say they lasted for about nine, nine and a half months. And the second breakout at the end, I was like, okay, there is nothing they can do. I just have to live with this disease. I didn't get any happier with this and felt kind of depressed in a way, and you're not able to live the life you want to live. Just the same simple daily things, they're just impossible to do actually. And that's when I came to another dermatologist - they wanted him to do second opinion, and it still showed Hailey-Hailey. 

About that time I just typed on Facebook Hailey-Hailey, so I came to a Hailey-Hailey site on Facebook, and that's really changed everything for me. I met fellow sufferers because you don’t know anybody else in your surrounding with the disease. And that's the first time I heard about LDN. I saw the words, the letters LDN, and I asked people what LDN is? And they explained to me what LDN was and their experiences with LDN. When I heard that, I just thought I have to try this, no matter what, I have to try this. And a month later I had an appointment with my dermatologist in the hospital, and I was really also prepared for the battle with him. Cause I thought he wouldn't go along with this. So I mentioned this to him.

He had never heard about it and didn't know what it was. I actually said to him, no matter what, if you do not give it to me, no, I will get it in another way, because Laurie had also told me she could help me get it in another way. So I said to him, I'm going to do it with, or without you.

And after a week or so he called me back, and he said, okay, okay. I would like to try it. And at first, you said, okay, you had to try a 12 and a half milligram. I said, no way, that's not possible because they didn't know of low dose naltrexone. He said to break the tablet, take one piece of the tablet. So I said, you have to listen to me and please, prescribe me a prescription of 1.5 milligrams because I know a pharmacy that's gonna make it for me. So he went along with that and I think 28 or 29th of November, I started LDN for the first time. And within a week, I felt I had more energy. I actually felt so much better than I had been in many months actually. And I also think I overdid things in that first week so off the bat, I felt more fatigued, but I felt much stronger. And just after two, two and a half weeks, I started to see improvement with my skin. The sores, the wounds were drying out, crusts were not green or yellow. And within the middle of the three weeks, it was really starting to heal. My skin was really starting to heal and in January, and let's say about half of January, I was just completely like, my skin was completely clear. Completely clear. Everything was gone. So for me, that was a big miracle. 

Linda Elsegood: So how many years was it that you had it really, really badly. 

May: The problems started for me in 2011 for that one major breakout. Before that, especially in the summertime, I had some small breakouts, but I didn't know what I was having, but now, of course, I know. I didn't have any big problems before 2011.

Linda Elsegood: So how many months were you on LDN before your skin cleared totally? 

May: Almost two months. And then it was totally clear, not one spot. 

Linda Elsegood: Unbelievable, amazing.

May: Yes. My doctor used to phone me every two weeks to see how things are going. I said, boy, you’re in for a big surprise when I come to my next appointment because I'm clear. He said, no way, that can't be possible; and I said yes, it is. My next appointment was in February with the dermatologist, and when he saw it he was just silent. He couldn't believe it. He was just so amazed because he said I didn't have any belief in it. Not any belief. He said, I just had to go along with you, as she said she will get it anyway. I couldn't just let you do this on your own, but he said I had never heard about it, never. And he was just amazed. 

So they took pictures before I began and when I came back, they took pictures. When I came back the first time I had a small rash left, just some crusts. And then when I came back the second time, I was completely clear. They took pictures again, and they were just amazed by the results. 

Linda Elsegood: So is your doctor prescribing LDN now for other patients?

May: I went to see him yesterday and he’s still with a big smile and relief. And he said there was one other patient in the hospital with inherited disease. That patient didn't react to the steroid or cortisone cream. So he had shown my pictures to another doctor, and the doctor treating the other patient now wanted to prescribe LDN to their patient. But the patient wasn’t sure if he wanted to take LDN, but they will try to make him change his mind. So I thought that was amazing because they never heard about LDN and now they are trying to convince another patient to take it. Wonderful.

So I'm going to study about Hailey-Hailey and LDN because Hailey-Hailey disease is one of the few, or maybe the only diseases that are not autoimmune - all the other diseases that people take it for, most of these diseases are autoimmune diseases. So I think it's very interesting also, why does LDN help Hailey-Hailey. 

Linda Elsegood: Thank you ever so much for sharing your experience with us. It's been very inspirational, and I'm sure there are people out there with Hailey-Hailey disease who will now think about LDN, and I hope they encounter a prescribing doctor. Thank you. So thank you very much, May.

May: Okay. My pleasure. Thank you.

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.

Matt - US: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Matt from the United States shares their Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

In this interview, Matt tells his story of how he believes he has had MS symptoms from the early age of 19, yet he was not officially diagnosed until a year ago.

Matt woke up one day with his arm completely numb as well as his legs, making it very difficult to walk. After his diagnosis, Matt searched for alternative solutions and learned of LDN and its success with MS patients.

Since starting on LDN, Matt says his overall mood has improved, he can walk again and his bladder problems have improved greatly.

This is a summary of Matt’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Matt’s story by clicking on the video above.

Matthew - US: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: Today I'm joined by Matthew from the United States. He's going to share his LDN journey with us. Thank you for joining us, Matthew. 

Matthew: Well, thank you for having me, Linda. I appreciate that. 

Linda Elsegood: So could you tell us, when were you first diagnosed? How long ago was it?

Matthew: Sure. I was diagnosed in October 2004 with relapsing-remitting MS, and I had never heard of LDN,  low dose naltrexone. Actually stumbled across it very much by accident. This was before social media and Facebook and things like that. At the time, I was working at a hotel in Florida and doing a medical conference, and my client was actually a doctor, and she had known that I was diagnosed with MS months before, maybe even a year before. She and I became friends and she asked me, have you ever heard of low dose naltrexone, LDN? And I said, no, I have not. And she shared with me all the benefits that it has. 

And she was a doctor in Alabama. She couldn't write a prescription at that particular time, but a funny story was when she had given me a lot of information about it and even provided some literature to me. At that time, I  was seeing a neurologist who I no longer see now. When I spoke to him about it, the very first thing he said was, I have a lot of patients who actually swear by it. I said I want to try it. And I have been on it ever since. I titrated from literally maybe a milligram all the way up to four milligrams. And I've been currently at three milligrams for maybe three, maybe four years. I've been on LDN since about a year after my diagnosis and probably since 2005. 

Linda Elsegood. And what were your MS symptoms like before you started, were you in remission and you didn't know you had MS, were all of your symptoms gone? 

Matthew: My original symptoms were peculiar at that time.  I had the numbing tingling in my fingers. I had cold sensations. If I put my arm on a wooden desk, it felt like I was putting my arm on an ice block.  I was having at that time, some tingling in my legs. I was extremely tired. Fatigue. When  I talked with my wife I knew something was not right. I went to my original family physician, and he aid, you know Matthew, it sounds like MS.  But I don't want you to get on the internet and look it up, but it sounds like. And what do you think the first thing I did, I went back home and I looked it up. Every symptom that was listed on there was exactly that. Again, this was before social media, so there wasn't a lot that I could lean on. Now the different support groups out there are asking questions and getting different answers. So a lot of it was Googling and trying to find as much information as possible.

Linda Elsegood: So after starting LDN, did your symptoms start to improve? 

Matthew: My symptoms did improve. The biggest noticeable one that I have then I noticed immediately was my fatigue. My fatigue dropped altogether. If there is a day that I skip my LDN,  sometimes I'll skip it once every two or three weeks to clear the pathways. Now I'm not suggesting it. One of my close doctor friends suggested that to me and I have done that and I have noticed a difference. AAs an example, when I was not on my LDN, the fatigue was overwhelming. When I started taking it within the second day, maybe third day, it was completely turned around. 

Linda Elsegood: Have you had any more problems with your legs? 

Matthew: I've had MS since I was diagnosed in 2004. I suspect I probably had it prior to that because looking back, I had a couple of symptoms back in 2002. Having it for 14, maybe 16 years, unfortunately, it is a progressive type of disease. It has taken a toll on me, not just the disease, but I was in a very high-stress job and that definitely took a toll on me. As I shared with you, Linda, in my email several weeks ago, one of my goals was always to walk every one of my four girls down their wedding aisle. And I have successfully been able to do that with two of my girls, and I still have two more to go. I expect that that's going to continue throughout. 

Linda Elsegood: Wow. So if you had to rate your quality of life on a score of one to 10 before you started LDN, what would it have been?

Matthew:  Linda, because I was very early onset of MS at that time, my quality of life was still very good. I was still able to do many things. I was able to still run. I was still able to do those types of things. I would say my quality of life definitely got better without question after getting on the LDN. The elimination of fatigue helps a lot. It also helps the pain receptors. I hear and see a lot of people talking about the pain that they have with MS. And I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have pain and I truly believe that has everything to do with the LDN. I just don't have certain pains. Are there times of uncomfortability? Absolutely. Without question, but there's never the time of true pain. But if you are really fatigued, everything you try and do that day, it's very difficult? It's hard to explain what fatigue is like to somebody who doesn't have fatigue, but it's like waking up. And your batteries are flashing red, and you still got to go through the whole day, and every day it can be different.

And even if you have a full night's sleep, you can still wake up feeling just as tired in the morning. So it's the struggle, isn't it? When you have fatigue. If that is all LDN had done for me, it would still be amazing, wouldn't it?  Absolutely. People have asked that same question, this fatigue just means you're tired. And I'm like, well, it's more than just, you know, it's not like feeling sleepy. It's like you feel like you want to take a nap, but you can't fall asleep, and your body is just exhausted. The LDN has tremendously helped with that without question. That's what I would say to everybody.

Anytime I get on the social sites and see people talk about how fatigued they are I let them know to get on LDN, contact your doctor immediately to get this cause that's a big symptom or a big side effect with MS that people battle. There are so many other medications than drugs that people can be drugged upon. And without having all the side effects. It doesn't have any of those side effects, it really is a wonderful aspect of it. 

Linda Elsegood: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, Matthew. Your second-oldest daughter just had a baby. Is that right?  And you've got another one due next year, so you're hopefully going to be a very hands-on granddad and be very busy. 

Matthew: Well, thank you. I expect it. We will be travelling back to Florida a couple more times, but yes, I do expect it.

Linda Elsegood: Good. Well, thank you very much for joining us today, Matthew. 

Matthew: All right, thank you so much, Linda. You have a great day. 

Linda Elsegood: This show is sponsored by our members who made donations. We'd like to give them a very big thank you. We have to cover the monthly costs of the radio station software and phone lines and phone calls to be able to continue with the show.

And thank you for listening. Any questions or comments you may have, please email me at contact@ldnresearchtrust.org. 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.

Mary Grace - US: Fybromyalgia, Myofascial Pain Syndrome, ME/CFS (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Mary Grace from the United States takes low dose naltrexone (LDN) for fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She first noticed symptoms near 30, all starting slow; and has now been successful on LDN medication for four years now. 

Before the medication she had depression and unexplainable pain. To try and relieve this, Mary Grace resulted on 13 different medications; Norco, an anti-depressant and Vicodin for muscle relaxation. She had no pain relief medication at this time and all 13 medications had terrible side effects.

Mary Grace heard about LDN through a therapist after hearing from a patient who travelled to Mexico to find drug treatment. 

During Mary Grace’s suffering she was bed ridden for two years nearly but was so desperate for a suitable and successful medication like LDN. All 5 of her doctors would not prescribe Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) to her. Mary Grace found a resource to order some herself and even after the first day of trying the new LDN medication she had more energy, but still trouble with sleeping and dealing with her ongoing pain. 

Now, 4 years on the LDN medication, Mary Grace has spread widely about her experiences, telling near to 30-40 people.

Although, she still suffers from fatigue, but it is not as bad. She can successfully walk two miles, which she could not do before, and even go on daily walks and outings. Mary Grace has lost 70 pounds and now has lowered the Thyroid medication. Feeling as though she has her life back!

Key Words: Thyroid Medication, weight, Low Dose Naltrexone, LDN, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain, Depression, muscle relaxation, pain, bed ridden, energy, fatigue

Mary - United Kingdom: Sjögren’s Syndrome, Lymphoma, Lupus, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

I am Mary from the United Kingdom and I take low dose naltrexone (LDN) for a variety of autoimmune conditions and cancer.

Two and a half years ago I was taking over the counter antacids when the GP referred for a gastroscopy who showed a gastric lymphoma as a result of a stomach ulcer and Helicobacter pylori infection that lead  into a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma stage four.

I started chemotherapy in July 2017.

The followup appointment with my haematologist cancer specialist diagnosed me with Lupus after having a rash in my chest, shoulders and back and having a biopsy.

I also have Sjogren's syndrome and mixed connective tissue disease.

That's why I started LDN. I came across it while searching in Multiple Sclerosis websites. I found Dickson Chemist because most medical practitioners haven't heard of LDN.

I clicked in the website and downloaded the referral form. About three days later, I had a telephone consultation and about a week later, the prescription turned up.

She said I was a good candidate fo rLDN with all of that going on.

I started at 1.5 milligrams every night, and increased it slowly. I think it was a fortnight before I did the first increase, and they said that I could increase it weekly after that.

So it takes a few weeks to get up to the 4.5 milligrams. But nowadays I find my sweet spot is 3.5 milligrams.

In the beginning I had pleasant dreams and a feeling of euphoria just waking up.

Between week three and week five, I noticed that my joints, all the muscle and joint pain had very much diminished and I noticed a wonderful increase in energy levels. My hand grip was stronger. I was feeling happier and more optimistic.

I chose LDN because it's supposed to optimize the immune system.

I feel like a normal person. That is very important for a cancer person when they're recovering.

Before Christmas, the pet scan showed there were no signs of cancer anywhere. I'm now recovering from chemotherapy and LDN has been by far and away from the most important item in my arsenal for recovery from chemotherapy. Definitely, I'm so grateful to all of you that have got LDN out there and made it accessible in the UK. It's just amazing!

Watch the video for the full story.

Mary - US: Lyme Disease (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Mary shares her story of using low dose naltrexone (LDN) to treat Lyme disease. She became ill approximately four years ago, at age 42. She was in great shape, exercising four times per week, but she had a heart attack and was hospitalized for it, although tests did not show evidence of coronary artery disease. After that, she started having a lot of pain, reduced tolerance for exercise, and her doctor thought she had fibromyalgia. The doctor prescribed Cymbalta for the nerve and muscle pain. 

Mary didn’t think that she had fibromyalgia, so she researched things herself. Two years after the heart attack, her symptoms worsened greatly. She started developing palpitations, transient tachycardia, and neurological symptoms including burning pain in her feet and tingling in her fingers and toes. The fatigue was to the point that after coming home from work, she slept hard for two hours. She went to many doctors, who ran quite a few tests, but the only tests coming back abnormal were her inflammatory markers. She went to a holistic doctor that she knew, who prescribed LDN for her. 

Within a week or two of starting LDN, her fatigue was diminished, and her joint and muscle pain was a lot better. She also modified her diet to remove gluten and dairy, and reduce sugar. She also started eating more organic, cleaner food.

Since beginning the LDN and improved diet, she is happy to be able to keep working. She’d been having terrible pain, fatigue, trouble walking, and brain fog, and as a nurse, she was having trouble doing her job. But all that improved tremendously with Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).

Mary has found that her best dosage is 3 mg. She takes her LDN at night and it works well for her. She was also recently diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, and is hoping that the LDN will help with that as well. While drugs like Cymbalta had side effects that were as bad as her symptoms the doctor was trying to treat, LDN has improved her life very much. 

This has been a summary of Mary’s interview. For the full story, please go to the recording at the link above.

Mary - Scotland: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Mary from Scotland shares their ultiple sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Mary was diagnosed with MS in 2009 but actually started on Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) prior to her diagnosis. Having noticed recurring symptoms of fatigue, numbness and a lack of energy for a number of years, Mary decided to take her treatment into her own hands and decided to research alternative treatments.

While researching Mary came across LDN, which proved to have miraculous effects for her. Within a matter of weeks Mary began to feel better already, mentioning that she felt like “she had her own life back”. 

After gradually working up to her optimal dose, Mary has continued on LDN for many years and sings its praises to anyone she comes across with MS who isn’t already on LDN.

This is a summary of Mary’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Mary’s story by clicking on the video above.

Martin - Wales: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Martin from Wales shares their Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Martin was diagnosed with MS in 2002 in his mid fifties but had been suffering from symptoms prior to his diagnosis. These included weakness in his right leg which restricted his movement and his eyesight was also affected.

He first discovered LDN in his local newspaper, having read a glowing review by another with MS who had experienced a miraculous recovery on LDN. In 2005 Martin was able to obtain a prescription and hasn’t looked back since.

His overall mood has improved, his mobility has increased and his vision is almost back to normal. Martin “definitely recommend LDN to anyone who’s interested”.

This is a summary of Martin’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Martin’s story by clicking on the video above.

Martha - US: Fibromyalgia (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Martha is from Hawaii in the United States, and takes low dose naltrexone (LDN) for fibromyalgia. Her first symptoms were a series of mysterious illnesses, stomach problems, fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivities, that in  2010 was diagnosed as fibromyalgia.

She was pretty much bedridden, felt feverish without a fever, fatigued, and in pain. Her quality of life was a 4, or 5 on a good day.

She heard about LDN in 2006 from a friend who was working with Dr Jackie McCandless, who was from the little community where she lived on the Big Island. She recently passed away but she had used it autism and then started the study in Africa using it for children with HIV.

She started LDN two years ago, and in three weeks her pain was decreased, she slept better, her depression lifted, and now she rates the quality of her life at a 10.

This is a summary of Martha’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Martha’s story by clicking on the video above.