LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

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

Helen from England shares her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Helen began to lose her balance around 15 years ago, leading to multiple falls and bruises. She went to see her GP who couldn’t recognise the problem yet, but one of her falls led to a replacement shoulder.

Thankfully Helen heard about Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) through one of her colleagues, who noted that it’s very successful at treating patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Following trying LDN, Helene has never looked back and says it has revolutionised her life for the better.

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

Heidi from England who has multiple sclerosis shares her LDN story.

She started experiencing symptoms about 3 years ago when she was 45. She started showing weakness of muscles as symptoms, she couldn’t walk or stand upright. She went to a neurologist and it took her 2 years to get diagnosed. She started LDN about 2 months after she were diagnosed so about 9 months now. She had headaches as a mild side effect but went away quick. It was a slow start for LDN to work but she started getting feeling and movement back in her limbs. It was easier to move muscles. Before LDN life quality was a 4/10 now it is a 9/10.

To listen to Heidi's story click the video link

Any questions or comments you may have, please contact us. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Hazel - Ireland: Crohn's Disease (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

I'd like to introduce Hazel from Ireland who takes LDN for Crohn's disease. Thank you for joining me, Hazel. 

Hazel: Okay. 

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell us about your Crohn's disease when you first started to notice symptoms? 

Hazel: Oh yeah. Well, it was about 15, 16 years ago when actually, just prior to being diagnosed, I had been travelling to Asia with my husband. We had been married just recently, so we decided to move to Australia. So we went to Asia for three months, and it was glorious. As soon as I landed in Australia, I started getting very mild symptoms. But my brother-in-law, who was a doctor said, Oh, you better go to a doctor to be diagnosed, there's something wrong, you know? So I was diagnosed originally with ulcerative colitis, but it was extremely mild. And I was fine until about three years ago. So I had a good spell of being excellent, with very limited disease, and I couldn't relate to anybody who was sick with inflammatory bowel disease. 

But then my daughter was diagnosed after being sick for about three weeks. She was diagnosed with Crohn's about three years ago, and it really affected me. And I just had an absolutely huge flare and I actually didn't know what's going on because I'd never experienced it before. But I was extremely sick by the time I got to the hospital, and I was both in and out of the hospital for about two months. It was just terrible. 

And then, eventually, I got it under control with the whole treatment dedicated to it, between the steroids and every single drug they gave me. And I just went from there and plodded along for a while. I kind of started doing some research and came across diets and things like that, and I was actually on a diet, super carbohydrate diet. 

I actually started to come across people who were taking this drug called low dose naltrexone. And I just didn't do anything about it at the time. I was kind of concentrating on the diet, but it just kept on coming up in Google searches and in people's posts about inflammatory bowel disease and LDN. And I just said, you know, I'm just going to really try and get this because I did so much research,  and I really wanted to try it because  I wanted something to get my daughter because she was on immunosuppressants and I was really anxious to get her off that. And I just felt that anything I do, and if it works, and it has got little or no side effects, it's something to give my daughter as well. So it was kind of like a mission I had. So I eventually got LDN, and I started this about ten months ago. So I've been on it since with a diet, and I'm absolutely perfect. It's been brilliant. 

So I've been absolutely thrilled. It's just really turned my life around, and no, I wouldn't use LDN really as such on its own, but I do use it with the specific carbohydrate diet. But I do think it helps because I was extremely sick. I had another flare after the first one and I was very sick again, and I just decided I have to do something. So I'm a year and three months now down the line of the diet and using LDN for ten months. And I really, really have not looked back. It's been fabulous. So, yeah it's been great. 

Linda Elsegood: Did your own doctor prescribed LDN for you and your daughter? 

Hazel: Nope. I had to ring a pharmacist in Galway that processes and compounds it. It’s in County Galway, I can't remember the name of the pharmacist - Brendan Quinn.  And they put me in contact with the GP that is about three-quarters of an hour from me. It's the nearest GP I could get, who would prescribe it. Unfortunately, my own GP wouldn't do it. She never heard about this, and my consultants refused as well. So I decided well if they don't give it to me, somebody else will have to. So I actually got it from Dr Maeve Bradley in Macroom. She had used it for fertility - she has a fertility clinic. And she was great. She had no claims about giving it to me, and she knew all about this, and she's having great success with it, she said. So I just said,  this has to be tried. So it's been brilliant. It's been great. And I get it from Skip's pharmacy in America, so it’s legal. 

Linda Elsegood: And how about your daughter? How has she been? 

Hazel: Yeah, she's been fine. I'm just one of these people who does believe in diet restriction for Crohn's. I mean, it's a digestive disorder. I just rely on research I've done, that diet really does help. So she's been really well. And you know, they were quite negative about her too, when she was diagnosed. So it's been a great relief to see her well, and she's growing, she's tall, and she's had no problems really since the diet. And I'm hoping long term, with LDN - she only started about four months ago, so we're still going with that. But it's great because she was getting headaches from the immunosuppressants and this long term, I would be very nervous about leaving her on it when there is LDN that’s just perfectly safe. There's no toxicity. There's no such thing as a mild drug. Compared to the standard treatment for Crohn's.

Linda Elsegood: What dose is she on? 

Hazel: She is on three milligrams, which is what I take as well.

Linda Elsegood: And you also said your son takes LDN and he's got really bad allergies.

Hazel: Yes, he does. It just started off as seasonal allergies, and it just seemed to keep on going, and it was getting worse. He would just have it during the winter, as well as just wake up and his nose was streaming, his eyes were streaming; and sneezing, coughing, and sometimes it would go to his chest, and we tried just so many things. And this year he has his junior cert, so I just felt he can't miss school the way he did last year.

So I decided after trying lots of things, I've said, you know, LDN could work for him too, because it does work on the immune system. And it's obviously an immune response he's going through, and it's been brilliant. He actually has been really well. I still give him supplements. I give him strong vitamin C, but he has been great. He has not looked back. He's had no attack in a long time. He will still every now and again get a very slight kind of a runny nose or whatever, but nothing compared to what he had.

So it definitely worked for him, because I suppose out of all of us, we can see that he was worse, he was constant every week or every two weeks he'd have an attack. So he hasn't had any major attack since he started LDN. 

Linda Elsegood: Well, that's amazing, isn't it?

Hazel: Yeah. I do. I do think LDN is helping a lot think it's really worth the try for anybody. who's got a chronic illness, and it has no side effects, and it's quite reasonable too if you can get it. We're here in Ireland, and I get it from America, And the dollar to Euro exchange kind of help as well. So yeah, it's been great. 

Linda Elsegood: Well, thank you very much for sharing your experience with the title. 

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.

Hanah - England: Parkinson's (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Hannah from England uses Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for Parkinson's disease.

"Back in 1999 I still hurt my elbow and started having fun with my balance. Then I would have been 45. More than 10 years had passed by and I could barely walk and I was in a wheelchair.

I knew about LDN through a lady that had MS and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's are both brain conditions. They share similarities.

I started taking Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and haven't had side effects. Within a week, I was sort of aware that my bones were improving. I could walk down the stairs and I wasn't rattling around the bathroom like some drunk every time I had to go there.

Bladder control is much faster. It is not back to what it was before Parkinson's, but it's almost as good as it was.  Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) absolutely fantastic.

It seems to keep improving things.  I have not had anymore freezing spells for six months and I've got more stamina. I continued improving for about 18 months."

Summary of Hanah's interview.

Please listen to the video for the full story.

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

Haley from Germany shares her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Haley first started to notice Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms when she was 22 years old in 1978. Her right foot became numb and consequently she couldn’t walk properly.

Thankfully, Haley was diagnosed swiftly thus was able to start looking for solutions but no treatment had great success until she came across Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).

She said “I’ll definitely continue taking LDN. It’s certainly helped me in so many ways. If you’re thinking about trying LDN, then just go for it. It’s so good.”

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

Gwen - England: Primary Progressive MS, Fibromyalgia (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Gwen from England shares her LDN for primary progressive MS and fibromyalgia story.

She was about 49 years old when she first noticed she was completely exhausted all the time. She had an awful time walking that progressed over time.

Her quality of life before taking LDN was at a 4. She found out about LDN 5 years ago after being diagnosed. The side effects she had were terrible nightmares for 2 weeks but went away. She started seeing improvements instantly and her muscles started relaxing a lot more. She was able to get right out of bed whereas before LDN it would take hour ½. Her quality of life improved from a 4/10 to a 9/10.

To hear the full story please watch the video.

Any questions or comments you may have, please contact us. I look forward to hearing from you. 

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

Gudrnn from Iceland takes Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for fibromyalgia. 

She was 43, and it happened rather suddenly, she noted insomnia and back pain, and all of a sudden she started waking up very tired and achy, and even had to go home from work at lunchtime sometimes because she was so tired.

Before Low Dose Naltrexone a typical day was waking up achy and tired and having to make a huge effort just to get out of bed and when she got to work, she would drink a few cups of coffee just to get herself going. On a good day, she could barely be able to finish a full day of work, but on bad days she would sometimes have to go home early,

She was taking a lot of pain killer to get through the day, in the evenings she would crash and have to rest until the next day. Her brain fog was also bad.

Before LDN her quality of life was a 3 to 4 on a scale of 10, 10 being the best.

She started LDN 4th of July, 2012 and had been on LDN 4 years at the time of this interview

After LDN her Brian fog went the next day but it took the pain and fatigue a few weeks to go.

A typical day after LDN, she wakes up feeling pretty well. she goes to work often tired by the end of the day and not in that much pain. She was hardly ever takes any painkillers. And is able to go out in the evening.

Her quality of life is 7 or 8! 

To listen to the full story click the video link.

Any questions or comments you may have, please contact us. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for joining us today.  
 

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

Today. I'd like to welcome. Gretchen's from the United States. You take LDN for Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis Thank you for joining me,

Gretchen. Thank you.

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell us when you first experienced symptoms?

Gretchen: It came on quite suddenly back in spring of 2013. So about three years ago,

Linda Elsegood: what did you notice?

Gretchen: I initially noticed balance issue is I lost my balance on two different occasions, which was very odd.

That was where I first see them.

Linda Elsegood: And how old were you?

I was 52.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And you've not had anything in the past that came and went  So what happened next after the initial problems?

Gretchen: Well, after I had the balance issues, I went to my primary care physician, and she scheduled an MRI for me after I failed neuro neurological tests with her, like walking and, you know, trying to point my finger to my nose and different things.

And I had an MRI done, and I was told that I had a brain tumour. So they sent me to a neurosurgeon who. Decided that he thought I had ms. Because I was, uh, I got worse with heat, and he thought that was

classic ms. Symptom.

Gretchen: So he referred me to a neurologist who,  um, did a bunch of testing on me. Everything came back negative, except the MRI showed one big lesion.

So they, I ended up having to have a brain biopsy too, too, uh, distinguish it as MS.

Linda Elsegood: Wow. That sounds rather scary. Doesn't it?  being told that you've got a brain tumour must have been really frightening. So what happens then? How did they point to Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis?

Gretchen: Because the lesion presents as a tumour. They, they call it two months active and plus one lesion did so much damage from the, I actually am disabled from that one lesion. They treated me initially treated me with steroids, which just, I kept just getting worse and worse and worse on the steroids.

And instead of just balance issues that I lost my entire left side was paralyzed, which is my dominant side. So I couldn't even get up off a chair. I couldn't go to the bathroom. I couldn't do you know, showers or anything by myself. I needed help with pretty much everything initially because I kept getting worse. That's when they decided they were going to do the brain biopsy because they kept vacillating between MS and brain tumour.

So they still: weren't. Sure. So they made me do the biopsy to determine which it was. And that definitively and it's to prove that it was MS. Lesion.

Linda Elsegood: And did they give you any of the treatments other than the steroids?

Gretchen: I had initially switched me over to another neurologist who put me on Rituxan treatments, which is like a chemo drug.

That wasn't until October of that year. So I went for months just with steroids, which made me worse. And then I didn't have any other treatments until that fall when I had Rituxan, which I really wasn't thrilled about because I did not want to, I did not want to kill my immune system. I just didn't think that was a good course of treatment, but she told me I had aggressive.

MS Needed aggressive, aggressive treatment.

Linda Elsegood: And how did you hear about LDN?

Gretchen: I actually heard about it from Kathy, from the UK, because she's on my two minutes active Facebook group, Facebook group. So I heard about it from her and I was very intrigued by it because it was something that wasn't a chemo drug and I, and it was on an oral med.

Linda Elsegood: And how did you manage to get a prescription?

Gretchen: I actually, I went to my neurologist, and I asked her for it, and she said, well, I had one person on it, but they didn't have any, any change at all, but I was insistent. And so I said, well, I want to try it. And I was surprised she actually did prescribe it for me.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And when you first started, did you experience any initial side effects?

Gretchen: Nothing. No side effects. How long have I had a couple of dreams that I actually remembered in the morning, but they weren't like vivid nightmare dreams. It was just a dream that I actually would remember.

Linda Elsegood: And how long did it take before you noticed improvements?

Gretchen: noticed within days. And at that time I have very bad spasticity, and I had extreme, terrible, terrible pain in my left arm. My left bicep. I couldn't even straighten my arm out without just excruciating pain. And I had been prescribed back within, which is a muscle relapsing, which barely touched it. I mean, it was so my worst symptom at the time. And soon I realized my pain was gone with the LDN and I was thrilled.

Linda Elsegood: Yes. If you can keep paying us the control, you feel so much better with everything else. Don't you use it, be able to cope better? Oh, absolutely. So apart from the pain, what would you say that LDN has done for you?

Gretchen: The other thing it has done is totally taken away my heat intolerance.

Normally, if I got heated, I would get like, almost like a noodle. Like I didn't have, you know, my symptoms, we get way worse and stuff. If I took a warm shower or like a heated in any way, I got worse and I have no effects from here at all anymore, which allows me to do my exercising twice a week.

I have no symptoms of from heat at all.

Linda Elsegood: That's fantastic. How long have you can take?

Gretchen: I started it in April of 2014. So about a couple of years.

Linda Elsegood: So how would you describe your life since being on LDN.

Gretchen: Oh, so much better. I love it. And I tried to promote it to everybody that I know I've read your book by the way, which is awesome.

And I had it on my Kindle, and then I said, no, I need to get a hard copy of this because I want to be able to bring it around and give it to people.

So, I bought some other ones.

Linda Elsegood: Oh, that's wonderful. And if you had to rate your quality of life on a score of one to 10, 10 being the best, what would it have been pre-LDN?

I would say more like a three.

And what would you say it is now?

Gretchen: Eight, I think it's a miracle drug and you know, I know people have

some type of here sometime taking it. I totally didn't have fear. I was so anxious to get on there cause I'd heard such great things about it and it's proven true for me.

I have a very bad tolerance for drugs.

So things make me a little nervous, but for some reason, LDN did not, and I've had such good results with it. I've been really, really happy.

Linda Elsegood: So if anybody's listening to this, who's got Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis.  What is your Facebook group?

Gretchen: Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis MS. Facebook group. Yes, I would definitely say try it.

There are a few of us on it, so, which is great.

Linda Elsegood: And it's always nice to have help and support from other people who have the same condition as yourself. So I'm sure people would find that of benefit to join that group.

Yes. Thank you very much. You're sharing a story with us.

Gretchen: Thank you. I appreciate everything that you do, and it's just been a wonderful, wonderful treatment.

Linda Elsegood: 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.

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

Grainne from Ireland shares her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood

Grainne was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 45. She first noticed her symptoms when she was running a marathon and noticed a tingling sensation in her legs and was then unable to run properly.

She was limited to completing only 2,000 steps a day, leaving Grainne housebound for the following months.

“It was really terrible, I missed running and I missed outside. But, once I found Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), everything changed for the better.

It was around the Christmas period following me starting on LDN that I came downstairs and surprised my daughter. She couldn’t believe that I got out of bed and managed to get down the stairs myself.

LDN is a fantastic drug that has helped me in so many ways and I would wholly recommend it to anyone with MS who’s looking for a viable solution.”

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

Gisli - Iceland: ME/CFS (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Gisli had been suffering from CFS/ME since he was near 10 years old, the illness commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Low Dose Naltrexone. 

Gisli didn’t recognise the illness until he was 25 years old where he then received anti-depressants for his depression and mood swings. During this time, where he was commonly ignored by doctors, or receiving the wrong diagnosis treatment; before low dose naltrexone (LDN), Gisli was in a critical condition after encountering the common flu. He was in the third state of progression of his disease, which lead to paralysis for one and a half years, making him bed bound. Furthermore, Gisli also experienced the harsh reality of losing the ability to talk, difficulty to form sentences, as well as finding it a challenge to read text. This was not the end, he also became very hot which resulted in having post access to no malice. Most activities Gisli tried proceeded in him being in bed after. 

Like mentioned earlier, Gisli received little to no help from doctors, the medical system left his condition untreated which made him realise he would have to face his demons on his own. Gisli found patient and medical groups online, a community to connect with like people, experiencing similar conditions. Realising they had received help from LDN. Now knowing and gathering up further information from other people; Gisli managed to receive a prescription for low dose naltrexone (LDN) after visiting his General Practitioner with articles of the medication he desired to receive and try for himself. The GP understood Gisli’s situation and his deterioration from the past and agreed to it; trying out one half of a milligram for roughly three months. 

His side effects were sleeping more, sometimes for 18 hours a day. Although, Gisli did take this as a positive side effect, as before the medication he was finding it hard to sleep for near enough one and a half years. On the fourth day of medication he noticed the ability to concentrate more, the feeling of success through this medication made her tearful towards friends and family, where he had the positivity of hope, feeling as if he could live again. 
Now, Gisli posts positivity on online groups and resources. 

Summary of Gisli's interview, please listen to the video for the full story. 

Any questions or comments you may have, please Contact Us. We look forward to hearing from you