LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

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

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Anne from France who has Multiple Sclerosis. Welcome, Anne.

Anne (France): Thank you!

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell us when you first started to notice MS symptoms.

Anne (France): I first started to notice MS symptoms when I was in my mid-thirties. They were urgency, left foot dragged a bit.

Linda Elsegood: And when were you finally diagnosed?

Anne (France): I was finally diagnosed because I went to an optician because I wasn't being able to see red, the colour red. And he said to me: "You need to go and see your doctor." So, he obviously knew what it was. And I knew as well, I suppose. So I went to the doctor who sent me to a neurologist, and they diagnose it in 1981.

Linda Elsegood: So how did your MS behave between 1981 and when you found LDN?

Anne (France): I had very odd social behaviour because the relapse was so different. Sometimes it would be the eyes that were very much affected,  legs walking, losing balance, a loss of energy.

Linda Elsegood: Were you having a lot of pain at that time?

Anne (France): Yes, I had a lot of pain too.

Linda Elsegood: Just trying to remember what you told me earlier. So what about fatigue?

Anne (France): Fatigue was one of the things for me. I was teaching at the time and, once or twice  I think my lessons must be more boring than I realized.

I went to sleep in my own lessons.

Linda Elsegood: And what about cognitive problems?

 Anne (France): I was having that as well. 

Linda Elsegood: So how did you hear about LDN?

Anne (France): I read about LDN in the magazine, New Pathways, and it seemed to be a good thing to try, so I had a go and I was very glad I did.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. How easy was it for you to obtain a prescription?

Anne (France): Very difficult actually, because no one would give me a prescription until I went privately to a neurologist and honestly, in a lot of pain at that time, he didn't know what to do to help me. And I asked him, what about trying it? As you know, there's no harm in getting you to go. And he said: " Right, you go ahead." He would write me a prescription. That was great. I was really overjoyed.  And after that took the prescription to the pharmacy and haven't any problem in getting it. And it was fine. And after that, my doctor wrote one every time I needed it.

Linda Elsegood: What year did you start LDN?

Anne (France): I think it was in 2001. You are now in 2011, right?

Linda Elsegood: So when you first started, did you notice any introductory side effects?

Anne (France): I didn't know if there are any side effects except that the pain was much less. I was so grateful for that. I was always convinced right from the beginning when I didn't really believe that I had MS, I couldn't really believe it. I thought.

that was being confronted with lots of problems in my life and I've always overcome them. So that was one of the ways it helped me to overcome it, and I was so glad.

Linda Elsegood: So what would you say LDN has done for you?

Anne (France): It got rid of the pain. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but it's helped me a lot in that way, and I was very grateful to that.

Linda Elsegood: Did it help with any of your other symptoms?

Anne (France): It didn't really help with fatigue because I just got as tired as I was before but I maybe have a little less.

Linda Elsegood: And what about cognitively?

Anne (France): I would like to say that it helps but unfortunately, no.

Linda Elsegood: So really what it's done for you is helped with the pain. What would you say to other people who are contemplating trying LDN?

Anne (France): I would say definitely try it and if you can't find that your local GP write a prescription for you, perhaps do as I did and go privately and say you wanted to give it a try.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. Is there anything you would like to add?

Anne (France): I think that family knowing that there was something there actually helped and doctors were there was a wonderful support.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. 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.

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

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Anne from England who takes LDN for Multiple Sclerosis. Thank you for joining me Anne.

Anne: Okay.

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell me when you first started to notice ms symptoms?

Anne: It was probably in the early eighties.

Linda Elsegood: What symptoms were you experiencing at that time?

Anne: They were pretty mild. It was restless legs in the night. That's very mild to start with and then I started to get tingling in my feet, in my hands. And the aggressively, they got worse and worse. In the beginning, I was having about one minor attack every couple of years. Then I was having one a year, and they were getting progressively more severe. And by the time I started taking LDN I was having up to two big attacks a year and losing all my ability to see colour in my left eye. Another time having double vision so I couldn't drive, I couldn't even walk on my own. I was chipping up, and I'm finding it very, very difficult. I was on crutches. It was getting very bad. They were getting worse and worse and worse.

Linda Elsegood: So at that point, if you'd had to rate it  your quality of life on a score of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, what would it have been?

Anne: When I was having an attack, it was going down to like a 3.

Linda Elsegood: And how did you hear about LDN?

Anne:  I had a friend who heard about LDN with MS, and she went on it.  She got major remission. She sent me the information pack. I read that. I was very encouraged and then I did everything I could to get it. This is quite a procedure. Linda Elsegood: Did you manage to get your own GP to prescribe it for you?

Anne:  It took me years before I could do that. I started the LDN in May. I didn't get it prescribed until about 3 years ago. I was getting it from Skips pharmacy in America for a long time. Then I found a doctor in London because I live in London. Who would prescribe it for me? Then I contacted my consultant at Neurology Hospital in Queen's square and he was very unfriendly and very rejecting. I sent him all the information pack. I sent him a lot of information, and eventually, I petted him so much that he got fed up with me and said: " Look, I have a consultant colleague." So I went to see the colleague who was really kind and recommended I would have it subscribed on the NHS. So that is a huge victory for me ever since.     

Linda Elsegood: And when you first started, did you notice any introductory side effects?

Anne: No. None.

Linda Elsegood: And how long did it take before you started to notice any improvements?

Anne: I never had another attack since starting LDN. I didn't have one attack.

Linda Elsegood: Wow, and has your MS progressed?

Anne: No.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. So what symptoms do you have of MS now on a daily basis?

Anne:  I have the visual nerve damage. My balance still isn't as great as it was but it is okay. I don't fall over or anything like that.  But I'm not as bad balanced as I used to be. I still can't go river walking now, going from the sentences down, then toss myself. I do have some pain in my left foot but it's better. It doesn't really spoil my quality. I can't go for a good long walk, which is a shame, but that's all.

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

Anne: It's fantastic. I was getting so bad that the attacks were getting really tightening. I was loosing so much capacity.

Linda Elsegood: What would you say to other people who are thinking of trying out LDN and maybe are bit sceptical?

Anne: It has really worked for me, and although there's no guarantee it'll work, everybody is well worth a try.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you for sharing your experience, Anne.

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.

Anne (2) - England: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: like to introduce Anne from England who takes LDN for multiple sclerosis. Good morning 

Anne (England): Good morning. 

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell us when you were diagnosed with MS? 

Anne (England): I was officially diagnosed in 1980, but I've had about 15 years before. In 1990, I was diagnosed with MS. 

Linda Elsegood: Oh, right, okay. So what symptoms did you have in those 15 years? 

Anne (England): I kept losing my balance that was one thing. And then I started to drag in my right foot, it just wouldn't work properly. You know, I was falling apart it didn't make sense it had to be MS.

Linda Elsegood: So what were your symptoms like by the time you were diagnosed?

Anne (England): Well, I've had very little change. Um, it was very, very slow. I went into a hospital, and they did a lumbar puncture. And as I said, I came at being far worse than when I'd gone in. Whether that was because I realized it was something very serious. And also, I don't know. But my balance and my walking really went down Hill over the weeks.

Um, and then the consultant told me, yes, you've got MS. Thank you very much. 

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

Anne (England): Well, I would say it was about seven deteriorating, quite rapidly down to four. Yoga or swimming, all sorts and it was just going out to the window. Plus I got children of six and nine at the time. So it was a big impact. 

Linda Elsegood: So when did you first get these symptoms?

Anne (England) um, well I, I would be, I would say I would be in my mid to late thirties.

Linda Elsegood: And how did you hear about LDN

Anne (England): LDN? It was an article in my local MS magazine, and it turned out there's a guy lived a couple of hundred yards across the road from me, I didn't know because there's the main road and I didn't know him. He just wrote an article singing the praises of LDN. I rang him and took it from there. 

Linda Elsegood: Were you able to get your own doctor to prescribe it or did you have to get it privately? 

Anne (England): Oh, yes. I, I just went and saw my doctor. I took all the information from the LDN side on not only the basic information on its impact on MS, took it up to my doctor, who was very good.

He read it, and he said, you want to try it? Do you think it'll do some good? Here you are. He gave me a private prescription while I'm on the phone. Yes, he was. It was brilliant. 

Linda Elsegood: Yes. So when you started, how long ago was that? Now. 

Anne (England): Um, I can tell you exactly because it was 2003 and I started it just before we were due to go on holiday and I started taking it in liquid form, um, which I, I couldn't really cope with, with messing around with this arrangement and things, cause my fingers don't work very well on some days.

I started in 2003, I'm liquid form, I, within six months I was, I was on the capsules.

Linda Elsegood: So when you first started, did you send the introductory side effects? 

Anne (England): Absolutely nothing at all. Nothing happens in the first two or three days. And then on about the fourth day, I was walking holding my husband's arm to the car. And he suddenly said, you were walking a lot better. And he noticed immediately. I wasn't dragging on his arms so much. I was still using my stick, but I wasn't dragging on his arm so much. And he actually comes into it, and I thought. Well, it's obviously working because I thought it was just me, you know, I will be thinking, 

Linda Elsegood: Oh, that was very quick, wasn't it?

Anne (England): Yes. It was four days and I don't think I've looked back since, you know. 

Linda Elsegood: Right. What would you say your quality of life is now? 

Anne (England): I go out every day. I maintain all the garden, and I want some vegetables going. That's basically a big garden. But I do much better and squat down and, um, do the gardening of sitting on a chair usually. And, um, a couple of years ago, my daughter, got married from here, and we had the reception for 90 odd people in the garden. And I helped paint all the fences and do everything.

Linda Elsegood: If you rated it on a score of one to 10, 10 being the highest, what would you say?

Anne (England): The my quality of life? Yeah. Oh, I'd say I'm on an eight. And I just get on with life, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

Linda Elsegood: fantastic. And would you say LDN has helped lighten your mood?

Anne (England): Uh, yeah. I've had people say why are you always so cheerful? I can't do anything about MS it won't go away. Won't improve with age, so get on with it. You know, what's the point of being miserable about things? 

Linda Elsegood: And what would you say to other people who are thinking of trying LND?

Anne (England): give it a go. There's nothing to lose. Well, you've got maybe a few pounds to lose, and you've got nothing else to do. I've also tried things. I even went down the STEM cell road. 

But just for the sake of a few pounds, give LDN a try, and I certainly found it fabulous. And I continue to recommend it to anybody, and everybody.

Linda Elsegood: Well, thank you for spreading the word and long may your gardening continue. 

Anne (England): You're very welcome.

Linda Elsegood: Any questions or comments you may have. Please email me. Linda, L I N D a@ldnrt.org I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. You are joining us today. We really appreciated your company. Until next time, stay safe and keep well.

Annalie - South Africa: CDIP (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Annalie shares her CDP and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Annalie is from South Africa and her husband, Lee, became ill with CIDP around 2011. Being diabetic, Annalie originally attributed her husband’s downturn in health to this, however as he continued to deteriorate they recognised it was something more serious.

In search of alternative treatments to help her husband recover, Annalie came across Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). In this interview, Annalie explains how LDN helped her husband avoid being committed to a wheelchair and regain his life.

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

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

Linda Elsegood: This morning I'm joined by Anna from England who uses LDN for Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Thank you for joining me, Anna.

Anna: That's a pleasure.

Linda Elsegood: How old were you when you first noticed that there was something wrong with you?

Anna: When I first knew something was wrong, I would have been about 14.

 I wasn't diagnosed until 2011 when I was 52 coming up 53 but it made sense as an awful lot of illnesses that I've had through my life.

Linda Elsegood: So what were you noticing when you were 14?

Anna: When I was 14 a doctor said that I had tonsillitis or something like that. I had a lot of flu-like symptoms quite regularly, and if I had actual flu or even a cold, it hung on for ages and ages. And the doctor said it was post flu syndrome or something like that. I thought when I found out, that's what it was. But I also had bad pain too. I have this sort of theory that hormones were involved in.

When I was 11 I was having not proper periods if you know what I mean.

Linda Elsegood:

So before you were diagnosed with MS, what was the typical day like for you? What sort of symptoms in that did you have?

Anna:  I think I had relapsing-remitting throughout my life. I used to remark that every year I had to give something up.

I was quite sporty and every year something went by the ball because it was too much. I was getting nearest to a diagnosis of menopause, so I suppose that it disrupted things and I thought that's what it was. I was so tired, just so tired. I've been with my present partner for about 11 years now.

So he's kind of come through with me and we used to drive into work sometimes, about an hour's drive to get to work and I just can't count for the first day in the car if he was driving, obviously not if I was driving and it was unusual, and I kept thinking: "Oh God, this menopause is really ragging me."

And I had a thought. Your bad back anyway. And that went one day, and that was it. And I got sent to various people to see what was going on.

 I worked for London underground at the time. That's where Bob and I met. And they said: " We're fed up. Were you taking time off? We're going to send you to a specialist, a back specialist." So I went there, and he said:" Something's wrong. This is not just back problems. You need to go to a neurologist." I was like, what? Why should I need a neurologist? And of course, I went there, and the rest is history. I was diagnosed.

Linda Elsegood: With the fatigue anything else?

Anna: Well, the back was bad. My walking was getting worse, but I thought that was to do with the back. But now I realize it's probably an awful lot more than that because I've got slight drops from a left foot. I fell over. I mean, all of the signs were there.

In retrospect, you can see it all. One day walking down platform was a train driver for the underground. So I had a heavy bag. I was walking down with the mate here, the door. I just scuffed the ball of my foot on the ground, which is the one with drop foot. And I went like a Gooden, flew at him, and he said he's nowhere to catch me or get out the way.

And I'm pleased he got out the way because he was about six inches smaller than me. I've probably killed him. But so all of the things like that, and I found that where whenever I walked, particularly on stairs and I always held the rail which previously I hadn't done that. But, so I was losing balance a bit and ability to walk and fatigued, I suppose with the worst symptoms. And still are.

Linda Elsegood: If you had to rate your quality of life on a score of 1 to 10 before you started LDN, 10 being the best, what yours would it be?

Anna: 2

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And how did you hear about LDN?

Anna: I think it was a lady on Facebook who I got talking to on an MS website and she ran an LDN one as well. We've just got chatting about it. I'm pretty sure it was through her.

Linda Elsegood: And how did you manage to get a prescription? Would your own doctor prescribe it for you?

Anna: He didn't even know what I was talking about when I went to the doctor. I mentioned it and he said:" I even haven't heard about it. " And he said:" Let's try this first." And he just wrote another drug to me.

So no, I didn't go through him. I went through the chemist Dickson's. It's in Glasgow. And a doctor at Clinic 158 and again, one lady put me in touch with them and she gave me the details and I've passed on quite a few since then.

Linda Elsegood: So when you started, did you notice any introductory side effects?

Anna: The clinic recommended I up it quite quickly and that didn't have any good effects on me because I actually felt like I had the flu each time they up the amount. So I again, talking to this lady on Facebook, she said, try Laura. And I think I was recommended to start 1 or 1.5 mls. I certainly started sleeping better, which of course makes everything else a bit better if you've had a good sleep.

Because I was waking every hour, every two hours,  whereas now I get four to five, no problem. So. It may not sound a lot, but it's much better. I go back to sleep again and that was wonderful. And I did have thought you're more vivid dreams, and I still do occasionally, but that's okay.

They're quite nice actually—some of them.

Linda Elsegood: And how long have you been taken LDN now?

Anna: About a year, I reckon. I think it was about April, May I started last year.

Linda Elsegood: And if you had to rate your quality of life now on that score of one to 10 being the best, what would it be?

Anna: You know what? It is still like a roller coaster with ups and downs but average though, I guess about 6 or 7.

Linda Elsegood:  Well, that's a long way from 2, isn't it?

Anna: It's a big jump from 2. Mostly I feel more settled than I was if that makes sense. Still emotional work occasionally. I cry most days, but it's not long, and it's not as angst written as it was. It's more like a physical function, a bit like having a way I have to have a cry. And I do take Gabapentin as well, which I think works better with the LDN. I'm not sure if that's even possible, but I think it is. And when I'm in need of one of those, I get a bit tearful because it's not chronic pain,

It's just there sort of sharpy that gets you.

Linda Elsegood: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Anna: No, I was saying that taking LDN is quite a subtle effect but if I don't take it, things get worse. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to reduce the amount of time for why not 4.5 mls and I really didn't notice much difference to taking.

So I've dropped it down to 3.5, and I'm saying if anything changes really, but it seems right. I have spasticity in my right side, and it goes up into my groin, which is really painful.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us Anna, and I have to say that I continued improving for 18 months, so let's see what happens in the next six months for you.

Anna: I hope so. That will be nice.

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.

Ann - England: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME) (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Anne from England who takes LDN for ME. Thanks for joining me, Anne. 

Ann: It's a pleasure. 

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell me when you first started to notice your ME symptoms, how long ago was - as a child? 

Ann: Actually age three or four, 1978. 

Linda Elsegood: Goodness me, did they recognize it back then?

Ann: No, they didn't. It's hereditary in my case. My grandpa grandfather had it. My Scottish grandfather got it in later life, and he was ill more or less until he ended up his days. He could barely get up. He was in bed until 11 in the morning then came down, had his porridge, went back upstairs, slept, then back down for lunch dressed. Then he sat in the chair for a couple of hours, then back up for sleep, and when he came down for his evening meal. Sitting in the chair then, so 11 to 12, that was his life. And what did they call it? Back then, they didn't know. They thought it was a psychological cause he couldn't speak to people very much. His brain was very bad and you couldn't really speak to him. He didn't join them, the relatives when they came up. He was just a recluse. And my mom had had it as well, but it was triggered in her when she had her children - myself and my brother - and then she could never get up in the morning. She was always limited in energy, but she carried on and nursed me, and tended my brother with pneumonia. And it's amazing that you could do that. But she was just tired and had no energy. Of course, there was nothing done. Nothing.

Linda Elsegood: And did your mother or your grandfather have other symptoms that people often have with ME?

Ann: Well, I think I mentioned my grandfather’s brain was very bad, and he just couldn't socialize, so that was bad enough. And the exhaustion meant that he slept most of the day, which I've just related to you. I think my grandmother did all the accounts and things like that. I'm sure she did that. He could read. He read his newspaper. And noise. We couldn't make a noise, and we went up to live with my grandparents when I was very young. He didn't seem to have a sensitivity to light, because he could read his paper.

My mother did everything fairly normal, but she could never go to my classes and learn things. That's why she didn't go. So she actually was very wise and knew she had no energy, and she adapted to that condition. But you know, she always sat down in the afternoon, and she felt tired the whole time. And when she was 61 she died of cancer.

Linda Elsegood: And you said you had it from about the age of three. What was the pattern of your life? 

Ann: You know how it is with ME, your immune system doesn't fight, and when I had tonsillitis, and they came out, which was the worst thing. I've never felt really well and doing exercise at school, swimming and hockey was really hell. But all the same, I did play games. I played with my brother. And every winter I had a couple of doses of bronchitis, which I have now every year. Until LDN, but I'll explain that later.

So I didn't have a diagnosis at all until I was 59, and struggled because I couldn't get up, couldn’t give up work and I was working all the time. But I had to give up my full-time teaching job in 1976 because I became so ill with - we don't know what it was, but I gave up teaching in Wellingarden city. I moved to Brighton without a penny, actually out of a hundred pounds, something like that. Medical people who could support me didn't because they didn't believe there's anything wrong with me. But that's how it is for many people over my age and younger - the doctors say we should do this and do that, but it was unsympathetic doctoring, usual story. 

Then what happened was I retired, early retirement, I was so lucky. Somebody told me about ME just by checking out of a shop, and in the next lane, a very nice man told me about it. So that was when I got my diagnosis from a doctor locally. I had to pay to get the diagnosis. So then that was the first time I had a diagnosis, and it was such a relief. No, it wasn't MS or the other things that it's labelled. I was terribly, terribly lucky because it wasn't my usual GP I saw. It was somebody who was substituting for him at that particular time? And I got the tip-off to go to him to get my physical examination, which I had to have to retire early. So I went there, and of course, he knew about ME because he asked me if I have vivid dreams, vivid colour dreams. Well, I do because it shows the brain's not working so. 

It has a reaction, you know, you don't suddenly stop teaching, So I was ill for a year and that sort of thing in bed when I wasn't working. Before that, I was teaching, part-time. I had a job for 2 days a week of teaching art. I suddenly couldn't do it. I had to tell lies to the unemployment people and say that there weren't the jobs, instead of telling the truth and say I was ill. So I did that for a long time. And since I've been retired many years, plus, I still had symptoms. I'm talking about the past now, not since taking LDN.

Linda Elsegood:  Could you tell us how you heard about LDN?

Ann: Yes, it was a friend, friend of mine who had this little girl who was not well for years. I remember seeing her child who was then grown up. She was a university student and was trying LDN at the time. So I got the details from her. And information of where she went to get it. So that's how I came to hear about it. And I followed the trail. 

Linda Elsegood: And how long ago was that? When, when did you start LDN? 

Ann: Oh, about a year and a bit now.

Linda Elsegood: So you got your LDN and what was your journey then?

Ann: The journey took a very great while. I saw this doctor at Burswood Christian Hospital. It is way away from here, and I went with this doctor who was taking LDN and my mother, to see this doctor who is very, very sharp. He gave me instructions on how to do it gradually. So then I went away and started doing it very slowly, and I didn't see anything happening in the beginning, but then suddenly I realized I've been taking it all last winter and I never had an attack of bronchitis where I had to go to bed. I had the chest symptoms, but they didn't materialize into such severity that I had to stay in bed. So that was the first thing that I noticed about this. I could plan a little more than I was used to doing. 

My brain symptoms were always severe, and foggy brain is used as a method of description of our brain symptoms. Going back to childhood, I had brain symptoms then. I couldn't concentrate on mathematics.  I just couldn't remember the facts at school. But nonetheless, I used to get a prize there for art and music, which must've been that that side of the brain could actually function more than the factual side of the brain.

And I noticed that I could hardly get myself out of bed in the mornings, usually, I have to go have breakfast and go back to bed, and now I can wake at 8 o'clock in the morning and then get up and go out after that and do something in the morning.

I've always had a car and been able to drive the days as I'm not too ill. So on those days I go out and see gardens, national trust, you name it. It's a lovely sort of thing to do. And I have my evenings as well. As well, before I got the diagnosis and took LDN, I could only walk as far as the length of the house, but then with taking LDN, I could go farther and walk around the garden and just have no reaction afterwards. So I've noticed those things. The main thing is more energy. For example, for 13 years I’ve been in this flat. I didn't have the energy to redecorate it. I had it done. I did all the packing up of the ordinance and things like that, and I was able to go with the painter to get the paint.

All those things I could never have done before. Yes, absolutely. I was at the stage wherein the evening after using my brain during the day for the normal routine things, sort of cooking and running your own life with all the paperwork you have to do and the signing of everything, it's a lot easier. It's just easier to do, without having this sort of reaction afterwards. So I could do that. I haven't been on holiday yet. I used to go sometimes to Scotland. I might be able to again. 

Linda Elsegood: It sounds as though you are definitely getting your life back on track and after all this time.

Ann: Well yes, absolutely. And there's a spiritual side to this, which I won't go into because this is not the nature of this interview, really. The interview is for facts and the result that LDN has had on my life. 

I still find the computer to be very difficult to look at the screen for an amount of time. You know, we can't concentrate and what's in front of us. I still find that odd, but at least I can send an email on those good days. I can do that. 

Linda Elsegood: That's good. And hopefully, over time, things will continue improving for you. 

Ann: I think I improved for about 18 months on LDN and got stronger as time went on.

And one thing I was going to say - everything was going on right, I was ordering the LDN from Glasgow. The doctor wrote me a six-month prescription, and I sent it to Glasgow, and they were sending me LDN. Then came the time when I was running out, and I rang for appointments at Burswood. They thought the doctor wouldn't give me a prescription without seeing me, and I ran out. Without it, I was so ill, as the symptoms all came back because I'd stopped something that I've been having for nearly a year, So I won't let that happen again. This shows a lack of judgment that we have. I could have phoned them and say, look, I must have a prescription, but I didn't think of doing that. Anyway, I've got it now, and it's taken me a couple of months to get back to where I was before. I also drive myself, because the last time I went with friends of my friends and I was absolutely exhausted mentally. So I go on my own now.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you very much for sharing your experience with ME, Ann. I really do appreciate it. 

Ann: It's a pleasure. I hope it's been of some help.

Linda Elsegood: Any questions or comments you may have, please Contact Us on our website at https://ldnresearchtrust.org/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.

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

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Anita from England. She takes LDM for multiple sclerosis. Good morning, Anita, 

Anita: Good morning. 

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell me when you were diagnosed with MS. 

Anita: Eight years ago, eight, yeah, eight, nine years ago. 

It took a long time, I think, to diagnose. I had lots of tests first. 

It wasn't this, it wasn't that, and eventually, after a lumbar puncture, it was diagnosed as MS.

It must have been longer than that then, I was about 46. Right. 

Linda Elsegood: And what impact does the diagnosis have on you?  

Anita: Well, I was in shock at first. So I must be honest, I didn't believe it, I was in denial. I really didn't think I had it as being a carer. A lot of my clients had MS and, um well, I didn't. I wouldn't accept it first, that I had it too.

Linda Elsegood: So the time you were diagnosed, you said it took quite a while. What were your symptoms at that time? 

Anita:  At times there were bouts where I lost all sense of balance; being sick all the time. On these occasions, normally, the doctor would give me an injection. I would try and sleep through a lot of it because that's all I could do.

Basically just continually being sick and my balance is all. Oh, and my waterworks actually, I didn't have a lot of control on occasions with my waterworks.

I was gonna stay working for the money but it is a disease and bursitis and everything and me, which is to do with balance and that. 

Linda Elsegood: So before you found LDN, how were your symptoms? 

Anita: So I had a severe attack, I can’t remember the year now when I ended up in a wheelchair. I was in a wheelchair for three years. Towards the end, I actually went on  LDN, which, helped me enormously. 

I was on Gabapentin, and all the drugs I was on I was a drowsy mess. I think I, you know, a lot of the time I wasn't really with it.

I was, you know, on so much medication that I was quite drowsy all the time. I only take the LDN now. 

Linda Elsegood: Well, let's, let's just try to stop short to what you were like before LDN. So before you started, what would you have deemed to be the quality of life on a score of one to 10. And 10 is the best. 

Anita: Right. Then about 4 really, cause I 

was feeling the wheelchair.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And what would you say is today? 

Anita: Uh, seven. 

Linda Elsegood: Right. And may we learn how you heard about LDN? 

Aniya: I had just got hyperbaric therapy and one of the ladies there was on it. She told me about it, and I went online and obviously researched it, and I thought it looks 

quite good, well worth trying.

Linda:  Did you manage to get it from your doctor? 

Anita:  No, no. I live in Cornwall, and I get it from Dr Lawerence in Wales, though the actual prescription comes from Scotland. 

Linda Elsegood: Okay. When you first started, did you notice any introductory side effects?  

Anita: No, not really. Perhaps a little, as sleeping was a little problem, not sleeping too well, but that lasted a week, ten days.

So how was yours? Mm. Um, occasionally, I still, I'm a waterworks, uh, occasionally, um, on walking with a machine, I don't know if you've heard of them, which helps me. I am actually up and walking with, with this stick using the machine, which helps me to lift my left foot only. I have a problem with that. I manage to go quite a bit. I can walk on the flat now without the machine, but I do need it if I, you know, if I'm walking long walks or, uh, where Hills are involved.

Linda Elsegood: So you continue taking the LDN with us. The only drug you're taking now?    

Anita: Yes, yes.

Linda Elsegood:  Oh, that's good.

Anita:  I used to get real bad spasms, which have gradually disappeared. I don't get them at all now on the LDN. 

Linda Elsegood: That's very good. What would you say to other people that are thinking of trying LDN?

Anita: I would say it's well worth trying. I've found it to be very good, even mentally because, I was quite depressed for a time because being quite sporty and active before, it was quite a shock, to end up being in the wheelchair.  It's improved my quality of life. No end. And I’ve actually stopped the hyperbaric therapy, which was helping me.

I've stopped now because the LDN actually, helps with what the hyperbaric therapy was helping with.

Linda Elsegood: Is there anything else you'd like to mention? 

Anita: Well, I think it is a very good drug, and it helps me in all the ways with more shakes and everything. You know, everything. Well with MS, it seems to have helped me. 

Linda Elsegood: Thank you for sharing. 

Anita: That‘s a very little drug to take, you know, I'm only on the one drug instead of lots of different drugs, and it's not one that makes you drowsy.

Linda Elsegood: Yes. The fewer drugs you can put in your body, the better, isn't it? 

Anita: Of course. Yes, definitely. I do take quite a few supplements, like fish oils and zinc and things like that, which is helpful with LDN, as Dr. Lawerence said, which, I guess helps in slowing the disease when you're on LDN.

I have talked to others you know when I was going for the hyperbaric therapy I did. Actually, I like to chat with other people that I know are on it and they seem to benefit from it as well. Plus the lady obviously, who informed me about in the first place, she's improved.

She was never out of the wheelchair and she was a lot worse than I was.  and she's come walking with two sticks now. So yeah. Very good.

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

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Angela from Wales who has Multiple Sclerosis. Welcome, Angela!

Angela: Hi, Linda!

Linda Elsegood: Could you tell us when you first noticed your MS symptoms?

Angela: I think it was about 6 years ago, but I didn't know obviously that it was MS.

I think the first sign was when I noticed I woke up in the morning and one of my legs was feeling very numb.

 I think that went on for a couple of months and I just put it down to sleep. Being busy, working and with a family, I just ignored it, and it just went away. So I didn't think anything more of it. I think about 5 years ago I'd come back from a holiday in Canada and thought I had a virus.

I went back and forth to the doctors. They couldn't diagnose what was wrong with me. Then I lost all the feeling in my legs from my feet right up to my head and obviously got admitted into a hospital for tests and was eventually diagnosed.

 Linda Elsegood: What impact did it have on you being diagnosed?

Angela: It was very tough. I recently got divorced and it wasn't a great time. And it might've been to do with the sort of stress of that situation. My mother-in-law from my ex-husband had MS, and she had it for many years. I just thought I was going to end up the same state as she was, which wasn't great.

There was no real treatment that she seemed to have. She could hardly walk. She's in a wheelchair and basically didn't do anything with her life so I thought it was tough ending up like that.

Linda Elsegood: It's a very scary prospect, isn't it?

Angela: It was. When the consultant when I first was in the hospital said: " I think you're too old to have the MS." I was 46 at the time and then, of course, when they did the MRI scan and I came back to see her, and he said, well, no, actually you have MS. And thank you very much. Bye-bye. And handed me over to be off the floor. The consultants aren't that great at dealing with this sort of thing.  I just found it really difficult to talk to anyone because I just had in my mind this picture of my mother in law so it wasn't great.

But then you pick your server, and I think, they review you after 3 months, that to see whether you've got the real nasty type, and after 3 months then, maybe you realize it's not as bad. Your life still can carry on even with this diagnosis.

Linda Elsegood: So what was your MS like before you found LDN?

Angela: I think it was getting steadily. They say I have a benign type. I don't think I have the relapsing-remitting type, but every day I have symptoms.  I remember it was a Christmas time, and my daughter had come with me to try and go shopping, and I literally walked into a max shop with my daughter.

We just really walked into the shop, and I just had to say to her," I'm sorry, I've got to turn around and go home." I just felt I couldn't even walk around the shop. My legs just felt so bad that day, so it was like the numbness and the weird sensation, you know?

So I just knew. They weren't going to carry me the shop. So I, it had a huge effect on the quality of your life because I was still working, I'm still working now but I wasn't there without the LDN if I would still be working. The sort of extremes of temperature really affect and we were having a pretty cold winter. It just sort of really limit what I could do. I don't think the LDN has had any miraculous effect, but I think, most of the time keeps me stable and it hasn't gotten worse. I've had a bad virus of that time, and I've had a few problems since then with the mobility, but I think that's bound to the virus.

I think in terms of the fatigue it's had a huge effect on just keeping going and keeping outdoors. I think it's kept me stable.  I don't know where I would be  but I know at that time I was really starting to struggle.

For the next two years after I had this virus My mobility hasn't been perfect by any means but it definitely improved things. I think it gave me a bit more confidence. You sort of tending to sing like, no, I can't go out. I can't do this. I can't do that.

I mean, the only side effects I had when I first started to take it, I have a lot of spasms in my legs and I had a lot of muscle stiffness for the first two weeks, so I said: " Oh my goodness, this is going to make me worse."

But I persevered with it, and it's been fine. I haven't had any sort of bad sleep or anything like that. I tried to take the LDN in the morning and that doesn't suit me. It suits me better to take it in the night. So I just take a tablet at night from and that seems to work better for me.

Linda Elsegood: Did you have any other side effects?

Angela: I had the usual, sort of a nice fog, bad headaches, feeling a bit spaced out, dizzy and fatigued basically.

It was just horrendous, lots of sensation, bladder problems. I was taking antibiotics because I was having constant infections but now I realize all these years later that it was probably the MS. Now I haven't taken antibiotics for over 18 months I think. So I think it's definitely had an effect there. It's helped the bladder problems, the fatigue. At one point I was starting to get, not depressed, but starting to get very down about it all so it's helped to keep me positive with things. Once you lose your positivity, then you might as well give up.

Linda Elsegood: So how would you compare your quality of life now with before LDN?

Angela: Until I had this recent virus I would push myself to do more or less what I used to do. But within limitations I know I can't go walking huge distances but  I kept working. I've kept trying to keep the standard of what I do in my work up to what I used to do. I just feel it stabilize me somehow. I really didn't know where things were going to end up. I just thought my general wellbeing was a lot better. I think it lifts my energy levels really.

The other things that I used to have was problems in my eyes, flushing lights and  I'd see lots of spots in front of me. I don't seem to have so much in that either so I guess I got to rely on LDN and keep on thinking,  I'm afraid not to take it now because I don't know where I would be. Some people might think it's a placebo but I just feel it stabilized me certainly.

This virus has given me a bit of bronchitis but LDN keeps me stable.

Linda Elsegood: What would you say to other people who are contemplating trying LDN?

Angela: In the job I do, I've got lots of people, 9,000 people at work.

Some of them unfortunately also have MS, and they're very scared to take anything without a neurologist or doctor's advice. And what I would say is,l:" As far as I'm aware, there are no side effects." I think for the type of ms that I have, there are no treatments, no drugs so it's not doing me any harm.

It may be going good. I don't think you've got anything to lose really. Some of the drugs and I've been lucky enough not to need them, like Methotrexate it is basically poison, isn't it? So you're poisoning your system. I mean, they are drugs that they use for chemotherapy. As I understand it,  there must be a body of research in LDN to show that there aren't huge amounts of side effects. It goes to your system for four hours and it doesn't affect any of your major organs or anything else. So why wouldn't you try it?  I would just say give it a try. It might work for you, It might not,  It might have fantastic results just like me,  to keep you stable. All I can ask for is to try it. The medical profession doesn't have all the answers. If enough of us are taking this and finding benefit from it, then just gotta be something in there.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. Well, thank you very much for sharing your story with us.

Angela: You're welcome.

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.

Angela - Ireland: Alopecia Universalis (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Angela from Ireland shares her Alopecia and LDN Story on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Angela first noticed her loss of her when she ran her hand through her hair and found a small patch of hair was missing at the back of her neck. In the following weeks, she noticed that upon showering, she would be seeing considerable amounts of hair on the floor beneath her.

In search of new alternative treatments due to the failure of conventional methods, Angela came across Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and began her prescription in late 2009. Within 18 months, she had 90% of her hair back.

In this interview she emphasises that she owes her recovery to LDN and recommends it to all who are interested.

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

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

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Andy from Wales, and Andy has multiple sclerosis. Welcome, Andy. Could you tell us when were you diagnosed? 

Andy: Thank you. May 2005

Linda Elsegood: All right, and how old were you at the time? 

Andy: I was a 49. 

Linda Elsegood: So what was it like being diagnosed? What sort of symptoms did you have at that time had you had them for long?

Andy: I probably had symptoms for about 9 months, the first symptom was eyesight really, I suppose, the diagnosis, shortly after the lumbar puncture, the MS seemed to come on, I was getting this numbness in my thighs and I developed a limp on my right leg, coldness. Yeah, cold, cold leg sort of thing. And that's actually how it started, right? 

Linda Elsegood: Well, then how did it progress? 

Andy: Pretty rapidly, really within six months of being diagnosed, I couldn’t work and when I was walking I was staggering like I was drunk, quite depressed. My eyesight was rapidly going, very cold legs, a lot of numbness. Then eventually, my hands were losing strength, quite weak in the hands and then she developed the MS hug but people know about that. And then, I suppose by March 2006, I was partly using a wheelchair. Depression and suicidal thoughts. I went downhill so rapid, right? 

Linda Elsegood: But it's also, as you were saying about walking staggering as though you're drunk. It's very depressing when people assume they see somebody staggering, you're immediately labelled as somebody who's drunk who doesn't know what they're doing and shouldn't they know better—only 10 o'clock in the morning kind of thing. 

Andy: Exactly. You’ve just got no control over it really,  it’s quite embarrassing really. After a few months of being diagnosed, I was using a walking stick, it was a rapid downhill regression. 

Linda Elsegood: What kind of MS have you been diagnosed with?

Andy: Well, they couldn't put their finger on it, but it's probably progressive in my opinion. I'm not relapsing or that type of thing. I think it’s primary progressive. 

Linda Elsegood:  So how did you learn about LDN?

Andy: Well, the first thing I knew was there's a TV program on our local news, BBC Wales and a chap called Dr Boblow from Swansea, he had a patient, a lady who's having trouble reading there, and she couldn't focus their eyes on the page, and she couldn't read in books, and she started to use LDN, and the short time she was able to read books again and she was feeling much better. Okay, well let's find out some more about it. So it's the honour society website, to see what people are talking about.

So I asked a few people who've been on LDN for, well, it seems quite a safe drug and there's nothing else available for me, really. So let's give it a go.  

Linda Elsegood: so did your own doctor prescribe LDN for you? 

Andy: No. No. he offered STEM cell treatment, I didn’t want to do that really. I thought LDN seemed quite safe really so i thought I've got nothing to lose. Right, 

Linda Elsegood: so you've got it privately. 

Andy: Yeah, I had a private consultation online, and basically this doctor asked a few questions and wrote me a prescription and sent it to the supplier, Dicksons, up in Glasgow. It took a few days to come and then I started the drug.  

Linda Elsegood: how long have you been taking LDN now? 

Andy: March 2006 I started. So about 5 years. 

Linda Elsegood: Yeah, so how has it helped with your MS? 

Andy: Oh massively, My eyesight started to come back, it sometimes goes a little bit but it comes back again.  In terms of the MS, I’ve got much more feeling back in my legs. The coldness is more or less gone most of the time. The strength in my hands has come back and said my eyesight's fine. And I've still got a bit of a limp on my right leg, it doesn't bother me. I mean, my leg doesn’t feel like it used to but it’s better than before. It’s vastly improved my life and the only thing I can put that down to is the LDN. 

Linda Elsegood: Do you have any MS symptoms now? 

Andy: Yeah, I mean I get a bit of nerve pain in my right foot, I think I've got rid of most of the pain. I can’t drive long distances. I can drive maybe 50 miles because of the pain in my right foot, especially when it’s enclosed in a shoe. So yeah, I would say before I started LDN I couldn't even drive. I've got a pretty decent lifestyle now. I do okay, my legs get a bit wobbly but in general, I’m pretty good.

Linda Elsegood:  Yes. So did you have any initial side effects when you started taking LDN? 

Andy: I think the usual ones, vivid dreams and a bit of insomnia, they don’t last too long really, that's it. Some people get slightly worse but it didn’t seem to affect me that way. And I think I started off at 3 mg. I'm up to four 4.5 now. So no, no real side effects as such.

Linda Elsegood: will you continue to take LDN. 

Andy: Yeah. It's the best thing I've got. 

Linda Elsegood: So what would you say to other people with MS who are thinking of trying LDN? 

Andy: Oh, I'd say try it, without a shadow of a doubt, you’ve got nothing to lose, if it doesn’t work you come off it and you’re back to how you were. I think some people give up on the LDN because you feel worse initially. My advice is just to stick with it. Give it at least a month. If you are feeling a bit worse just lower the dose and build it gradually, you'll know the dose and just build a practice. It seems to work for most people, it won’t work for all. It’s worth a try. It can change your life so much.

Linda Elsegood: So what does your wife think of the changes in you? 

Andy: Oh wow, she's amazed.

Linda Elsegood: So would you, would you say that you've got quality of life back? 

Andy: Oh, definitely. Definitely. I'm back at work for the full time.  I'm doing the best I can right now.  I'm not complaining, I’ve been lucky I found the LDN.