LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

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

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

Pam first noticed her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms in her early twenties, suffering from vertigo, dizziness and lack of bladder control to name a few. 

Pam came across Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) almost 30 years after her diagnosis, having tried a number of unsuccessful treatments in the past. LDN, she says, has been the most successful and has had a huge positive impact on her health.

“I no longer have depression, my numbness in my arm is gone, I’m in control of my bladder. I’m pretty much my old self and life’s great.”

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

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. 

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

Margaret - US: Cushing's, Hashimoto's, PCOS, Arthritis, Depression (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Margaret from the United States who takes LDN. Thank you for joining me, Margaret.

Margaret: Hi,

Linda Elsegood: thank you. Could you tell us when you first started to get sick, how old were you?

Margaret: Well, after the birth of my first child when I was 20, um, I started to have a lot of hormonal problems and symptoms.

And after several years and several doctors, um, my first diagnosis was with the polycystic ovarian syndrome. And, um, I suffered through, uh, many years of trying to find someone to treat me in a way that didn't have a lot of side effects. And I eventually went on Metformin, and that was very helpful. And I kind of had a period of good health for several years, and then when I was about 35 I started to have a lot of new symptoms that were similar but different and more intense.

And after probably four years of that, I finally was diagnosed with having Cushing's disease and having an ACTH secreting pituitary tumour. And I had pituitary surgery, two years ago, in May of 2013. And they found the tumour, they got it out, and I went into remission. And the recovery from that is quite brutal.

You have to slowly wean off of steroids. You have to take them as replacement because your pituitary doesn't work right for a while. And the withdrawal from steroids has been like into heroin withdrawal. So it's very intense. It's very painful. You have a lot of joint pain, muscle pain, um, a lot of psychological symptoms, depression, um, anxiety because not having enough cortisol is almost as anxious.

It is provoking as not as having too much. And so it's, you know, a good year of weaning. And then what happens is because you had high cortisol for so long, a lot of autoimmune things pop up that were being suppressed by the cortisol. And that's kind of where I'm at at this point, where now I have really high Hashimoto's titers and.

You know, I'd have to replace a lot of hormones and I'm still in the recovery process from Cushing's. But, you know, in the meantime, ten other autoimmune things get you.

Linda Elsegood: So, before you, um, started on LDN, could you describe what a typical day for you felt like?

Margaret: Well, I started on LDN when I was about sixteen months postop from pituitary surgery. So I would say that I had very little quality of life. I was still in the place where I was in a lot of pain. I didn't work full time. I was only working part-time and only from home at that point. I could barely do the grocery store by myself and come back home. I still have people taking my kids to school for me and all. It was basically helping me just to survive.

So I would say probably on a scale of one to 10, it was about a three.

Linda Elsegood: Oh, wow. That's not good. Not a good life.

Margaret: I mean, it was better than when I had Cushing's where my life was a zero. Yeah. Before they took the tumour out, I was home-bound and could not work. Didn't think straight. Had severe panic disorder. And anxiety all the time. And how did slept in probably two years by the time I had surgery. Yeah. So it's a really intense disease.

Linda Elsegood: It certainly sounds like it. So how did you hear about LDN?

Margaret: My endocrinologist, who, he is a Cushing specialist. That's what he specializes in. He actually recommends it to a lot of his postop patients because most of us have these underlying autoimmune problems and he gives it out quite frequently, especially if you kind of linger in your recovery.

I mean, some people just snap right back. That wasn't me. Maybe cause I was older, not sure, but he recommended it. And my primary care doctor prescribed it for me. I ended up making my own with a 50 millilitre, uh, 50 millilitres and 50-milligram pills because my insurance doesn't cover compounding.

And that was the most economical way for me to do it. And so my primary care doctors, he's in on it too, and he actually prescribed it for me. And, um, you know, does all the followup for it for me.

Linda Elsegood: When you started, did you notice any side effects at all?

Margaret: Well, I started at 0.5.mg, cause I was doing liquid, it was really easy to change my dose based on whatever I was noticing.

So the very first thing that I noticed was that I started dreaming, like a lot, and they weren't bad dreams. They were actually amazing, wonderful dreams. But when you have Cushing's and you don't sleep for a long time, you don't dream anymore cause you never get to REM sleep. And I'd had several sleep studies. You know when I was sick but didn't know what was wrong with me.

And I never got up. I never had any REM at all. So I will say that the very first thing that happened was it gave me background sleep and I started dreaming on a regular basis. And each increase in dose I would have several days of. Just fantastical dreams, which is a good thing for me. So it's a side effect, but a good one to me.

IThey were never bad dreams or nightmares or anything like that.  I did notice that on each dose increase that I would have a little bit of bowel motility, very short-lived. And when you have hormone issues. That's not unusual. You know, there's a lot of stuff going on in my body, so I don't know if I can particularly attribute it to LDN, but I think so. and it just was, you know, getting used to it. So at this point, I'm, my endo wants me to work up to four, but I'm very slowly working my way up. Right now, I'm on four, and that has been a process of about a year of getting up that high. And I stayed at three for a long time. But my Hashi titers were still very high, and so he wanted me to go up a little higher and see if we could get it to work.

Linda Elsegood: So, what is a typical day like for you now?

Margaret: Well, I attribute some of it to LDN. Some of it is just simply time. And my pituitary is recovering, but I now work full time. I am completely in control of my own life. I still have some chronic pain. It's much better. I do think that the LDN helped with the pain a lot.

It is now where I can take two Motrin a day and be pretty okay. I also use acupuncture extensively, which is, you know, it's not about LDN, but that is a huge part of my recovery as well. And I would say, you know, my life is an eight, and I work full time, probably 60 hours a week. I take my own kids to school.

I have a child in college now. And I take him to school and I grocery shop, clothing shop. I do everything now. And so it's a huge improvement from before I had surgery for my pituitary tumour. And I think LDN is probably half that. I, I won't be stopping it anytime soon.

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

Margaret: You know, I think it's such, it's such a longstanding drug that's been around for so long and they know what the side effects are and it's really easy. So low risk, why not try it? And I think that's how I presented it to my primary care. I said, you know, cause he had other people on it.

And so he had heard of it. He was aware of the drug, and it's such a low dose. He just had no problem letting me try it, even if he didn't really believe in it necessarily. So I would approach it in that way. But I mean, the risks are very low and if it doesn't help, then just quit if it does and amazing.

Yeah. That's what I would say. Try it,

Linda Elsegood: You have such an amazing story and so inspirational for other people. Thank you very much. You're sharing it with us.

Margaret: Oh, 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.

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

Lexi started having chronic insomnia, one of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease; and severe anxiety, bladder spasms, loss of sense of smell, and constipation. Soon she noticed tremors in her right toe, and noticed a right foot drop, which caused her to trip and fall several times, including while walking upstairs. Next she noted her right arm didn’t swing when she walked, and that walking felt like pushing against a river current.  She started having pain, stiffness, weakness in her legs, debilitating fatigue, and her voice and her handwriting became small and scratchy.

Her neurologist’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s was confirmed at Mayo Clinic. Her quality of life was about 3 on a 10-point scale, and she had to quit her job because of her disability. With a no-hope diagnosis she started researching and learned about low dose naltrexone (LDN) in 2009 and convinced her neurologist to prescribe it. She started on 3 mg for 1 year, and quickly noticed improvement, a feeling of wellbeing, and less anxiety. Currently she’s on 4.5 mg, all her symptoms improved, and she has weaned off all Parkinson’s meds. She rates her quality of life at 9 on a 10-point scale.  She still has a few bladder spasms, but otherwise is doing well, including regaining her sense of smell.

Keywords:  insomnia, anxiety, bladder spasms, anosmia, loss of sense of smell, constipation, tremors, foot drop, pain, stiffness, weakness, fatigue, voice changes, Parkinson’s, LDN, low dose naltrexone

Summary of Lexi’s interview, please listen to the video for the full story.

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

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

Kimberly, from the US takes LDN for fibromyalgia, and she also has a service dog (a cocker spaniel) who takes LDN for liver disease and liver cancer. 

She started her dog on the medication around a year ago, and noticed she could now walk, after spending a year without being able to do so, and is also surviving cancer and liver disease.

Kimberley has been ill with Fibromyalgia for around 17 years. Her symptoms were chronic fatigue at first, which eventually led to not being able to walk for three months after being incredibly active. 

Before taking LDN, Kimberly would spend the majority of her time housebound and depressed. She would also get mouth sores and a chronic cough along with a swollen face occasionally. Sometimes these symptoms lasting weeks upon weeks. Kimberly also mentions feeling pain as though someone has beaten her with a baseball bat. Exhaustion, lack of appetite, migraines and struggling to breathe also were felt regularly.

After taking LDN sourced from her own GP in California, she has felt more stable with an increased quality of life with no side effects.

Kimberly urges that people try the medication when asked if she recommends it saying “LDN can give them the quality of life.” She is very grateful for LDN, for herself and her service dog.

To view the entire interview, watch the video.

Any questions or comments you may have, please Contact Us. 

Kelly - US: Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Kelly from the United States uses Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

"After my third pregnancy in 1985, I never really got to feeling well after that. Low on energy. I mean, just could not function through an entire day. I worked on a ranch south of where we live, and it was a 30-mile drive, but it was out in the country. So on the way down in the mornings, I would feel tired but on the way home, I would go into a black tunnel. I couldn't have the sheets on my bed to touch my feet. It was just excruciating pain. I was having symptoms of Rheumatoid arthritis plus I was having symptoms of Lupus.

Then I started going to rheumatologists, and so he put me on Methotrexate, which I just couldn't see that much progress. There was several of us ladies that were going to the same rheumatologists plus we had mutual friends. One of them used to be on a couch for weeks and she told me she was on Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and was feeling much better.

And so we went all started going to dr. Berkson from that point. I was prescribed with ALA along with the Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and so it took me probably a good six months to a year before I was totally weaned off of the Methotrexate and the antidepressants, and really starting to feel like a real person again.

I started having my own thoughts again and feeling like I could work again because whenever I was on the Methotrexate and the antidepressants, I couldn't even drive.

And so whenever I finally got to the point that I could drive again, and I actually went back to work again, and I felt whole again. That point is wonderful.

I'm still tired of demands of the day, but I'm working in a hardware store managing a hardware store. And so it's hard work, but  I can drive myself home at night without falling asleep. And I sleep well at night. So being tired at the end of the day is a good thing, but not being tired all day is also an extra bonus.

If there's a change of weather coming I know it, because my pain and swelling of the joints returns.

I will get those when low pressure comes in, and they'll swell just a little bit. But other than that I don't have any pain.

I am on LDN probably for 9 years.I felt good for probably eight years. It's just amazing. I can't even describe what a different life is now than it was.

And I used to get an extreme migraine after the third pregnancy. I've had an hysterectomy,  kidney stones. I've had every cold, every flu, every stomach bug, everything that came through. I was constantly sick, and I was in the hospital more than I was out. I haven't had a cold probably in five years.

Extract from Kelly's interview.

Please listen to the video for the full story.

Julie - Australia: Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Julie is from Australia and takes LDN for Hashimoto’s disease. She was diagnosed in 2007, but looks back on having symptoms several years before. She was tired all the time, losing her hair, had dry skin, couldn’t eat well and living on one meal a day, had aches throughout her body, started to lose strength and muscle, depression, had brain fog almost every day, frequent urination, constipation, loss of balance, dry eyes, blurred vision, cold hands and feet – her hands would go numb in air conditioning - sensitivity to heat, tightness in the throat, neck pain, feeling her head too heavy for her neck to hold up, and limited neck range of motion. She had an internal tremor that made her feel weak; and air hunger as if not getting enough oxygen despite deep breathing. She had low blood pressure and body temperature.

The symptoms started to impact her job and social life. An ultrasound showed 2 nodules on her thyroid and a shrunken left side of the thyroid. Initially she refused medication, thinking she could get better on her own. She went to a naturopath to try for a natural way to heal, but 12 months later had to go on medication. She chose natural desiccated thyroid and got some good from it balancing her hormones, but symptoms didn’t go away no matter how much doctors tweaked her medication. She saw lots of doctors over 5 years, but remained debilitated by the symptoms. She attributes it to the hormone not actually entering the cells.

About 18 months ago her doctor recommended LDN and Julie researched it and decided to try it. When she started she quickly was able to reduce her thyroid medication. But then she had a bad virus lasting 3-4 weeks; then got Candida, which she heard can stop LDN from working. She got fantastic support from a Facebook group.

Julie feels her improvements from LDN are fantastic - from being sad, debilitated, and tired, to loving life and cheerful. Over the last 18 months she has gotten about 50% of her life back, and knows she’ll continue to get better. She feels she started at a quality of life of about 2 on a 10 point scale, and currently is about 7

She tells others about how good it is, and gives much credit to Deb who runs the Facebook group on beating Hashimoto’s disease with LDN.

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

Keywords: LDN, low dose naltrexone, Hashimoto’s, thyroiditis, thyroid, thyroid nodules, natural desiccated thyroid, Candida

 Any questions or comments you may have, please contact us.

Judy - US: Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous System Disorder, PTSD (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: I'd like to introduce Judy from the U.S. She was diagnosed with sympathetic autonomic nervous system disorder due to chronic PTSD and trauma. Thanks for joining us today, Judy. 

Judy: [00:01:13] Thank you. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:01:15] So could you tell us how old were you when you noticed you are experiencing problems with your health? 

Judy: [00:01:26] I didn't experience, I didn't know.

 I think my, now looking back, I think my mental health was, um, was a factor, um, because I, I grew up in a sick family. Basically.

So, um, you know, I mean, well, I'm not physically, I really wasn't a sick child, right. But, um, I was like in the middle of a lot of trauma in the family, a lot. And, um, I guess it affected me since I was younger. My. I, um, felt my, um, uh, like my mother, like really involved me in her life. She was, uh, she was, you know, she told me she was going to commit suicide and she would be bulimic and she, it was just like a mess.

It was until she passed. And, um. I think I think as a child I was very distraught. Uh, I, uh, I just, it just affected me. I see pictures of myself where I had like dark circles under my eyes from when I was little. So, um. You know, it's like, to the extent of it, it just, like, I'm so far past it, but it was, uh, I was in constant turmoil and, uh, and neglected, neglected.

So, um, I, I really think that it had an effect on me. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:03:33] And what about your teenage years 

Judy: [00:03:37] and my teenage years, I was just, um. You know, I, I think I tied myself to people that I shouldn't have tied myself to. I was over empathetic. Um, just did what people wanted me to do, wanted people to like me and felt ugly when I was told the opposite.

It just, um, it was like I looked back at it now and that's just the way I was, but I had no self-esteem. Um. I just, uh, I was a mess. Yeah. I was just, uh, uh, I just, I was like, I was sick and then everybody came and talked to, but it, but I didn't have anybody to talk to. And I did. I wouldn't, I was, I was in bed.

I was ashamed, really. Okay. And I kind of, I buried everything. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:04:31] And how old were you when you got married? 

Judy: [00:04:35] I was 25. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:04:39] And how was your health? 

Judy: [00:04:43] Um, my health was fine. Actually, I haven't had a fever since I was 22. Um, the neurologist actually added in that he thinks that I had an immune disorder also.

Um, and I didn't understand because I said I was checked for autoimmune and it was negative, but he said, he told me no, if there's an immune disorder, which is, he says you can't check for that. And I, I think, I know, I think I understand now a little bit more. But, um, yeah, so, um, yeah, it was a, it was a mental issue.

Then. Like I said, I would be, since I was 22, I haven't had a fever, but, um, my, uh, I see that like certain things, especially with this disease, it, um, it. Really, um, it regulates your temperature. So my temperature always was like 96, uh, regulates your blood pressure. I would, when I got my period when I was a teenager every month, it was extremely painful.

And during those painful periods, I would, uh, my, my, uh, blood pressure would dive down. My heart would race, I would sweat and I would almost pass out. And, uh, this is just the way my life was. I would just, my, my blood pressure always took a dive and, uh, but it felt like my heart was racing out of control.

 I see that even as a youth, I, I felt full fast, couldn't consume liquids, but I didn't know any better. I think that was, that was me. I was. Over concerned about my weight. I just, because I was heavy at one point and then, uh, lost weight and people treated me different and I was just, I've always been consumed about like, I had no self-esteem, no self-awareness you see that now?

And, um, and then just life was. On. I just was, I was, as I got older, I got, I was over empathetic. I was just like, I would take care of everybody and I couldn't untie myself to them. They would, I just, I'm thinking back, I can't believe the way I was, um, until now, until, um, until this pill. I wrote something on the website just saying like, it's not even half of what I thought it was, I was just, I downplayed everything. Molestation, grade, everything.  

Linda Elsegood: [00:07:45] So before you started LDN,  what would you say your health was like? 

Judy: [00:07:53] Okay, so I got to a point. Where I downplayed everything and I absorbed the pain and I would go to the gym and just accept that I would almost pass out afterwards.

And, but then I got pain. I got pain in my neck, like really bad. I couldn't ignore it. Um, and I heard cracking in my skull and even my husband heard it from the outside. Um. And nerve pain, like shot down my arm to my finger, to my trigger finger. And my hips were always inflamed, but I just absorbed it and I went to the gym.

So I, I went to, um, uh, physical therapy and I did about 15 sessions of that. And then my other side, I had an MRI on my neck and it said bone spurs and my other side, um. I had my bicep tendon inflamed. So they gave me an ultrasound, saw was inflamed and gave me a cortisone shot and, um, that didn't help.

The only thing that helped me was, um, I was prescribed Gabapentin at night. Um, and so all I took was Gabapentin and I took Xanax for 36 years to sleep because I never got tired. I had, um, I would rev up at night. Um, and that's, this is after kids if I didn't sleep. Uh, poor days. I was, I was, uh, I would, my body would get tight and I would have heart racing.

My hair was falling out. Um, uh, like in clumps, and they just said panic attacks and alopecia anxiety and gave me Paxil and, and it still was falling out today with breaking off. But now it's not. Now it's growing in. I just thought it was just like regular breakage now, but now I see the new growth and, and um, my husband doesn't see as much hair in the, in the, um, drain.

Um, I thought all this was normal. I had, you know, I just, I thought certain things were cosmetic, um, like I could on the site. My, my feet, my, I mean, people can't believe it, but my feet were blue all the time. My toes started getting numb. My right foot started turning out. Um, my eyes were always dilated. I just, uh, I think pain-wise I hit a wall.

Um, but I at least I got some relief from the Gabapentin at first before the LDN.  so. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:10:54] So when you started LDN, how long did it take before you noticed improvements in those symptoms?

Judy: [00:11:00] Well, in, I just couldn't believe it, and in like three weeks that my feet, what I thought was normal, started turning a regular color and I was, I didn't think that was possible.

I just thought these were my legs when I took that picture. That I put on this site. I, um, I, I took that picture, just sent it to my husband because my toes were down, but I thought it was the shoes and he's, and, but he even like didn't panic cause those were my feet, you know, all the time. Um, so three weeks it cleared like physical things started clearing up.

I had done it corral Asus, um, like I couldn't go to the bathroom. I always use certain things to go to the bathroom. I woke up, I started going to the bathroom. I started drinking fluids easier. Um, I didn't know that. Like that was not my normal. I started my, I wasn't full as fast and have been like that all my life, like just extended full.

Everything physically started changing. Even my depth perception, my eyes. It was like, but most of all. I got really nervous because I didn't know what was going on. I had like, I buried a lot. I had strong reactions. I see. Um. Uh, people wouldn't know this because I was joke around, but I cared about how people felt.

Everything got to me. I just like it really, I couldn't control my reactions, but I didn't voice them. I didn't communicate. And, um, uh, every, all of a sudden I'm just being like, nothing bothers me. It's very, it's very strange. I just like went from one extreme to the other, but without trying, like, without working on myself, not knowing that there was something wrong.

So, um, physically I started changing mentally. It was like just so siding. It was very, um, very straight. And my husband actually said, I think you have PTSD. And I got angry and upset because, um. That's what military people have, not, not me. No, I was embarrassed. So you know, so it just went like that and the answer, I still have the physical changes, but I just, it took me a while to get adjusted to this because it was, I was driven by extreme anxiety.

Like my father had Alzheimer's. I was afraid I was going in that direction. But I think it was the opposite. I was like, I would be so clear-minded when I didn't even know I was foggy before. And  I went into, um, I went into the city, New York with, um, with my husband to see a play with my daughter and her boyfriend.

And I was in the theatre with them and I was, I was still taking low dose naltrexone, but I was in a theatre and the theatre was extremely cold. And like everybody was cold, you know, they just, , but when I came out, I had this reaction where my insides felt weak and they were, I've never felt this way before.

I've trembled before and I used to tremble all the time, but my insides felt like they were going to come out. And now I see it. While I was getting used to this, and because of this condition, my temperature goes 93 like in the house and in the theatre, it must've been like. Dropped, um, because I've, I've actually had hypothermia before, but this was severe.

This was, um, this, I felt like I must've been going into shock. Um, but that's all I can explain too. And every day it took, so it took a while for me to get adjusted to it, um, because I just felt very strange for months. And also not myself. And I was communicating. There were things that just lifted that I didn't even know were there.

And, um, I, it, it scared me. Even sleep. Sleep was so unnatural to me and now I was tired. I was never tired before. I was all hyped up. So physically, I just, even my friend said, I drive better. I was like on and off with a gaseous, my depth perception was. Well, if I was always on guard, I see that now. Um, mentally.

Um, it was, it was hard to get used to because I was just such, I became such a different person, um, than I was. And now I can look back and I feel, I don't feel like my past, I feel like, I know I was my past, I woke up and. I had, I was also somebody who was a compulsive shopper. I woke up and  I looked around, I couldn't believe what I had.

Like I just started getting rid of things. I didn't have that feeling of, of uh, needing stuff. It's just like I, and to me it was, that's a normal person, but I didn't know I was abnormal.  I really. It's, it sounds, I always blame things on, no, just asthmatic or whatever. But as I was getting better, if somebody upset me, I can feel the tops of my, my feet tingle.

Um, my stomach was regurgitating and I actually came home from being upset, shaking, and I, I actually. We went to bed. If I cord blood from, from my rectum, it was an, I thought, well, maybe those are haemorrhoids. But now it was just my whole nervous system affecting my nerves. My feet were tingling back up.

They were called. It was just, my reactions were still getting. Um, I was getting used to it. It was quite a ride. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:17:34] What is your health like now 

Judy: [00:17:35]  It is like never before. Uh, I, first of all, I've, we, uh, my husband's a firefighter and, uh, he's also, um, on the medicine because when I was getting used to, he's also had like, he's his, he, he was like, I can't explain it.

He was like, I see that he didn't take social cues, and that was part of my. Like marriage things. So I like you went to the doctor, he put on medicine. He's totally different now. I am so totally different. I'm easy going. I drink fluids and eat differently. I have self-esteem. I've got nervous. I see that.

I must've lived my life as being nervous. I would never have been able to do this with you. I was just nervous. I see that I was depressed. I feel I guess I, I feel what normal people feel I used to put, getting, you know, this condition, it makes your swallowing like choking. Um, like all your natural reflexes are, they don't, they don't work.

The things that people don't think about. And I looked back and I. I see that I would like, I would choke on food as it younger child. Like it was just because this nervous system, everything that works that you don't think of your eyesight, your swallowing, your temperature, your heart racing, your stomach, your, um, I had chronic kidney disease because I couldn't.

Take in fluids like a normal person. It took me a whole day to drink a little bottle of water, and now I see, I can, I see it now that that's not normal, but I didn't know it before, so, um, yeah, even I was, uh, given medical marijuana and I was just like when I was in pain, I. I would try to smoke it and it would, medical marijuana always made me crazy, but it made my pain heightened and I was, I felt like an Alzheimer's patient and this is like, I didn't, I got a like a severe reaction for medical marijuana.

And now since I've been on low dose naltrexone, it is totally different than my whole life. It just calms me. Go to sleep. Um, before it used to make my whole body shake. It changed something in my body, uh, changed my whole life. And, uh, I just, I find it amazing because I didn't even know anything was wrong with me.

I just, I'm more comfortable with myself. I didn't have a strong sense of self. I never had it before. I don't. I liked my own company. I see myself differently. I don't see myself ugly anymore. I just, my, my body's totally different. I don't, I have very, um, I, I like people more. If I speak my mind, and, and it sounds strange, but I never did.

I always buried it. I was always, I would always listen to people. I was afraid they wouldn't like me. Yeah. Everything has changed. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:21:01] We've come to the end. But what a remarkable story it was amazing.

Judy: [00:21:25] That is amazing. It is amazing. Really. I'm just so grateful that if I didn't walk into that doctor if I didn't find you guys, I don't even know what would become of me so. Um, 

Linda Elsegood: [00:21:42] thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. 

Judy: Thank you, Linda. I appreciate it. 

Linda Elsegood: [00:21:53] 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 with 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 appreciate your company. Until next time, stay safe and keep well

Transcripts are only 90% accurate you can watch the video 

 

John from the United States takes Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for Crohn's disease.

"I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 19 years old. I'm 55 now. When I was about 17 years ago I had a resection done.

During the time before the resection there were times when I felt great and then there were times when I had major flare-ups where I was cramping in excruciating pain with diarrhoea, vomiting and always promising that I'll be better.

I walked around with a perforated intestine for three months and I was down to 127 pounds.

 I was in the hospital for 20 days and at that point, I came to the conclusion that I just have to come up with a plan so I started reading everything.

I finally accepted my disease and I embraced it. My life really changed a lot. I made sure that I ate what I was supposed to eat.  I had acupuncture four to six times a year. I took vitamins. I stayed away from beef and dairy.

I was only on two milligrams of prednisone every day and I was fine until my doctor told me that I had strictures and on top of that I had active crump, even though I was pretty much pain-free.

And I just freaked out because, at that point, my mom was dying of cancer. And so anything that had cancer written into it just about a death sentence for me.

So I started searching out any avenue for alternatives.

One day when I was looking for more answers, all of a sudden Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) came up and Crystal gave me the name  an LDN doctor in my area, and she put me on a very strict diet along with some anti-inflammatory supplements like curcumin and EPA and DHA and stuff like that. On top of that, I take three milligrams of LDN, and my C reactive protein level went from a an 8 to 0.19 in two months.

The biggest thing that's really helped me with Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is my mental health.

One thing that I learned is that you have to accept and embrace your disease and  to search out all the answers. And I'll be honest with you. Traditional medicine is going to send you towards trying to beat it into submission whereas LDN is going to love your body and it's going to help you heal your own.

You're going to have to take on traditional medicine and you're going to have to go against your doctor. Unless you're willing to go with your traditional doctor, but there's a lot of side effects. You can't stay on that poison forever. Sooner or later, you've been happy to get off of it, and you'd have to come my way sooner or later".

Summary of John's interview. Please listen to the video for the full story.