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Molly is English, currently living in France. Molly takes Low Dose Naltrexone for Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is one of the rustic conditions.
It's a condition that affects the spine and the sacroiliac joints that's around the hips. And also particularly for women can affect and does affect the peripheral joints of the body, like knees, elbows, shoulders, and also we get problems with our feet and the Achilles tendons.
I started getting symptoms when I was about 15, and I'm now 74.
When I was in my early sixties, and that was 1991, my Achilles tendon was with a bone spur on my heel. And it was horrible to walk. And I also was having problems with my eyes. And then my knees, my back and I was in total agony for three months. It would take me about three hours to actually get moving. I'm getting dressed with hell, and I had to work out how the means to get things like socks on or tights on or underwear on. And it was virtually impossible to wear bras because I couldn't get them done up. And so I stopped wearing them.
I was on anti-inflammatories, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for about two to three years at that point. And then that led to horrendous problems and I ended up with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
And that was really absolutely frightful. I had very little control over gut actions which led to horrendous embarrassments or not being off and not being able to leave the house.
I heard of LDN through the Ankolysing Spondylitis Forum group called kickoff.
So it's an organization made up typically solely of patients who suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis.
A member of our group posted about the Low Dose Naltrexone.
I was still living in England, so there was one doctor not too far away from me and I contacted the doctor there.
I provided all the information, and eventually we had another telephone conversation and he provided me with my first prescription, which was a very low dose.
I think something like 2.5 or 2.75 mg, initially. And I now take a dose of six milligrams that seems to suit me the best. And I really basically haven't looked back.
I didn't have any side effects.
I wasn't expecting to have vivid dreams. A lot of medications don't agree with me. But quite frankly, LDN has been a lifesaver for me. I can't say exactly how long it took to kick in, but it basically kept me away from really bad flares.
I would say to others to try LDN. The doctors, the Rheumatologists, very much for push the big biological drugs, which are not only horrendously expensive to provide at 1,500 to 2000 pounds a month when LDN is such cheap and cheerful medication that does work and does not have the side effects that the biological drugs produce.
I would say, "Please try the diet." And don't forget to stretch. You need to stretch and to expand the chest for deep breathing. I've got fusion in the spine and fusion in my rib cage, and I do physiotherapy every week.
Summary of Molly's interview. Please listen to the video for the full story.