LDN Update!

If you have been following my blog, then you know I have Multiple Sclerosis. I was diagnosed in 1996 after my first symptoms in 1989. It took that long to diagnose me because like most people with M.S., my symptoms were vague and there wasn't a definitive test to diagnose the disease. After I had a pretty severe bout with Optic Neuritis and several M.R.I's and Neurologist, I was diagnosed with M.S.

Since then I have pretty much lived my life. After the initial shock of a life long disease diagnosis, I decided that I felt the same that day as I did the day before so I wasn't going to let the disease get me!

Over the past 20 years I have done various things to deal with the disease. You can click the links to see my opinions on the different treatments I did.

For the past 3 years I have left the conventional treatment for M.S and have been on a treatment called LDN. (Low Dose Naltrexone) Frankly, I am amazed at how wonderful I feel and how it has virtually halted the progression of the disease. I still have M.S. I still have problems where I have nerve damage. I still have a hard time in the heat and if I get stressed. But all in all I feel great. I have had no new relapses since stopping the Betaseron. I took Betaseron for 5 years and in the last year I had another term of Optic Neuritis but in the opposite eye. I was knowledgeable to notice the signs and get to the hospital right a way and start a steroid drip. This greatly improved the recovery time. That was when I decided to stop the Betaseron. While on LDN, I have never had a new area attacked.

In our area it is cool now and I do much better in the cooler weather. I am managing my stiffness and muscle pain with aspirin and Aleve(not together). I've tried the different stiffness M.S. medications like Tizanidine and they make me so dry (eyes, nose) that I can hardly stand it. Plus they make me sleepy. I also take Provigil for the fatigue, which is very helpful.

All in all, it has been a wonderful year. We went to Disneyland about 4 times and I used a wheel chair the beginning of the year (first trip) because I think I may have broken my foot. Somehow I feel wrong on it and couldn't put weight on it. It seemed to be a stress fracture and healed after about 6 weeks. The other times I was able to walk the whole time, which is usually 3 or 4 days, pretty much all day. (estimated 6 miles a day)

So as far as M.S. goes and LDN I would never take anything else to treat this disease. Maybe if they came up with a cure but until then I do not regret switching from Betaseron (the accepted treatment) to LDN (the experimental one). Thanks for reading and e-mail any questions or leave them in the commet section and I will be happy to answer!