Self-study Finds Positive, Alternative, Medicine for Auto Immune Diseases

In Whatcom County, 14 percent of 1,100 respondents in a 2007 telephone survey said they were without health insurance of any kind, including government. A more recent study is not yet available. However, in these depression-era times, most likely many more people now are without insurance, including people with auto-immune diseases. Too many of us know how economically devastating that can be.

AIDS, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, lupus, and others are all auto immune diseases. This article is about a low cost, alternative medicinal therapy for such diseases. The medicine is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).

I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). After being on the expensive MS medications for years, I noticed a Bellingham friend, Michael Eisenberg, who had the disease. He had seemingly and significantly improved his condition since I had last seen him. Thankfully, he willingly told me about his taking LDN, and he willingly tells others who ask.

He had discovered the drug while researching on the net. Years ago, he looked at the site goodshape.net; the site still is on the net and readers will see a story of how a woman “(and later several thousand MS patients) … used Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) … that quickly stopped all further exacerbations and further progression of MS.”

Upon more inquiry, I learned LDN costs about $20 or $30 a month. It is no wonder drug companies do not want patients to know about LDN – it is about .4 percent of the cost of other MS medications.

Also, a benefit of the drug is that it is an oral medication — not a daily shot.

After Eisenberg’s comments and my slim research, I started taking LDN. It was 2004. My UW doctor, Dr. Kraft, who was originally concerned about my use of this scientifically unproven MS med, now tells me that my MS has stopped progressing since first taking it. None of the other expensive medications can claim to stop the disease’s progression. MS is often diagnosed in the early stages. Stopping it in its beginning stages is significant; otherwise, it can get worse and be fatal.

Dr. George Kraft, a leading MS specialist, publishes frequently in the MS Society magazine. Several years ago he went to California where Dr. Cree, from UCSF, presented his LDN studies. Dr. Kraft verbally told me that Dr. Cree, with his small study, discovered what goodshape.net had claimed years before: LDN stopped the progression of MS in the patients in his study.

However, his study officially focused on quality of life, not disease progression, so the fact that the disease stopped progressing is not scientifically confirmed in writing. Dr. Kraft only verbally told me that the study indicated that the disease did not progress while patients were on LDN.

In another study, Dr. Bernard Bihari’s website indicates the following: “In the approximately 30 ‘patient years’ of treatment represented by all of the patients combined, there has not been a single disease episode while taking LDN. None of the patients with chronic progressive MS has shown progression on annual neurological examinations. Unfortunately, many neurologists discount LDN studies for being too small and too few to give credence to.

The MS Society had funded Dr. Cree’s LDN research project in 2007. A new study is out from 2010 that focuses on quality of life, not stopping the disease progression. So again, there is no conclusive written scientific study about LDN stopping the progression of MS.

Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for funding most research for new drugs. New drugs come with big prices. Obviously drug companies do not mind funding new studies that make them bigger bucks. That is a major reason for people to do self study and to research reliable alternative sources on the net. This is especially true for people not on insurance. Having a local support group is invaluable for learning the reliable sources and not falling for the unreliable.

Interestingly, the day I wrote the above paragraph, Democracy Now had an article about a medical ethicist, Harriet Washington, who wrote “Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself—And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future.” The author, Ms. Washington, states that she was “really disturbed not only by the displacement of the traditional, more altruistic values of medical research, but also by the lack of transparency with which corporations have managed to co-opt not only research itself, but also the generation of new cures and the pricing of drugs.”

For more information about the article, see Democracy Now (10/31/2011). It is great article for understanding how pharmaceutical companies have corrupted patent procedures.

The corporate, established medical world tells us Multiple Sclerosis is incurable. Medicare approves and pays for the expensive MS medications, costing anywhere from $900 to $4000 a month. The expensive medications can slow down MS. One must get a daily shot of most of these medications. Before seeing Michael and his MS improve, I trusted different local neurologists and took their recommendations for the expensive prescriptions.

Naltrexone, at a high dose form (50 to 65 mg) was U.S. Department of Agriculture approved in 1984 for heroine addicts and alcoholics. It increases a body’s natural endorphin levels to lessen depression when going through withdrawal. For MS patients and other patients with auto immune diseases, it is usually 4.5 mg daily (hence low dose). LDN has a relatively low cost as it still reflects 1984 prices.

Because of the drug’s patented approval, it can be prescribed by physicians for cases the physicians deem appropriate.

Dr. Kraft asked me why I thought the LDN works. I answered that it stabilizes my mood. I am rarely depressed. Often times, MS exacerbations occur when people are stressed or traumatized. That is just my theory. There are no written studies verifying my theory.

Now on the net, readers can learn that many patients are using LDN for AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, lupus, certain forms of cancer (not all) and many other diseases. The Skip’s Pharmacy web site presents a detailed explanation of how and why LDN works. For anyone not on Medicare or insurance, it is an inexpensive drug well worth investigating.

One disadvantage of the drug is that it tends to get people inebriated on very little alcohol. Also, it must be stopped before an operation and when on any pain killers or opiates. Sometimes people with migraines do not like the drug for that reason.

In 1981, before the expensive MS medications were on the market, my first neurologist, Dr. Braun of Bellingham, told me that following Dr. Swank’s diet may help. The patients he had, he tended not to see again after going on this diet, he said. Well I went on the diet, but I wasn’t very strict about it; however, my exacerbations were few, so few people detected I had any problems until about 2004.

Swank’s diet meant the MS patient (and heart patients) stopped all hydrogenated oils, could only have about three teaspoons of saturated fats a day, but had to have at least nine teaspoons of healthy oils, and at least one teaspoon of cod liver oil every day. Dr. Swank’s first book was titled “Diet for People with Heart Disease and MS.” Dr. Swank was early in seeing the dangers of hydrogenated oils.

This spring, I called Dr. Swank’s office in Portland and was told that he, now 99 years old, was in Europe lecturing.

Another popular diet for MS patients is similar to the Paleo diet, eating just vegetables, meat, taking Chlorella, and seaweed, but not eating any grains or dairy. A general practitioner, Dr. Wahl, had a serious case of MS and was able to totally eliminate all her symptoms. There are many web sites selling her books and explaining her diet.

Some of the expensive MS medicines, like the interferons (there are several) and Copaxone, must be injected daily. When I was working and consequently insured, I liked Copaxone best. I do know friends on both Copaxone and LDN. They like that combination. Figuring out what works best seems to be each person’s and doctor’s responsibility.

Because it is not Medicare approved for MS, some physicians are reluctant to prescribe LDN. Similar difficulties may arise getting prescriptions for other diseases. Back in 2004, I got started taking LDN by printing information from the Skip’s pharmacy website and presenting it to my doctor. A liberal doctor in Port Townsend first prescribed LDN for me. Taking printed information about LDN to a doctor may help facilitate getting a prescription. Also, Skip’s Pharmacy gave me the following email that lists doctors who will prescribe LDN: ChrystalAngel@aol.com.

LDN can be ordered from any compounding pharmacist. However, I get LDN from Skip’s Pharmacy. Skip’s mixes LDN ingredients separately; whereas other pharmacists tend to take the regular 65 milligram dose and cut it. Skip’s LDN seems more effective.

Ironically, Medicare does not pay for LDN even though they do pay for the other expensive MS medicines. I pay $20 a month for LDN, and by doing so, I save Medicare at least a thousand to $4,000 dollars monthly. Yes, I have saved Medicare at least $84,000 to $336,000 since 2004. I have spent about $1,600 of my own, but my latest MRI indicates and Dr. Kraft tells me, my MS has not progressed since I started LDN in 2004.

MS is a disease with many unknowns as are other auto immune diseases. People need to find medication that works best for them. LDN may not be best for everyone, but I, like many others who use it, believe it is best for us.

I can not and do not speak for others with any disease. That is wise advice the MS Society tells people who go to their meetings.

Special thanks to Skip’s Pharmacy, Dr. Cree of UCSF, and the MS Society for funding the few studies about LDN. It is a good reason to send the MS Society a donation if you can.

Donate by Mail: National MS Society, PO Box 4527, New York, NY 10163 Phone 1.800.344.4867

• Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Realtor, exp Realty, michael.e@exrealty.com

• Dr. Bihari. see: http://www.goodshape.net/LDN.html

• Dr. Cree. US, CA., MS Center UCSF, Parnassus Ave. suite #908. San Francisco, CA, US 94117. Principle Investigator: Bruce Kornyeyva, MS Center, UCSF

• Harriet Washington. “Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself—And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future.” Democracy Now (10-31-2011).

• ChrystalAngel@aol.com : lists doctors who prescribe LDN

• MS Center , UCSF