I’ve been taking care of Easton and having a blast doing so. In Norwegian tradition, Santa comes during the night of the 23rd and the kids wake up to presents under the tree and stockings by their bed. Here are some priceless clips, also starring my neighbor’s sweet little 5 year-old, Brooks.
Easton is a total bundle of love. He randomly will say, “I yuv you, Mimi” and give hugs to everyone he sees. He won’t say “I yuv you” to Annika though. When I asked him why, he answered, “She’s too pretty.” So pretty girls brings out the shyness in him.
Janice T. so sweetly transcribed my interview with Linda Elsegood about the miracle medicine, LDN, because she understands that some people have hearing difficulties and therefore can’t watch the video, and others just don’t have time to sit and watch a YouTube that’s an hour long. She understands that this medicine can save lives and cause relief. But first, watch this oldie!
And now for the transcript. Thanks again, Janice. I know how time-consuming transcribing can be!
Elisa: How are you Linda?
Linda: I’m good, thank you!
Elisa: And thank you for putting up with me, misspelling your name, I said Elsewood instead of Elsegood, but 63…brain cells…starts to go! Um, alright, so we’re going to talk about Low Dose Naltrexone. You people out there, you know that I chatted this up so much and it all started with me, you know, after Erik died, my other son struggled, and he was put on different, like Zoloft and nothing works. Nothing that targeted serotonin, dopamine or norepinephrine, and so we decided what about endorphins? That’s rarely ever looked at, and cases of dysphoria, depression, etc. So, three days after starting it, he came downstairs, and said “Mom, I feel normal for the first time in my life.” So autoimmunity runs in our family so we’re thinking that maybe he has some sort of autoimmune acquired endorphin deficiency. Um, but that’s how my story started, but I will say this; I have recommended so many people, here’s one guy, young guy, won’t say his name, who had, who has severe Ankylosing Spondylitis, okay, and thats where you ossify your spine, and you get this bamboo spine, um and, for you peeps that aren’t doctors out there,
um, and he was on Cosyntrix, Methotrexate, massive doses of steroids, I can’t remember anything else, I think there were four. So I told him about LDN and he’s skeptic he took a long time to research it but he finally took it and it changed his life. He was finally able to work at the library, he used to work only four hours a day he couldn’t manage any more than that, and barely got through that. Now he can work at the library eight hours a day feeling twice as good. So he just put me this two days ago.
Elisa (reading letter): “Hi, love you foreva! I hear you’re interviewing the LDN guy”,Sorry Linda.
Linda laughing.
Elisa (reading letter): “Thank you for telling me about LDN. If I stop taking it, my fibromyalgia and all my chronic symptoms goes nuts. Because of you, I introduced it to my rheumatologist, and she uses it on a bunch of people. She had no idea about it before that. That and you and Eric’s emotional support, you both are one of the reasons I’m still alive. Hope you have a great Christmas.”
Elisa: So that’s big. But I want to comment first on the story with endorphins, and how it can be linked to depression? Or…
Linda: I’m absolutely amazed all the different things that LDN can help with, and I think that has been one of the problems, is, you know, people say “well, you know, how can it help for, I think there’s 240 different conditions now, you know, it can’t possibility work for everything. But I mean, you take paracetamol or aspirin for so many different things, and you can’t really understand the mechanism, not only does it work on endorphins, it also work on Toll like receptors.
Elisa: on the what?
Linda: Toll like receptors.
Elisa: Okay, you might want to tell people what that is.
Linda: Okay, um, so your toll like receptors that they work on are like the army that attack information in your body. They try to get the body running correctly. People with autoimmune diseases and conditions as well when you’re ill, you have very high levels of inflammation. And by reducing back inflammation, people feel so much better anyway. And not only LDN, I mean there are doctors that recommend taking high levels of EPA, which you get in, you know, fish oils…
Elisa: Right
Linda:..which also help reduce that inflammation.
Elisa: You’re right. I get a lot of blow back from ….oh, ppfffh, it cant be a panacea, I mean, it raises the skeptic nerve ending in people, but you know, if endorphin receptors are on almost every cell in the body, number one, I don’t think its in our red blood cells but. Not only that, um, inflammation is kind of the root of almost , if not if not every disease and condition, even autism, cancer, heart disease, also autoimmune disease, um, so it make sense that it should work…
Linda: mm hmm
Elisa: …on so many things. You can only see the top two thirds of your face. Maybe children…there we go, now we can see the entire beautiful Linda.
Linda laughs.
Linda: Yes, so, but I mean there are doctors using it in fertility clinics, and so the women are using it before they’re getting pregnant, during pregnancy, during breastfeeding, and I interviewed Dr. Phil Boyle who’s
Elisa: Yes, he’s uh, in Ireland.
Linda: Yeah, for 20 something years now. Well I’ve been doing this 14 years, 15 years in February, so yeah, 20 something years. And he has found that the babies when they come back for check-ups, you know, the mothers have had a good pregnancy…Well, A: They managed to get pregnant
Elisa: Yes.
Linda: B: The pregnancy went smoothly, no miscarriages or anything, and he has found, looking at the babies, they have less antibiotics. So many babies have chest problems and things, they’re given antibiotics. They have very contented babies, and their weight. So he’s found that it’s not any reason not to take it during pregnancy, and I think it does seem to be beneficial to babies. So the good thing is we now know because of the work that he’s done, but if you have fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, MS, whatever, and you want to get pregnant, he’s proved that it is, I know its not been through the trials and everything, but it is, it looks the same, Thank You pregnancy.
Elisa: I hear its called, it’s nicknamed the “why not” drug because its Thank You profile is so incredible. Now I wanna back up a little bit but, what was I gonna, uh, um….oh, I can’t remember. I guess what I wanna say is, how did you get involved in this 14 years ago. [inaudible] where you are, you probably saved countless lives.
Linda: Yeah, I have Multiple Sclerosis, and I was diagnosed in 2000, um, my mother had a really major heart attack Christmas 1999, and I haven’t been well before then. So I’m going back, when I was 32 [inaudible] I was having lots of peculiar things happen to me. I would say to my husband we’d go out for a cycle ride and, I show you [pointing at the area on her hand between her thumb and index finger on her right hand] this part here holding the handlebars would actually go pins and needles and numb. I said to my husband, “when you’re cycling, do you find that you have this problem?” and “no, you’re just weird” , you know…
Elisa: My husband says exactly the same thing all the time! He says I’m weird!”
Linda laughs
Elisa: Husbands are programmed to say that but, maybe I am.
Linda: I was thinking, okay that’s just me and I was having problems with my legs going numb, um, I had…
Elisa:[inaudible]
Linda: …constant electric shocks going down to my fingertips, and my doctor said it was a trap nerve so I had a nerve slip disc. There was reasons going, hindsight’s a wonderful thing, I can see now that they were relapses, but I just thought they were pieces, [inaudible] I didn’t realize they were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but I’ve known my husband since I was 18, and he doesn’t think I was normal one either.
Elisa: Uh ohhh, same here!
Linda laughing
Linda: So, I did have strange things happened, but they never lasted very long, you know, the time you thought this seems to be a problem, I really should go and tell somebody or see somebody, it would go! So then it was like, job done, there’s no issue. Um, I was very young when I started having problems with my bladder, and I always had, um, I started menstruating when I was eleven, had horrendous problems, um, they put me on different hormone tablets, I used to faint, I used to vomit,
Elisa: Oh gosh
Linda: I started having DNCs when I was 17
Elise: Oh gosh
Linda: thought I had en endometriosis, lots and lots and lots of things that would come and go, apart from that, which was
Elisa: I’m gonna stop you there and say, to cut things short because
Linda: mmm
Elisa showing pages and pages of paper to Linda
Elisa: girl, I’ve got some questions!
Linda: Oh, okay okay!
Linda laughing
Elisa: Oh, no no, I loved it that story well, I don’t know, horrific but, basically you got diagnosed with MS, and how did you stumble upon LDN
Linda; Okay, in 2003 I was told that I’m a secondary progressive MS, and nothing more could be done for me. There was no medication, there was no nothing, and at that point, just very very briefly, the left hand side of my body, completely you could draw a line,
Elisa: whoa
Linda: on the left hand side, I was numb pins and needles. To explain how that felt, it was like, I’ve been to the dentist and they’d given me a local anesthetic [inaudible] for the whole body, and it was really painful, really really painful. I had cognitive problems, I couldn’t hold a conversation, [inaudible] the brain fog, um, I was choking on my food,
Elisa: oh its just awful
Linda: [inaudible] really big thing
Elisa: Did you have uh, diplopia? Double vision?
Linda (nodding yes): double vision, I lost my hearing in my left ear completely which my neurologist said it meant I haven’t got NS because you don’t lose your hearing, but it was completely, there was nothing there. So I [inaudible] through, I stumbled. I was a mess and in a lot of pain. um.
Elisa: [inaudible] the computer and started googling? Alternative [inaudible]
Linda: I did, but I could only manage, and I lost my bowel and bladder control as well, which is
Elisa: Oh gosh, thats awful
Linda: [inaudible} its really horrible. So ten minutes at a time, that’s all I could do on the computer, and then I had to go back to bed, and that would just wipe me out for the rest of the day. But I did manage to find some people in the US who were taking LDN for MS and everybody talked to me the same that it doesn’t do you any good, it’s not going to do you any harm, and quite honestly I were [inaudible]
Elisa: Wait, who said that? Your doctors?
Linda: No no no, everybody on the internet that I had spoken to and just the internet wasn’t as big then, it is today. Um, it was very hard, there wasn’t Facebook, all these forums like there are now.
Elisa: But you had the courage to try it anyway huh?
Linda: Exactly, so I had a doctor in Wales who was willing to prescribe it for me. He gave me information to take to my own doctor, who said no, and
Elisa: Why? It’s just…
Linda: and it’s amazing because living in my head at that time, I get to be being in a television set that wasn’t tuned in. Couldn’t see properly, couldn’t properly, couldn’t hear properly, and in three days, there’s three days, three {inaudible] it was as though somebody tuned that television set and it took 18 months to get to today, after three weeks, it was amazing. It was like, I can start to see, hear, think, it was a eureka moment.
Elisa: Thats amazing. So how are you doing now after taking LDN for so long?
Linda: I do really well, um, I don’t do myself any favors because I’m a woman with a mission. So as soon as I get up in the morning, I’m on my computer in between doing anything, I’m on my computer, and I’m on my computer until I go to bed seven days a week, I don’t…
Linda laughing
Elisa: Wowww
Linda: [inaudible] a problem, but probably I’m not helping myself by resting a bit more, turning off, relaxing, which I don’t do.
Elisa: Oh, I know, I have the same problem! So how did you decide to [inaudible] LDN Research Trust Org what is the purpose
Linda: Okay, well after it worked so well for me, I had to make conscious decision; do I get on with my life and say I’m okay now,
Elisa: mmm
Linda: or do I help those people that were in that deep dark place that I was in, because I was very tempted to end it all. I’ve had enough, I couldn’t do it, and I thought my family would understand because I was making them live it with me. Rather then bringing them down to the level I was at, you know they would be upset and sad, but then I thought they would be able to carry on living, rather than just everybody stopping um, then it would have been my 15 year old daughter who’d found me so I couldn’t do that to her. So, I had to prove everybody wrong, that there was something that could be done. So I wanted, when it worked for me, to tell everybody else that for those people who probably weren’t as strong as I was, to carry on living.
Elisa: Okay, that’s awesome. Well, you’re a pioneer. Alright, so let’s get you the questions that if you can just make it really brief. These blog members are so fascinated by it, its awesome. Let’s start out with um, how does LDN work in the body? You and I know but out viewers might not.
Linda: Okay…
Long pause
Linda: The reason why I’m hesitating is, as we’ve gone along, I mean, initially, everybody said you take it at night time, you take three milligrams , work up to 4.5. We now know that that isn’t the case. You know, some people had sleep disturbance, vivid dreams, you can take it in the morning. The dropout rate is quite high, and some people found three milligrams too high. So now they’ll only start on 0.5 milligrams, and titrated it up
Elisa: Yep
Linda: Um, slowly slowly and it’s not ”higher the dose, the better the benefit” its what dose suits you the best. So you have to find your optimum dose.
Elisa: I didn’t know!
Linda: Because if you’re titrating it up, say every two weeks, and you’re on two milligrams, let’s say, and you’re feeling pretty good, and you got up to 2.5 and you don’t feel as good, whatever “as good” may be, because everybody’s symptoms are different
Elisa: Absolutely
Linda: So if it’s not feeling as good if you drop back, stay on that dose for say a month, and then try and titrate it up again, and some people can do that after you know, step stabilizing, but other people find, you know, it’s not really not working as well as it was, and drop back down again, and that is the dose for them, whatever that might be.
Elisa: Okay, so, um, just to teach everybody. Lets um. Naltrexone, 50 and 100 mg tablet, thats use to curb cravings, alcohol, substance abuse of all sorts and eating, um, but if you go to like a much smaller amount, say 4.5 milligrams or 3 milligrams, then you take it and, but it eliminated the body so quickly, the body goes “Aaaaah” it’s been blocking the endorphin release right? And then all of the sudden boom! You’re up to tripling your endorphin release when it’s out of your body. Especially, of course you have to have it compounded, you cannot have the extended release. You have to have the immediate release formulation. And now endorphins are, like I said, almost every cell on the body, and it does something to modulate the immune system and reduce inflammation, so all these people who are taking immunosuppressants for various forms of, like arthritis and so on, um, they’re suppressing their immune system instead of making it normal, which is what endorphins, i.e. dose naltrexone does. Um, anything to add to that?
Linda: Yeah, so Naltrexone was actually, um, used back in the 1970s, and it was only found harmful in doses of 300 milligram. It’s been through all the trials and tests. Um, addicts, as you were saying, normally taking 350 milligrams tablets a day, and they were absolutely fine. So, and there have been many trials and studies done now so we know that it is safe drug and some doctors think it’s more or less like a nihilistic medication because it is just such a low dose. So it blocks the endorphins as you were saying, and you take it, blocks your endorphins, your body says “whoa we haven’t got any endorphins”, and it just makes, and the endorphins, even though it’s hidden the ones that in your body’s already got, and the endorphins are your body’s own natural painkiller, and feel-good factor, so hence why, when you’re depressed, and you get anybody, and also a mutant decease, and they’ve had it for a while, they’re going to feel depressed so that’s in itself, feeling so much brighter and being a pain killer is amazing too, and I don’t know whether you are up-to-date with ultra low dose Naltrexone?
Elisa: Right, I was gonna ask you about that, because you know, one of the contraindications is being on opiates. LDN can precipitate withdrawal, but I wanna ask you about ultra low dose. Can a person be on ultra low dose?
Linda: Yes!
Elisa: Be on opiates and while they’re getting off of their opiates?
Linda: Yeah! We’re going to be doing a documentary next year that’s really really exciting. We’re working with pain specialists in the US who are using ultra low dose. Now we’re talking point zero zero one in some cases. So minuscule, but they have, they’re finding that by giving such an ultra low dose to patients that are using opioid medications, it makes that opioid medication work far more effectively, and as you probably know there are people on fentanyl, morphine that say that it’s not working anymore. So by putting this very tiny dose along the length of the opioid, makes it far more effective. So what they do is very gradually titrate up the Naltrexone, the ultra low dose whilst increasing the opioids, and on several weeks they can actually, in some cases, off the opioids completely, and we’re talking to people who have been on them 20-30 years without causing any withdrawal whatsoever. Some of the pain specialists will let a patient keep their opioids and use them along, so there is a sixth power gap between the Naltrexone and the opioid, so they’re not in the system at the same time, but use them as an atom and if the pain is really bad one day and they’ve taken the LDN at night, they can take the opioid in the morning. It’s quite clever how they do it, but in general, the whole idea is to tackle the opioid epidemic by using , start with the ultra low dose Naltrexone, and then using the LDN, but it’s very exciting. The results of these patients.
Elisa: I have written this up, and sent this as THE answer to the opioid crisis, the opioid epidemic. I’ve sent it to every politician I know of, I sent it to different different mental health organizations. I mean, it’s like, nobody replies! I mean, this could be the simple cheap answer! Instead of throwing billions and billions and billions of dollars! I mean this is cheap stuff! And it’s the thing that works, you know, we keep our kids from dying of overdoses. So anyway, but, so do you think it’s the answer to the opioid crisis? At least in part?
Linda: I think it would be an X, an amazing start. I mean, there are so may pain specialists I’ve spoken to, and doctors prescribing LDN for different conditions, and everybody is on the same page with it, being used for pain. Um, so hopefully when we’ve made this documentary, it might get out there, you know.
Elisa: Oh I would hope so. I will share it with everybody. Alright, so since it makes your body release so much endorphins, can you run out of endorphins?
Linda: I wouldn’t have thought though because your body just continually makes the endorphins, doesn’t it.
Elisa: Yes, what about that, uh, DLPA? Was it, um, dextro…what is it Lucas? Dextro Level Phenylalanine. It decreases the enzyme that breaks down the endorphins. Maybe people should also take that along with it? I mean, my sons says he swears by it. He says really helps a lot
Linda: Mm, I mean there are different protocols that different doctors use. Um, there are few that use LDN on their own, but most of them are looking for the root cause and they’re saying, you know. Diet is really important, you know, if you’re going to live on junk food if that’s what you’re putting in, you know, your body’s not 21, [inaudible] properly, and also checking your different vitamins, minerals levels are important, um, exercise, you know, even if you are in a wheelchair, you shouldn’t just take that as your fate, you still need to exercise whatever part of your body you can.
Elisa: Okay.
Linda: The answer to your question is, yes, but when I interview these doctors, and I say to them, you know, what are the five things you would use alongside of LDN. Theres always five different things, but one of the main things are a very good probiotic. Everybody’s in agreement with that
Elisa: oh! Wonderful! Kombucha! Um, that drink, that has some sort of bacteria. My son said it works. I guess it’s kind of probiotic, but he says it works a lot better than the probiotics he’s taken.
Linda: Okay. Well, the ones that they all seem to recommend are the ones that you keep in the fridge that, you know, has a shelf life and they don’t last that long. Um, that said that Vitamin D is another thing
Elisa: Vitamin D okay.
Linda: Vitamin D. But also what works intrinsically with LDN is CBD oil, which seems to be really really good. Um, we have Professor Angus-Selby, she’s one of the UK’s top oncologists doing a talk at the LDN 2019 conference on how well they do togethe. Um, he works at St. George’s which is a University hospital and it’s a research hospital, so they have labs and labs of research scientists doing testing in the labs, which is really good, and talking about cancer, there was a paper published by one of his colleagues, Dr. Wayne Noo, and they found that by using an RDM once you have cancer into remission, by using pulse dosing, three days on, three days off,
Elisa: [inaudible]
Linda: Sorry?
Elisa: Pulse Dosing?
Linda: Pulse Dosing
Elisa: Got it!
Linda: Yeah. Three days on, three days off, and caused cell death which was just totally totally amazing, yeah.
Elisa; Mmm, well, okay, the CBD oil you were referring to, did it work only in the case of pain? Or other condition that you use LDN for?
Linda: Other conditions too. The doctors are looking to introduce that alongside the LDN where the patient doesn’t have the benefits the doctors would like, so, of course LDN, the doctors will say something really high, like 98% of their patients who take LDN noticed something. Now that something can be, um, less pain, it can be sleeping better, to having virtually no symptoms. But that doesn’t happen for everybody, so for some people who the doctors feel LDN isn’t working as well as it should do, by introducing the CBD, and we’re talking, um, there’s a lot of CBD out there, um, pure CBD which hasn’t got the C, THC in it, that is pharmaceutical grade, so you’ve got the reassurance that it has the quality, and it’s been through the checks and the controls as you would, a drug. And I think it’s really important when you’re putting something in your body that you know that you’re taking something from good quality.
Elisa: Absolutely. What are the other two things? Probiotic, CBD oil, Vitamin D, um…
Linda: Yeah, they all vary. They all say different things, yeah. But there are only two things I think that come up the most when I ask that question.
Elisa: What? What is it? Oh, those are the ones, okay. Um, now, how do you know whether to take it in the morning or at night? When I started taking it at night, I would wake up feeling so groggy. Well, I switch it to the morning, and I’m not as groggy, but is there any other way you can tell whether morning or at night?
Linda: When I’ve asked these questions to prescribers, they were saying, if you take it at night, and get into the routine of taking it as you’re you know, the last thing you’re going to do before you go to sleep so you don’t forget to take it, there are people who have disturbed dreams, vivid dreams, and very very vivid dreams, or they have sleep disturbance, and their doctors will tell them to take it in the morning, and they find that that really helps. Um, and then you get some other doctors who’ve got patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and who will, that’s really bizarre to me, but they all do double dosing. They will take it in the morning, and in the evening and they find that it just gives them that boost, and they’re not as tired. So there isn’t a protocol at all, it’s not like paracetamol, “take two four times a day”. It’s not that kind of drug.
Elisa: Yeah, everybody’s body is different. Everybody’s condition, their disease, whatever, so of course you have to experiment. And it’s a really safe drug to experiment with. The only contraindication that I know of of them now are opiates or not, if you start on ultra low dose but, you know, for example if you have Hashimoto’s; I do. I had to reduce my Synthroid, my thyroid medication because it has made my autoimmune thyroid disease better. But also organ transplantation, you can’t have organ transplant, is that still the [inaudible]
Linda: Rejection drugs may not work alongside of LDN. So when I’ve asked that question, I’ve been told no, not to take LDN with anti-rejection drugs. But I mean, when I first started it, it was the case of you can’t take it with steroids. But Dr. Jill Smith did a Crone study and she used it alongside of steroids, so we knew that was okay. It was told not to be used with immune suppressant drugs, like Methotrexate etc. We now know that doctors do use both together. So everything we thought years ago, when I first started, what was a no-no, all of that has just gone. And with the ultra low dose, even the opioids, you know, they’re taking.
Elisa: Amazing!
Linda: So it’s evolving , the whole time
Elisa: Now, um, how does it work in pregnancy by the way, infertility.
Linda: It was really interesting how, we have on our website, at which people can download, we’ve got the 2016 conference videos on there, and Dr. Phil Boyle talking 30 minute presentation on LDN and pregnancy that’s really interesting. So if anybody would like to watch that, it’s there, and all the information is free. He does lots of groundwork with his patients, and all the different charts and everything, and he tries to get his patient in optimal health first. And this is where he found that it was amazing because a lot of these women that are trying to get pregnant had new diseases. They may have had Hashimoto’s, um, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, other things. He found that those conditions improved quite quickly before they even got pregnant with the LDN. I was…he was…he made me smile… We were talking and he was saying (I think I was interviewing him) and I was thinking, oh you can’t say that! He said, “People will say to me, is LDN addictive?” and I say to them, “It sure is, it sure is, it really is addictive””.
Elisa: Whoa! What? What??
Linda big smile.
Linda: And he said, “I just can’t wait for the next patient to come through the door, but I could help with
Elisa: Oh that’s so [inaudible]
Linda: It’s not addictive for the patient, but it is for the doctors, you know.
Elisa: Yeah! For the patients too! Because it work so well, outside of physical, but more [inaudible] but you want to keep taking it so that you can continue to feel well. Now, um, you know, I’ve seen a lot of stories about them. One blog member submitted that to you about their animals with cancer, the pets being put down, but they tried LDN and they’re cured! So, has there been any research on, well, LDN being safe on animals? What kind of dosage? Does it help?
Linda: It works, really really well, and there are different, again, different protocols from different vets, but we’re having some information sheets on dosing for pets put together, but the results have been amazing because there are pets who have MS, believe it or not, you know, and of course cancer and so on, and the results have been utterly utterly amazing.
Elisa: Do you do the same pulse? Three days on, three days off? Three days on?
Linda: You only do that when the cancer is in remission.
Elisa: Ohhhh
Linda: You don’t do pulsing until you’re in remission.
Elisa: Oh, alright but others that are not in remission, you take it on a daily basis, right?
Linda: Yes, exactly.
Elisa: Alright, so is the dose for animals, you know, thyroid dosage for pets, dogs that are hypothyroid, they need more then we do. So whats the case in LDN? Do you know what dosage range is used for like a dog?
Linda: It goes on the weight. They go by the weight since.how you treat children, it’s the same, you know, by weight, and then titrate it up. So it is individual, but it usually starts a lot lower for children.
Elisa: So what would you start out if you had um, how do you find out the starting dose if you, like 0.01 per kilo per day or…Is there any literature on that?
Linda: There was, um, Dr. Paul Anderson spoke about those things, children at the 2017 conference. In 2016, I think Dr. Diana Windham spoke about dosing, but again it depends on the age as a child and the weight of the child.
Elisa: And the dog, right? Or cat?
Linda: And the animals, yeah. But I have spoken to several vets and we’re putting together a dosing chart for reason that we can share, you know, what they have done in their practice, yes.
Elisa: Good! I would love to have that, so that I could send it to vets everywhere. My vet had no idea about this. And in some cases in cancer, I know that coupled with IV Alpha Lipoic Acid
Linda: Oh yes.
Elisa: The results! It even cured advanced pancreatic cancer. So I guess they must work synergistically.
Linda: Yeah.
Elisa: Does it have to be IV? Or probably better to be IV right?
Linda: Well exactly, but I was asking this question to the doctors that use, um, the intravenous, and one doctor said you could take the tablet form.
Elisa: Lipos..um. lipos….I mean there’s something that enters the cells, the [inaudible] without the lipoic acid, but tablet form, I can’t remember. I’ll try to find it.
Linda: Yes. It definitely works better with the intravenous Alpha Lipoic Acid. Um, I know over in England, it’s very difficult to get anything intravenous. Um, we don’t do thing like pins and needles, things like you do over there, unfortunately.
Elisa: Oh well, it’s difficult over here too, let me tell ya. Um, It does help with depression. Somebody’s asking… oh, one thing that I almost forgot. One person wants to know if the LDN effect starts to lessen, what do you usually do?
Jumbled up inaudible audio
Elisa: If the LDN effects starts to lessen, what do you?
Linda: Right.
Elisa: And is there anything else [inaudible] taking a vacation every once in a while from LDN?
Linda: Yeah. It depends on what dose you’re on. You might have gotten used to it, you might need to go higher. You might have to go lower. And there are some people that will say to take a break, take a week off, and then restart back, and you know, reset itself, yeah. It’s quite interesting because we have a new medical advisor, Dr. David, he’s not a doctor, David Youngsil. He’s a researcher and he has been putting together, which you will be hearing about soon, programs that he has put together, and he puts together like files, like Bibles, which he gives to doctors. He gives talks and lectures in the evenings. How to compound it in the right way, How to prescribe in the right way, how to titrate it up. And he said that doctors don’t have the time to do the research themselves, so he puts everything together more or less in point form, so that you can actually look at it, and he does these folders for conditions, so the doctor wants to prescribe it for depression, he’s got everything you need on depression.
Elisa: Oh that’s so wonderful!
Linda: On Fatigue…yes! So he’s put it all together, but he’s not doing it…he’s doing it scientifically, so he’s putting together research. He’s putting together powerpoints from different conferences all the information that he can get together which has already been shared, but not widely. So for these doctors, everything is there. And we are hoping to roll out all this information worldwide, so people will have everything they need to know for that one condition, the best way LDN will work for that patient.
Elisa: I was hoping for [inaudible] does something for will be for children and for pets too, but otherwise, I’m sure it’ll be coming down the line. I would really would love to have all the links so I could put it in the description box of the Youtube, Phil Boyle, the guy you just mentioned, yours, and anything you can think of. So, if you feel like it’s lessening, you can decrease the dose little, increase the dose little, take a vacation, or maybe take it in the morning instead of at night, or maybe double dose it. Things like that right? Those are things you can try.
Linda: Yeah.
Elisa: Okay. What about weight loss? Somebody’s asking about weight loss. We might have to have a part 2, girl.
Linda laughs.
Elisa: So many questions!
Linda: LDN is being used in weight loss clinics, and it seems to be working very well.
Elisa: Really? I’ve never heard of that.
Linda: Yes! Yeah… but, I mean it’s…again, overeating or… but you’re still not going to lose weight if sit and eat donuts all day.
Elisa: Dang it! Linda!
Linda laughing
Linda: But of course, it’s healthy eating and not a diet that’s the whole thing because as soon as you say “I’m on a diet”, you’re then thinking you’re not eating all your favorite foods, but if you looking at it as a new lifestyle change
Elisa: Yes!
Linda: this is how you’re eating a healthy eating plan, which is not just lasts until you’ve lost weight, its forever, you know. But it’s educating yourself to do that.
Elisa: Absolutely, and exercise too.
Linda: Yeah.
Elisa: So for people who think the [inaudible] have, or blocked off, okay, you talk about, try the probiotics, Vitamin D, the CBD oil, and then maybe even the DLPA I referred to that Lucas swears by, so…alright so compounding it, versus making it yourself, okay, now some people will get like a graduated cylinder, measure out like a 100ml of distilled water, and drop into the jar, and put 250mg or one other mg, Naltrexone in there, break it in half so that it dissolves easily, put in the refrigerator, shake it up and get a medication syringe, and it costs less than a penny a day, that way. Versus compounding it. Which is, you know, expensive for some people. And a lot of people who are on
Linda: Okay.
Elisa: [inaudible] conditions are on so much medication, and have so much expense already, so.
Linda: To mix it yourself is not a complete no-no, we do not recommend that at all, as a charity, we have to be aware of best practice. There are people who do exactly what you, mix it themselves, and they put it in the fridge out of the , open the top, they’re putting the syringe in. So you’re actually contaminating. There’s nothing in there to…if you make a liquid from a compounding pharmacy, there’ll be something in there to stop it from going off, or getting bacteria. Where if you stood a glass of… a jar of water in the fridge, let’s say, just water, and everyday for a month you open the top, and stick something in it, syringe, put it back on , put it in the fridge, take it out the next day, open it…At what point would you think that that water was still good to drink?
Elisa: Well, what I have done, and probably a no-no too, is that a couple of drop or two, I can’t remember, silver something or there’s a preservative, because I that on the forums, but yeah, I agree, you have to have some sort of antibacterial in there, but you know, as the last whatever resort for people who can’t afford it.
Linda: Yeah, but the thing is mixing it yourself when you’re talking very small doses, it’s not correct. When you crush the tablet and all the bits that settles at the bottom, how can you say it’s accurate?
Elisa: Yeah
Linda: Every dose isn’t going to be the same.
Elisa: Yea, okay.
Linda: When you have it compounded, there are places that you can send a prescription, if you look around, the price varies quite considerably. You can have tablets, you can have capsules, liquid, topical cream, sublingual. I mean, some people have something, well , if they have gut issues by the way you absorb it differently, it bypasses the gut so that’s really good. Dr. Jill Smith…
Elisa: In the cream form, it’s good for autistic children, I understand, right?
Linda: Yes, yes. They usually put it on the back of the hands with the topical cream, and especially for small children who won’t swallow anything, it’s really good.
Elisa: Yeah.
Linda: But not only autism for children, I mean, Pediatric Crohn’s, Juvenile Arthritis. I mean, Aspher, Asthma. There’s a wide array…
Elisa: [inaudible]
Linda; Yeah. If they can swallow them, you know, as they get older, they usually swap and have capsules. I mean, in Type 1 Diabetes is another big thing that you can actually reduce the amount of insulin that you need, ike you were saying, with the thyroid [inaudible].
Elisa: Yeah, oh yeah. What about Type 1 Diabetes. I wonder if you…
Linda: Yes! That’s what I mean, Type 1.
Elisa: Oooh, I thought you said Type 2.
Linda: Sorry, sorry.
Elisa: [inaudible] It all starts out with Type 1 Diabetes before all there, you know, Beta Cells are blasted, um, the Wata Antibodies, can it keep it from progressing? Cuz its an autoimmune disease?
Linda: Well, the doctors I’ve spoken to, and use it for Type 1 Diabetes, have been very very encouraged by it. I haven’t actually followed that to see what’s happened year on year. But they are very very pleased with the way that it’s working. Um…what…[inaudible] something to do with pain…it’s gone now…
Linda laughs
Elisa: Oh boy! I pulled that already too! Umm…Do you think they’ll ever be over-the-counter? I mean, it’s so safe.
Linda: I would like to think that one day it would be readily available. Whether it would…I mean, in England, I would like to see it on NHS system, where you have it prescribed like any other medication, and for you, for it to be available on all health insurances, where people would physically have to pay for it, it would be covered. Um, Dr Jill O’Tell? one of our medial advisors, is working for a free clinic in Virginia, and she’s got LDN there for patients that don’t have the insurance so that’s pretty good.
Elisa: I mean, yeah, think about how much cheaper it is! Then being on.. you know that Ankylosing Spondylitis patient on methotrexate, Cosyntrix, you know, it’d be cheaper for the insurance company. Of course, at least doctors here, okay, they never heard of it, because I think Pharma is not gonna send pharmaceutical reps to their office to educate them. They don’t want doctors to know about it because they can’t make money off of it. They rather make big bucks on methotrexate and Cosyntrix, and all these other things. But, you know, even though you bring literature to the doctor, with research, they still (maybe 30 goes, but a lot of them do have egos). I have five kids so I got the ego slapped out of my ass, but, you know, it’s like, they still are medicine. For example, I have my housekeeper for 27 years. Her daughter-in-law developed IgA Nephropathy, workers disease. And I said, you get her on this stuff, you know, tell the doctors about it. Waa waaa.[sound effect of doctors protesting]. So anyway, I gave it to her, and the doctors at dialysis are like [Elisa twirling her hair] “I don’t understand why your kidneys are improving so much?” You know! So what can you do to get doctors to, like, knock their ego out of their ass and give something that’s “why not” drug to patients?
Linda: Well, we hope that by doing these conferences, along with, we have Vimeo channel, and I think there’s about 850 interviews on there, um, from prescribers, pharmacists, patients. There is a lot of good information on there, and we have medical advisers who are really really good, and Dr. Leonard Weinstocks is a gastroenterologist, and he is more then willing to look into any condition, even though he’s a gastroenterologist. Even psoriasis he has an interest in. Any doctor that would like to have some hand-holding, if you like. He’s willing to talk to them, speak to them, you know, this is what I have found, there’s nothing to worry about, kind of thing. So I’ve said, we have some really good medical advisers who are more than happy to speak to other medical professionals. And we also have a secret private Facebook, which is invitation-only, and make sure that there’s only medical professionals where they can all get together and say, okay, I’ve got a seven year old with whatever condition, what have you done [inaudible]
Elisa: [inaudible]I want to join that one!
Linda: Yeah, in a similar situation, what would you give me, and it’s all private. There’s no members of the public there, and doing some brainstorming which a great tool.
Elisa: Wonderful! Alright, so you have a list on your site of all of the, most of the diseases and conditions that works on it, and a lot of these questions are does it work for this, does it work for that, so instead of answering those questions, can you tell me what conditions or diseases it doesn’t work for. Or some of them.
Linda: Well, I was surprised because, like rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune, where osteoarthritis isn’t. Yet, I’ve met so many people who used it for osteoarthritis… you think why? Because it’s bone rubbing on bone, you know, the pain. But it’s worked! You know, people have told me
Elisa: [inaudible] for relieving the pain?
Linda: Yeah!
Elisa: Or preventing the progression? It probable don’t prevent that. I can’t imagine.
Linda: No, the pain, They can carry on doing things,
Elisa: Wow
Linda: Has astounded me. What doesn’t…um…
Elisa: It don’t get rid of wrinkles, girl!
Linda: No!
Linda laughing.
Linda: Although, they say it helps you age slower, but…
Elisa: Oh my god! [inaudible] does it make your teenager less of an ass? Things like that
Linda: No, but its been used by eye doctors now, or the eye. It’s been used by dentists.
Elisa: It’s interesting you should say that, because I saw some new research on eye, and my family is a Butterkerr family. They’re the ones that invented cataract extractions, corneal transplants, all the refractive surgery. They’re the Father Ignacio Medicare my great uncle was what is the father of ophthalmology, well, he’s dead now. So I sent Elena, my cousin, this information. She had never heard of it! She is fascinated by it. She goes to Africa all the time, to do corneal transplants for free, and so this is her [inaudible]. Alright, if you’re titrating the dose up [inaudible] different for everybody, about how long before people will see results. I mean, Lucas noticed it in three days.
Linda: Yeah.
Elisa: [inaudible] in three weeks, so…
Linda: Yeah, I always say to doctors when I interview them, how long before your patients notice something, and it would seem, four months is the time that doctors expected you to have seen some improvement. We did a survey years ago, years and years ago, and we found that there were some people who after the first night, they’ll say I slept better than I have in 20 years
Elisa: Wow.
Linda: on the first night. But on the other end of the scale, we had people who said it did nothing for them at all, but they stabilized. But when you got a progressive disease to stabilize, is still, you know, it’s working, it’s doing something. They’ve taken it, and there were few people that found no improvement. 15 to 18 months of taking it when they’ve been stable for that length of time. They then start to get some symptom relief. Why after such a long period of time, I don’t understand it. But there are people who say that.
Elisa [inaudible]
Linda: So we always say, if you think it’s not working for you, to take it for 18 months
Elisa: Okay
Linda: And the number of people that say it’s not working for me, I can’t afford it, it’s too much, I’m stopping, they will actually say after a few weeks, well, in actual fact, the symptoms started to come back, this started to come back, I’ve forgotten what it was like
Elisa: Aaaaahhh!
Linda: and I think most people who stopped, really start.
Elisa: Um, okay, I’ve got a few more questions I want to run into [inaudible] don’t wanna run over our appointment, I’m so sorry. So, important to me, [inaudible] um, side effects. What I understand, most of them are more sleep-related but you know, um, it seems like the vivid dreams are not horrible, um but what are they, and are they temporary.
Linda: Yes, temporary. But we have found by people starting much lower, inside of three, and not the people will start on 1.5, or if you have fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue when you’re very ultra sensitive to drugs, you might start on 0.5, but by starting very low, and titrating very slow, most people notice nothing. And we’ve found only 5% of people experience side effects anyway, so they were getting, and sometimes headaches, upset stomachs, sometimes worsening of pre-existing symptoms, but as I said by starting low and going slow, hardly anybody notices anything.
Elisa: Okay, that’s great. Alright, so have big Pharma every tried to take you guys down? [inaudible] like stop this video…
Linda: I don’t know, but interestingly, in 2014 we had a Youtube channel, um, we were getting over a thousand views a day, all the different interviews, and one video was recorded and 4 seconds after the report, it was closed. And
Elisa: Oh god…that’s terrible.
Linda: So, why, I tired to find out but apparently YouTube is a free service, and they can choose who has a channel, who doesn’t.
Elisa: [inaudible] they make some bucks. Ugh….um… this one person wonders if helps intractable/refractory seizures.
Linda: [inaudible] So I mean, another one that has been asked was Huntington’s disease. Things that are, um, that are your genetic makeup, not necessarily different pain things might, but it’s all, the chances are probably not.
Elisa: Okay. Alright. But “why not” drugs so I would try it. And [inaudible] video too coz that could help. Alright, two quick questions, and then I want you to give people your information. One person wants to know if it would help her cravings for alcohol.
Linda: Yes
Elisa: Alright. And the other person wants to know, is there anything you see people doing or taking that hinders the effect of LDN. Crappy diet, I’m sure but, what else.
Linda laughing.
Linda: Um…Not really, no. Um, but as I said, those anti-rejection drugs for people who have had transplants is a no-no. Though a couple of herbs… people were told not to take alongside, although they are common don’t know what they are now…Something like St.John’s wort, or something…um…Can’t remember.
Elisa: So check her site, guys, find those out, or just Google, you know. If you’re taking the herb of some sort, then Google it along with Low Dose Naltrexone or LDN, its easier. Or ask me and I’lll figure it out for you. In my spare time!
Linda laughing
Elisa: Ohh, what was the other thing I wanted to ask…Oh yeah! I hear that sometimes there’s certain like carriers and fillers in regular medication that people take, that they can interfere.
Linda: Okay, lactose isn’t a good filler. It doesn’t seem to work as well. The filler of choice around the world seems to be Abyssal Microcrystalline Cellulose, which is a fibrous filler that doesn’t seem to do anything. It’s an innate filler. There are
Elisa: Did you hear about [inaudible] if people are on, like, essential vitamins, or some other thing that has magnesium stearate or whatever that, that can somehow interfere with the absorption or…My sister got a prescription by going to find an LDN doctor, and that’s one of the things LDN doctor said there certain things that you don’t want to take at the same time.
Linda: That varies too. Um, Same as people saying, should you take it with food, without food…I’ve tried all different things over the years, and it hasn’t really made any difference about whether I’ve taken it…if I had a snack and then taken m LDN, or I’ve taken in the morning before…I don’t get hung up on it, and it’s the same as people who say, like, when I go to the States, if you’re going to take it at night, what do you do about the time difference? Well, I take it at bed, wherever I am in the world, I take it before I go to bed.
Elisa: Oh, this is sooo great! Is there anything else you want to share? Beside your website, which I’ll put right here! Its ldnresearchtrust.org, ORG.
Linda: Yep. I mean, spot trials on there, studies, it has
Elisa: [inaudible] where to donate!
Linda: it has hopes
Elisa: Anywhere to donate?
Linda: Yes, there’s a “Donate Now” button there.
Elisa: Oh good, you guys donate! This is so important! It can help so many people who are suffering, so please, help Linda with her research! Donate something and do your own research. You are your own vest advocate for your health, people. Don’t rely on the doctors. We don’t know everything. Trust me, and especially if your doctor with big ego, they are not gonna, some of us being open-minded to the patient coming up with the cure instead of them! So it hurts their feelings. Little snowflake, you know, sense of self-esteem is at work, so thank you Linda, so much for what you do. I mean you’re a pioneer! You realize how many people you’re helping?
Linda: Well, it’s growing and growing and growing. But, we have a great team of volunteers, nobody gets paid. Everybody works for free and the people
Elisa: That’s what I do! I work too, but you get paid in fulfillment.
Linda: Exactly! Exactly! Somebody says “Thank you so much I feel like I’ve been given my life back”, or “I’ve feel like I’ve been given a second chance”
Elisa: Yes!
Linda: Valuable isn’t it? But it’s what we do, but we have all these volunteers who work for nothing, but they are people who LDN has worked for, and they also want to spread the word. So it’s a really good thing. I mean, you become an advocate when it works for you. We all get that stuck feeling to share.
Elisa: [inaudible] share, and your researchers, your research team, and your volunteers. Thank you so much! And everybody have Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Thank you Linda! I love what you’re doing!
Linda: Thank you! Bye!
Elisa: Hey, send me the, um, Facebook group for doctors…Please!!
Linda: Will do! We also have Facebook group for all Facebook users too!
Elisa: Send that to me, and I’ll put everything in the description box; any link you want.
Linda: Okay, thank you!
Elisa: Bye!
Linda: Bye bye!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!
