Quote:
Originally Posted by mom2five
From the FAQ's at www.gazorpa.com it says:
How does LDN work?
It is believed that LDN briefly obstructs the effects of brain endorphins (the brain's natural
painkillers). Sensing an endorphin deficit, the pituitary signals for increased production of
endorphins, which re-balances the immune system, thus reducing the activity of the MS. The effect
lasts around 18 hours.
My doctor told me that my five pregnancies kept the MS at bay because pregnancy suppresses the immune system. Since the two theories don't agree, I decided to check out the "endorphin" connection. What about endorphins during pregnancy? In article on www.pubmed.gov it said:
Most studies of endorphin concentrations in pregnant women show that these are highly elevated.
Did I connect some dots?...This would add additional support to Dr. Bihari's theory on LDN. Please don't call me crazy, LOL 
Just an idea...any thoughts?
Watch out...she's trying to doctor herself!  |
Some people do much worse during pregnancy too . . . but most do better. They don't know yet why this occurs; hormones, endorphins, GOD having pity on us
, or whatever.
Even after all the research I've done, over the last 18 or so years, I really don't know why some meds "seem" to work for some people, and others "seem" to work for others. Unfortunately it is often very difficult to evaluate the effectivenss because the current measurements for 'success' on these drugs is very dubious . . . especially for each of us as INDIVIDUALS.
For instance, if a drug works to reduce relapses by 30% (and doesn't work 70% of our relapses), that doesn't mean we aren't going to be just as disabled as we would have been with more/less relapses. And how does one measure whether they are realizing that 30% reduction anyway . . . ?
I think the average number of relapses is around 1.5 every two years (.75 per year), and even if the med we use reduces that from 1.5 bi-annually to 1.0 bi-annually . . . that only amounts to a reduction of a couple of relapses over 10 yrs (on average).
Since these are just averages though, it is very possible the meds could reduce some people's relapses by 100% . . . and that is exciting if you are THAT individual. However, if 30% of the people are seeing a 100% reduction, that means everyone else is getting no benefit what-so-ever.
It's a crapshoot with EVERY drug we take, for sure. We don't know if we would be worse off if we didn't take it . . . or if in fact we would be better off.
I understand why someone who doesn't get symptom management improvement on LDN would be discouraged, but that doesn't mean it's not working either. That is true for all the meds we attempt . . . there is no way to determine if they are working for us as individuals. However, if one does get symptom improvement from LDN . . . that is sometimes ENOUGH to want to stay on regardless of whether it is working for the underlying disease progression.
That's why I recommend using Copaxone at the same time though (even every other day, which has proven equally effective in a couple of small studies). If you do that and stay stable, you won't know which drug to credit . . . but who cares??
Cherie
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I am not a Neurologist, Physician, Nurse, or Hairdresser ... but I have learned that it is not such a great idea to give oneself a haircut after three margaritas
.