Well, I just talked to my bil, he talked more to me than he has in a long time...guess he needed to. My sis is not doing good at all right now, she had a bad night, had high fever and is sleeping now...he said she has something on her leg and he was either going to the doctor or called the doc.... She's had pnemonia many times and he's concerned about that now. She's been hospitalized enough times he said.

She cannot use her arms or legs and has to be fed. I was not sure about her type and he said secondary progressive. We touched on LDN some, but he said he read it was dangerous...I said I've talked to enough who take LDN and do pretty good.

Glad we talked and got a little philosophical about our lives and he needed that too. We talked about my brother too and his life's route.... We all have our paths..

So..........

"C", tell your BIL that LowDoseNaltrexone (4.5mg) is not dangerous.
Higher doses of Naltrexone (60mg and above) can be hard on your liver.

Starz

Thank you for your posts - they were thoughtful, so well written and just about summed it up for all of us.

xoxo

Sally, I told my bil that many with MS are doing good on LDN, at this point I can't say much more on recommending things...she just seems to be very poorly now. No arm or leg use at all, hard time swallowing he said.

I got my book and have been reading it bits at a time.

Some of her suggestions are good (antioxidant and vitamin usage) but what I have read so far (I have skipped over some parts and read ahead to the nutrition part) has been a very rigid diet eliminating most foods I already have purchased and have eaten. I don't disagree that some of the foods we routinely incorporate in our daily diet could and should probably be eliminated.

I have a hard enough time trying to figure out how to buy groceries and pay all my bills on my SSDI. I already drink only water and I'm trying to eliminate sugar wherever I can. I'm going to start taking grapeseed and drink Red Clover tea. Also going to take the NOW brand Candida Cleanse.

At this point that is all I can manage to do. Better than nothing. But the vast majority of us would have a hard time conforming to the total program she presents.

Kitty, granted living on a very fixed income is very hard for people and healing. My income is pretty fixed and no one helps me, but I've changed my priorities so much, everything I do is geared to my health. Travel, forget it, glad I had a good busy life as I did.

My neighbor is doing all she can to manage the RA dx she got last year...she did the toxic drugs for a while as they are pretty much free when one is on medical, etc..but the toxicity, good grief. She working to grow some of her hair back as she lost so much. I gave her a bottle of DGL for stomach protection as she takes aleve, but I'd love to do more for her....I'm thinking of buying her some grape seed ex from puritan as they often sell buy 1 get `1 or 2 free, same with fish oils and turmeric.

Well, do the best you can and yes really reduce sugars. I cheat but for the most part I'm so so improved on the sugar world as I was many years ago. C

I believe my mouth of dental work and bodywide OA is living with me due to all the sugar I devoured so much of my early life.

I'm really trying to reduce sugar wherever I can. I know Splenda is considered "poison" but which is better.....2 tsp of sugar or 2 packets of Splenda? If I use it I use it very sparingly.

I use Puritan's Pride for whatever supplements I take. They have the best deals I've found and the best selection.

I'm in the midst of a pretty severe flareup right now and it's affecting my walking. I'm trying to weigh the benefit versus the risk of taking a round of steroids. Not being able to get around fairly easily is really hard especially when you live alone.

Sugar would be better than the Splenda. Artificial sugars are great at tricking the body they are real, so great in fact the body tries to process them the same way, which is why they are harsh on the kidneys. Refined sugar, is on the other hand, not much different than eating plants or meat for how the body treats and processes the sugar.

It is after all simply broken down plant matter, they remove the fibers, some of the more complex protiens and for granulated sugar they do so by boiling and dehydrating (allowing the sugar crystals to form) the sugar cane. After which point they grind the sugar crystals down to the form we see it in at the store.

Sugar can be made from a variety of different plants, corn plants yield high fructose corn syrup, a very simple sugar which has a higher frutouse "sweetness factor" than cane sugar. The sap of maple trees yields maple sugar, a slightly smoky flavored sugar from the processing of the sap to syrup. And there's a variety of simply syrups that can be made into naturally flavored sugar like the maple sugar, including honey.

As far as the body is concerned in processing these sugars, X amount of calories is stored, same as if you at the cane stalk, maple syrup, corn, apple...etc, the simple protiens get processed through the kidneys and sent on to the adrenaline system.

When you use artificial sweeteners the body thinks of them as simple protiens and sends it on to your kidneys and there they stay. There are no simple protiens for it to process, it tries storing calories that don't exist. And over time use of those artificial sweeteners being to form stones in your kidneys and slow your kidneys down.

The odd diet Coke won't kill your kidneys or send your running to the ER with kidney stones, in most cases. But it's still best to avoid them whenever possible.

As to the steriod use, I can't be much help there as I can't use steriods to begin with. But like with any medical treatment, and even making a choice between eating a burger or eating a chicken breast, it's risk versus reward. Steriods CAN lead to a multitude of serious health problems, they also may not cause any problems for you personally.

So you have to weigh your options, not just by what steriods MIGHT do to you, but also what MAY happen if you don't take them. Only you can decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. Is it worse for you to be able to move and have cushings on top of MS? Or is it worse for you to not be able to move but not have cushings? And is it worth the loaded dice roll to the favor of not developing cushings at all, to take the steriods and be able to move?

You pretty much have a 1 in 4 shot as with all of life's choices. Pick A: get benefit plus risk, B: risk without benefit, C: benefit without risk, D: no benefit plus no risk. That's life in a nutshell the probabilities can only be loaded to oneside or the other by our existing knowledge but it never completely removes the other possible outcomes.

My sweetener choice is Stevia, buy a 4 oz jar from swansons and it lasts me 6 months probably, I use so little and yes I'd do a tsp or less of sugar rather than splenda. I've learned to keep things less sweet.

Sorry you are having a rough spot now. Truly am. C

This thread kind of reminds me when I was trying with a doctor's help to get pregnant. Seemed it brought out the Voo-doo side of people. A wishful thinking so to speak. People meant well but saying "Just relax, you'll get pregnant" brought out paranoid me who interpreted it as "Stop being an uptight b**** and relax and then it will happen. On hormones and very vulnerable of course I took it the wrong way. "Start adoption proceedings, my cousin's hairdresser's sister-in-law got pregnant that way". Not true, does not increase frequency, just another urban myth. Paranoid me heard it as it could happen IF I did the right things.

My neighbor meant well and forwarded me the article about Aspertame in diet soda causing MS (Popular thing circulated years ago). Never drank diet soda, just thought "He thinks I did this to myself!!!" DH likes to kid me and say "If you REALLY tried you'd get over this thing." At least he means it to be a joke. Just my HO all this on the subjects.