Hello everyone. I am wondering if anyone can offer me any suggestions of alternative medicines/vitamins/treatments that have helped with their MS symptoms. I am new to all of this and unsure about going down the route of taking prescribed medicines. Any advice would be most helpful. Thanks in advance.
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Hi Sarah,
Iāll tell you about my alternative medicine; the only drug Iāve been taking for 35 years.
Here is something I wrote 20 odd years ago.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), cause and cure unknown. It is no wonder anyone in this position leans heavily on recognised medicine but tinkers with alternative therapies as they may give the sufferer something the Medical Profession cannot give them.
I am not advocating a sufferer should try any alternative remedy, which would be silly as there are many charlatans. I want to state facts regarding a treatment that others and I use, as I was diagnosed with MS in 1973 and have been taking a treatment using the venoms of three snakes since 1982.
I had such good, beneficial results, I decided this treatment should not dwindle and die but be made available for other sufferers, especially in the UK. In 1985 I obtained the dry freeze fractionated venom of these three snakes, the Cobra, Krait and Pit Viper. A friend, who was a biochemist, diluted this substance with saline solution and a Dr. administered this drug we called (name taken out against rules) to thirty patients.
Not all these patients, friends, suffered from MS. One had Peripheral Neuritis, another suffered from a complaint called Sclorederma, one other suffered from Motor Neurone Disease (MND). I had no idea what the results would be on their particular complaint. I knew that this treatment alleviated tiredness, spasms, helped bladder control and stopped extremes of weather making the person feel like a wet rag. (Taken out) had no side effects that made the patient feel like a zombie? Could this substance also help these other complaints? I felt nobody should be refused; if medical reasons made it possible to try.
This was not a trial; nobody was given a fake substance as a placebo, a control, all received (Taken out). After four months the patients were categorised by Dr Mount on a scale of 1 to 4, one is excellent, two good, three average, four no results. The results, we felt, were a little disappointing with 33% of patients evaluated on one and two, 66% of patients were on 3 and 4.
A controlled trial lasting anything from six months to three years seems to be the only way to evaluate a drug at present. I am skeptical at this procedure with this treatment as there are reactions, mild, to introducing Toxins into the body and any substance given as a placebo to mimic the (Taken out) is not really a placebo. Still, this is a point that I am sure could be overcome.
Where does this leave (Taken out), which has never had any controlled trial, has better results, does not have side effects and costs only Ā£50 per patient; per year? In ten years time when there are many more sufferers, some brilliant researcher will find a fraction of snake venom that has beneficial results in the disease process. They will be given the Nobel Prize, a good job, and pat on the back.
Do I sound bitter, yes I am? The one person who knows more about this substance than anyone is a 92-year-old man called Bill Haast. He is my mentor, has given me twenty more good useful years. No matter how much I want him to be here in another 100 years, even venom will not make him, all his vast experience will be lost.
After twenty years the people who still take this treatment do not do so because someone saysās it will do them good, a placebo. We continue to take it because we have proved if only to ourselves, it does have beneficial results.
I have no control whatsoever and have not mentioned this treatment to anyone for over 10 years.
The snake is always been regarded as a symbol of evil. Why are two snakes coiled around a pole used as the medical symbol of the World? A question for Christians, could someone explain the writings in the Bible, Mark, Chapter16, Verse 18. I know the Bible is very ambiguous, means different thing to different people, but it does seem a strange thing for Jesus to say after rising from the grave, āThey shall take up serpents, and any deadly thing will not harm themā?
Newtonās Law of motion is āevery action has an equal and opposite reactionā. If you think a hot cup of tea actually cools you; X-rays can cause cancer, they are used also to treat cancer; Aspirin is used to bring temperature down but an overdose causes pyrexia. The same philosophy applies to this treatment, you are given a small amount; 1 part venom to 4000 saline, of a natural toxic substance that builds up your own immune structure.
I know youāre thinking ā āWhat is the intention of this noteā. I would like someone, with medical knowledge to instigate real trials into this substance or fraction of this substance?
Venoms are used for many complaints already, are we to wait? The answer could be found before the cause, so let us look for the answer!
Iām sorry this is such a long message but I must tell you about the latest. We were running out of supplies and America was not going to supply us anymore. One of the other girls, Iāll call her Lesley; because thatās her name ran out at the end of November. About this time I heard of a place in Germany that could supply nearly the same. I say nearly as itās not the venom of the Pit Viper, itās replaced by the venom of the Rattle Snake.
To cut a very long story short Lesley came off and by Christmas, she was feeling unwell and falling asleep at the drop of a hat. Remember this is the first time she has felt like this in twenty years. She was still mobile; her husband rang me and was very upset. We eventually received supplies from Rotterdam, I told you I was cutting a long story short, and she started immediately. This would be about the middle of February. I was a little afraid to ring Les fearing the worst, was it going to work? She rang me two weeks ago and I couldnāt get a word in, sheās over the moon and fighting fit.
Her husbands so pleased heās taking her to Moscow to see the Bolshoi Ballet as a treat.
I must apologise to you or anyone reading this story. Iām not saying Iām on it, Les is on it, tough on everyone else, Iām saying the possibilities are there but until medical organisations get off their high horse and stop pooh-poohing this treatment as voodoo medicine there will be a lot more ill people, Just prove me wrong?
Sorry, itās so long, believe me, this is a very brief resume.
George
Before people say what a load of Cobras look at Amelioration of acute and relapsing stages of the experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by cobra toxins - PubMed or snake venom for MS - Search Results - PubMed
I wrote this about 20 years ago; Bill Haast has since died; 106 years old
Lesley and I still take our venom 30 years now.
I get my supplies from Germany, https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.praxisā¦
I do suggest you see "Pain, Pus & Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines" Pus (TV Episode 2013) - IMDb pain; pus and poison
George
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I find following the best bet diet really helps me also taking supplements, I brought Judy Grahamās book MS Naturally when I was first diagnosed it is a brillant book with lots of information.
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John McDougall, MD had written a dozen books on diet for health. The latest is The Starch Diet. His theory is that autoimmume antibodies form from animal proteins which then attack the myelin of the brain. He espouses a vegan diet, no animal proteins whatsoever. And makes a strong point that a vegan diet is all thatās needed by the body.
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The Dr Coimbra protocol is getting some good vibes on the āBiotin for Progressive MSā FB group - may be worth checking out (Spacejacket follows it, if you post a separate thread about it, sheāll probably have loads of good info)
There are no approved treatments for PPMS so pretty much left to me to find what works best. If exercise/physio was a pill it would save the NHS a fortune and a bit of focused effort is likely to help keep your bits moving for longer. Eating fresh food and sticking to something like the Mediterranean diet will probably make you feel healthier. The only drug I take is ldn and confident it has eased some symptoms and slowed down progression. http://www.ms-uk.org/sites/default/files/choices_ldn.pdf However, the most persuasive evidence today suggests that hitting RRMS hard and early with a good DMD will lead to a significantly better long term outcome, so be careful about dismissing conventional treatment, as you can not correct damage already done. Home - MS Brain Health - Multiple Sclerosis Brain Health initiative
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Are you interested in alternative therapies that DONāT work? Because I have lots of experience of those - Best odds diet (for years), Swank diet, Wahls diet, acupuncture (more than fifty sessions, spread over a year), low dose naltrexone, helminth therapy (thatās infecting yourself with parasitic worms). I didnāt feel that any of them made any difference to my declining health.
Also, if you put āalternativeā into the search box, you can find two pages of threads on this interesting topic.
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I forgot to mention Biotin. Didnāt do a thing for my MS but did make my hair and nails grow faster.
Thank you for all your replies,i will read up on everything you have suggested.many thanks
And runs a company selling dehydrated soups and other foods:
Wikipedia have referred to the McDougal diet as a fad diet.
Why would you be inclined to reject medication that has been proven (in large scale trials) to work to some extent, but be willing to consider treatments that do not have the support of extensive trials?
The support for LDN is anecdotal, but massive.
The support for Biotin is both anecdotal and from trials.
The Coimbra protocol has scientific support.
The support for most of the āalternativeā treatments is vague, or has the appearance of sales promotion.
Some of the āalternativeā treatments spring up, attract a group of very vocal supporters, and are gone in a few years.
If you are SPMS, you do not have a lot of choice.
If you are RRMS, the sooner you start on a DMD the better. Read the Barts blog ā¦
Geoff
Alternative treatments arenāt a replacement for standard treatments. If anything they can be an adjuct therapy. Iām following the McDougall Starch diet but in two weeks I start the tysabri injections. If I have any relapses I will try IV ozone as well,
kaypeeoh
Kp
i guess u r not in U.K? I didnāt know tysabri was injectable? Mine is iv.
ellie
Iām guessing itās an IV infusion. The nurses said it takes 6 hours. And itās a 3-hour drive to get there but itās only once every six months. Iām from Wyoming, the cowpie state.
kaypeeoh
Iām an SPMSer:
Oddly, last year I had treatment for an infected gall bladder - the hospital kept me for 8 days - on drips
with ānil by mouthā for 5 days and antibiotics.
Later I returned to hospital to have my gall bladder removed, as I also had gall stones.
Anyway, I noticed one of my ms symptoms - the electric shock type spasms in my legs and arms stopped for about
6 months, and I felt the disease was less active. Things went quite. Like after having steroids.
However, the spasms are back now. I donāt know if it was due to the lack of food for 5 days.
A rather extreme diet - but I did lose some weight - and was better for a few months.
Fay
Hi! Did you try to enrol for yoga class? Some says itās a natural healing.
Good luck with the Tysabri. Iāve been on it for a few years now and think itās great.
I was surprised to see that you expected to have an infusion only once every six months. Perhaps the drug company is introducing a new dosing regime, starting in the US? Here in the UK it is normally monthly, or (for a few people) every 6 weeks. If there is anything more you know about that, there are lots of people like me on this Forum who would be interested to hear about it, so do please share if you have more info.
Alison
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Meditation. 20 mins twice a day. I swear by it x
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I donāt know how I got the idea it was every 6 months. (brain fog?) I found the paper that says monthly infusions. So no major changes in its use.