Has anyone tried this in the uk?
Hiya,
Not bee venom but I have taken Snake Venom since 1982.
This is about the Venom and MS I wrote about 15 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. Mount 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 being 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 sceptical 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 £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 on 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 say’s 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, ‘They shall take up serpents, and any deadly thing will not harm them’?
Newton’s Law of motion is ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. 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 your thinking – ‘What is the intention of this note’. 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!
I’m 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, I’ll call her Lesley; because that’s 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 it’s not the venom of the Pit Viper, it’s 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 couldn’t get a word in, she’s over the moon and fighting fit.
Her husbands so pleased he’s taking her to Moscow to see the Bolshoi Ballet as a treat.
I must apologise to you or anyone reading this story. I’m not saying I’m on it, Les is on it, tough on everyone else, I’m saying the possibilities are there but until medical organisations get off their high horse and stop pooh-pooing this treatment as voodoo medicine there will be a lot more ill people, Just prove me wrong?
Sorry it’s 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
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.
George
Zipster, if you download the MS booklet linked below, you’ll find some info on Honey Bee Venom on Page 20. I’m afraid I’ve no personal experience of it, but it has been discussed on the forum before, so maybe there is someone around who has given it a go.
http://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-resources/complementary-and-alternative-medicine-booklet
Ben
Nope, not worth the risk for me, big time problems with bee/wasp stings, to the point if it I get stung again I will probably end up in hospital 
As for snake venom, once again not worth the risk for me, but some people swear by it. Do a lot of research if you are thinking about doing this, from both sides of the coin. as with anything, its about how you feel about possible side effects over what might be improved. could be just a placebo effect or it could actually work, but most studies think it doesnt, that it is a placebo effect or does nothing at all. no problem with a placebo effect, if it seems to work and doesn’t harm a person, then why not. but too me, the risks with bee venom are way too many
I think there are ethical/ecological objections to the therapy too.
I’m not a tree-hugging leftie (far from it), but our bee population is already in crisis. The bee dies if it stings. So it’s not a “renewable” therapy - unless they have managed to synthesise bee venom in the lab, without any harm to actual bees.
If bees became extinct, it’s estimated the human race would not be long in following, because bees are so essential for pollinating crops. Artificial pollination is only a fraction as efficient, so we’d never be able to provide everything the world needs to eat.
Think before destroying an endangered creature for a therapy that has never been proved to work!
What if you can’t fit in the hive ???