Approaching now 3 weeks since my last confession blog post, I was confident that there would be plenty to write about.
Oh - I suppose I've given away the purpose of it after all, in that there isn't a lot to write about that's changed since the end of April.
My wife is happy about this. Not because she was concerned I was taking too much time with the blog, but rather that the "no news is good news" means that nothing sinister has happened (crosses fingers, touches wood, dodges black cats and inclined ladders).
All previous symptoms have gone completely (ok, the numbness...) and I continue to lose weight. I've now lost around 6kg (actually, about 6.5kg but I seem to maintain a 'floating variance' of about .5 kg) and have started using some weird vibrating dumb-bell style weight gadget. It says only 6 minutes a day are needed to achieve the same results as lifting a bison several times a minute.
Whatever is it I am doing, so far, it's working. I'm still feeling on top (better than the 2005 Geoff). I did have a bit of flu recently (the last time I had it, I was left congested and then I noticed the numbness), and this time, nothing else happened.
So then, Mitra is happy - nothing has happened and there is nothing to report.
Research-wise, (not mine), it seems to be borne out that early diet/medical intervention on MS has a vastly superior outcome on prognosis, compared to waiting for several attacks to have occurred.
One of the suggested approaches to self-management of MS, is meditation.
It's not something I have any experience of, even now, although it's highly recommended not just for MS sufferers in general, but, well, everyone.
I think I have a mental hiccup with the idea of sitting in a room and un-thinking. Seems a little airy-fairy although I can easily read shelves full of books set in mythical, fantastical realms and as a result, still feel that magic, faith and honour all exist in the real world.
I'd been sent a leaflet recently by Jon about meditation and, it all looks very easy. Maybe that's the problem - I often feel that unless it's difficult (almost self-sacrificially so) then I am not interested...I guess I should have been a Catholic.
Anyway, I must try to give it a whirl (meditation, not Catholicism) - as I wrote to Jon also, I did go for a sort of a sit-down twice and was left with a placid and cooled sensation in my head and so maybe I was doing something right. Unless of course, I had left the window open and it was just a draught.
Some of my wife's family members are also studying a form of self-healing and energy transfer (not like reiki, but more apparently, to do with connecting to the universe), and they wanted to send some healing thoughts and energies to me.
At the very least, there's not exactly a financial commitment to sitting down, and I should be able to get myself 10-15minutes each evening, perhaps just by, you know, going to bed a little earlier.
I must admit to having a bit of a passing interest in these ideologies anyway - Mitra (darling wife...darling...), had also trained to a level in Reiki and (inserts joke about laying on hands here) I definitely felt something on each of the times she'd tried to help me out when I had an aching knee.
On a side note, I've been doing other reading into a drug called naltrexone. It didn't start out like that, I mean, I wasn't specifically looking for LDN. I was however, trying to keep up to date with what options are available if needed, in the future.
Anyway, here is what wikipedia has for Low dose naltrexone.
Without going into too much detail, this was a drug originally developed and prescribed for alcohol and opioid dependence. For this purpose, it's dose (oral form) was typically around 50mg/day.
In lower doses (of about 4.5mg), it is suggested to be beneficial in reducing MS symptoms, more typically around spasticity and bladder control, although has also been found to be useful for dizziness and other numbness/pain issues.
Extended reading can be found here:
This also contains a link to a free to download/share pdf book called Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much 2010. For internet decency's sake, I won't directly link the book here.
The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=777
OvercomingMultipleSclerosis http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/Recovery-Program/Drug-Therapies/Low-Dose-Naltrexone/
"MS research is underway as well, with an Italian study enrolling 40 patients with primary progressive MS. The study will be reporting results shortly. A further RCT has finished enrolment at University of California
This appears to be the beginning of formal research into LDN in MS, and further trials are eagerly awaited by the research community.
The website http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/ gives periodic updates on progress. There is also a gateway website where you will find many links to worldwide information, resources and events: http://www.ldnaware.org/."
Right – that’s it for now – hopefully, see you next time and in the VERY distant future…
Geoff.
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