Hello, 50+ LDN user

[Closed]

This nutritional information might not be new to many of you, but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

Just one last thought on nutrition. Older adults create less nutrients and also absorb less nutrients. Just a few you might look into are...

DHEA
CoQ10
Lipoic Acid 
Probiotics
Digestive enzymes
Zinc
B 12
N-Acetyl Cysteine increases glutathione, the number one antioxidant in the body

Always check for interactions even with supplements.



I take all these things including what I mentioned prior. Not all at the same time though. You must try to separate to avoid any possible interactions. You can do this by rotating your supplements also. Take two one day, another two the next day, and so forth.

[Caroline]

I read it with interest, please continue.  

I have taken vit. D at least, but could not measure any difference on my PsA. In your description are a lot of other nutrients, I will check for their translations.

[Closed]

Thank you Caroline. I would suggest you Google REMOVED under videos and watch one of his seminars. If you like what I have to say, then you'll love him.

Most of my vitamin D research comes from him. And he is quite funny.

He can give you a lot more info than I'm willing to do on vitamin D.

Of all those nutrients I posted, what you are trying to do is correct any deficiencies or insufficiencies. More is not necessarily better if your sufficient. Moderation and proceeding slowly is key. 

Obviously I must be in poor shape if I need all this stuff. But you really can't tell much cause the doctors don't check for these things except for vitamin D. But I must be doing something right as my cholesterol is the best it has ever been. Never have I had all three markers in the healthy range before. (Triglycerides, LDL, HDL) And this is with me being overweight also (BMI 29). My Oncologist told me I don't need to have my Lipids checked, cause he could tell me without checking, being I was overweight, that they would be high. When the results came back he denied saying this. I let it slide, only because he's a good doc. I have him on tape. I record all my appointments. My inflammation markers came down (ESR, CRP). That I mostly credit to the only thing I added recently to my supplementation (Lipoic Acid). Point is,...  your blood tests are proof you are doing something good. Always get copies and compare with previous results. You are in control of your own health. Not the doctors. You make the decisions. You use them only as a source of information, to make wise decisons on your health. He recommends something, you tell him you will think about it, then research his recommendation and other possibilities.

I should note Lipoic Acid works very well with LDN. Studies have shown this. This is why I recently bought it. But you must add things one at a time to check for reactions, benefits/side effects, otherwise you don't know what caused what. So I started Lipoic Acid first before LDN to check for effects. Lipoic Acid here in the US is a supplement. In your country it might not be. That might be true for a few of those nutrients I mentioned. You might need a script for a few of those nutrients.

The normal range for vitamin D is 30 to 100 ng/mL. You can take anywhere from 2,000 to maybe 4 or 5,000 IU's safely. You want to at least reach 50ng/mL. But it's not necessary to test as long as you're taking 2 or 3,000 IU's daily. REMOVED explains all this in his seminars.

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Edit By Fred: Removed reference to doctor, we don't allow doctors names to be published.

[Closed]

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is obviously not an easy thing to treat or to deal with. All treatments are just that, there is no cure. Some treatments might be helpful to some but not for others. LDN I would gather would fall into this category also. But from one of the pioneer doctors who practiced in NYC, he states, LDN overall was 50 to 70% beneficial in his practice. This includes all the many different conditions he treated. For comparison, any drug needed to be approved by the FDA here in the US, only needs to show a 5% effectiveness. I found that just  incredible.

Obviously since I developed PsA means I had psoriasis too. But all it was my whole life was a red patch on one elbow. It never got scalely or raised, or grew. Just an unsighty red patch. But since the arthritis hit, I have the flakey scales in my ear, butt, nose, tiny bit on forehead, and raised tiny bumps all over my torso and arms. You can't even see them, only feel them. So my skin is probably not as bad as most people here, but this is all new to me. Just hope it doesn't get worse, cause right now no one can really notice unless I point it out.

[Bill]

You found the right place, I must admit to being extremely skeptical of LDN if for no reason other than not being able to read of successful cases on forums, so it will be good to see your case presented as evidence of its efficacy. Dont worry if you are not there yet as Psoriasis Club is all about the journey.

Good luck with your LDN.

Bill

[Kat]

Welcome

Lots of people here share what has worked for them, and it's interesting to see what others are doing and how it's working out for them.

Glad you found your way here!

[jiml]

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is obviously not an easy thing to treat or to deal with. All treatments are just that, there is no cure. Some treatments might be helpful to some but not for others. LDN I would gather would fall into this category also. But from one of the pioneer doctors who practiced in NYC, he states, LDN overall was 50 to 70% beneficial in his practice. This includes all the many different conditions he treated. For comparison, any drug needed to be approved by the FDA here in the US, only needs to show a 5% effectiveness. I found that just  incredible.

Obviously since I developed PsA means I had psoriasis too. But all it was my whole life was a red patch on one elbow. It never got scalely or raised, or grew. Just an unsighty red patch. But since the arthritis hit, I have the flakey scales in my ear, butt, nose, tiny bit on forehead, and raised tiny bumps all over my torso and arms. You can't even see them, only feel them. So my skin is probably not as bad as most people here, but this is all new to me. Just hope it doesn't get worse, cause right now no one can really notice unless I point it out.

Just read through all your posts again and I'm finding it hard to understand why you are promoting  LDN so hard, you have said yourself that you have only just started using it, and what you are writing is not inspiring me
You say your psoriasis is actually getting worse
You say you can feel lumps under your skin which you are assuming is unerrupted  psoriasis...but might be a reaction to something you are taking .... do you think you could be overdoing the supplements and that's upsetting your system and your skin?
Am I reading it wrongly, you have written a lot and I might have missed something  

[Closed]

"Am I reading it wrongly?"

Yes and no Jim. I didn't say lumps under the skin. I said tiny bumps, that happen to be much smaller the goose bumps. You can feel them, but not see them. And it is true my psoriasis got worse. But that coincided exactly when I was strickened suddenly with this PsA. And from what I have read that is quite common. Infact, if I didn't mention the flaking in the ear and butt, to my Rheumatologist when I first saw him, he would have not diagnosed me with PsA. The butt flakes are classic signs of PsA. He would have never checked for them. I went in there thinking it was gout and the flaking on the ear was a tophi. Point is,... I never had a psoriasis problem until I developed this arthritis. Never had any flaking, itching, nothing other than a red patch on my elbow prior to this inflammatory condition. My knee blew up like a cantaloupe, one toe also became a sausage, both wrist and most hand joints became arthritic. For three months I needed pliers to open bottle tops. Someone mentioned about flares, and I didn't know what that meant, because for 3 months since it first hit me it didnt let up. Things are much better now and I'm being honest here, not sure why. Maybe this "flare" ran its course, maybe it's the warmer weather, maybe the cortisone shot in the knee, but from what the doc said it's only a local treatment and doesn't explain all the other joints. Or maybe it's the Alpha Lipoic Acid I added to my supplementation. Whatever it is, I'm a lot less arthritic right now. And the proof is in my inflammation markers (CRP, ESR).  

You are also right Jim, that I do feel strongly about LDN. So much so, I wanted to dedicate a thread to it separately, apart from my personal journey with PsA. For people here to discover the benefits of LDN for themselves. And in that thread I was hoping to show the history behind it, how it was discovered, how it began being used by doctors, the studies done showing benefits to a wide range of autoimmune disorders and cancer. Share a database of LDN users worldwide  who have tried it and shared their experiences with it. More testimonials from patients who came forward to tell their stories how LDN saved them, after their doc passed away, who was one of the pioneers to first use this drug in his practice. Plus indirect studies showing how endorphins have mighty powerful benefits, which is what LDN is all about. LDN triples your endorphin production and sustains it indefinitely with one tiny dose nighty. Plus I wanted to show the extreme safety of this medication. You know how most pharmaceuticals warn, do not use while pregnant or breastfeeding? Well LDN is actually beneficial to both mother and baby. So much so it is used in fertility clinics worldwide. This is just some of the stuff I wanted to cover in that thread for all to see and use and they see fit.

So as you can see Jim, it matters not what effect it has on me, or the fact that I just started it. It has benefits regardless for many, many people. And I have no doubt it will help me, and probably many here. People have helped me on the internet, forums, in my quest for health, just thought I would return the favor.

But unfortunately the forum rules here are pretty tight and I'm afraid most of what I want to share is not allowed here. So no sense dedicating a thread to LDN if I  can't present the facts, evidence, testimonials, doctor interviews, studies and so forth. 

One member's personal testimonial, should by all accounts, have little influence or value when considering a treatment plan. So Jim, I was never looking to inspire you. Was only looking to present the facts and for you to decide what you are inspire by.

[Closed]

You found the right place, I must admit to being extremely skeptical of LDN if for no reason other than not being able to read of successful cases on forums, so it will be good to see your case presented as evidence of its efficacy. Dont worry if you are not there yet as Psoriasis Club is all about the journey.

Good luck with your LDN.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

Can't help but feel sad I can't be of more help. Would suggest you research LDN for yourself. A lot of people have been helped by this. LDN works well with most autoimmune disorders. There are clinical cases posted at the NIH of terminal pancreatic cancer patients recovering with the use of LDN and ALA. This has some powerful benefits. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadliest cancers there are. Very difficult to treat.

Welcome

Lots of people here share what has worked for them, and it's interesting to see what others are doing and how it's working out for them.

Glad you found your way here!

Thanks Kat.

[jiml]

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is good evidence that LDN is an effective treatment, but I think one persons testimonial is worth more than all the hearsay evidence, now I'm not knocking you or LDN, in fact I thank you for raising it again here, and I will be asking my rheumatologist about it at the end of the month as my rheumatologist is trying to get me back on methotrexate ( no chance)
I know you are passionate about the treatment and I admire that, but in my mind the proof will lie in your future for me, and if the treatment works for you is what I would be delighted to read...but you have made it clear that it is difficult to tell what is working for you, I would like to think it's the LDN, but could it be the vitamin D ? Or the cortisone injection ? Or any of the other supplements........

I appreciate what you are doing and hope you will continue, but I have read on other forums people singing the praises of diet, vitamins , plant extracts, all manner of things, but rarely of any lasting effect, often one post and it fizzles out.

But I'm sure yours won't be like that, and I would be inspired if I read regular updates where you tell of continued improvement and hopefully clearance,
Jim