The First 24 Hours

My first 24 hours on LDN :D I've switched from being impatient for my consultation with Dr Tom to roll round to being impatient to have a few weeks of taking LDN under my belt to better judge how it'll work for and with me. See a theme developing there?

My poor colleagues have been hearing nothing but LDN for weeks and weeks now, and it didn't change today either! Everyone that asked how I am got an excited torrent unleashed upon them, telling them I'd taken my first dose and how much I was looking forward to my body getting used to the LDN and how it'll react. I must admit I work with a great bunch of people - I've been very open about my MS and they've been very supportive asking me how I am and signing the online Scottish Parliament and Downing Street petitions for LDN trials on the NHS. I'm afraid I probably talk their ears off a bit about it all, but they suffer it well and I'm very grateful :)  

Didn't sleep much last night, but that was due to the excitement of finally having LDN. Terribly childish, I know! Afraid my symptoms have been pretty bad today - my legs haven't wanted to co-operate and my walking's been worse than normal. Cognitive abilities went downhill today too. I was fully prepared to feel worse for the first couple of days and expected it (then if I didn't feel worse, it'd be a bonus). It may be just coincidence that I'm having a 'bad day' symptom wise on my first day of taking LDN as I am prone to bad days without any warning and it's been a pretty stressful week, especially with not much sleep last night. All in all, I think there are a few factors to blame for my 'bad day' but I'm sure I'll be right as rain very soon. Either way, I'm taking it in my stride - not literally though as my stride isn't terribly elegant today ;) 

Tai chi class was a bit of a struggle tonight with my legs being wobbly and more concentration than normal was needed to move through the form. It's so relaxing and energising though and was well worth the extra effort. Over time it strengthens muscles and may help my legs. At the moment, I find it of great benefit in the morning to gently ease my stiff muscles into moving more freely. Helps relax me in the evening too. My hands tingle as I move through the form (well, what little I've learned so far!) and I feel good. It's great to feel good and have nothing on my mind except relaxing and following the movements. I'm in my own little world for an hour. Some who know me may argue I'm in my own little world all of the time!!

On the plus side, I had no bizarre or disturbing dreams last night. They were vivid, but that's nothing unusual for me. Also, I've had no side effects whatsoever except for the aforementioned 'bad day' and took my second dose before sitting down to tap this off on my laptop. The poor thing's seen a lot more action than usual of late! All in all, I feel the good news definitely outweighs the bad news :D 

Another positive: on the MSRC website, there's a new article on LDN in their Low Dose Naltrexone - Latest News section:  http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=show&pageid=1306&CFID=1938348&CFTOKEN=99797465  The article concludes from a preclinical investigation of mice given LDN that, "These results imply that endogenous opioids, evoked by treatment with LDN and acting in the rebound period from drug exposure, are inhibitory to the onset and progression of EAE, and suggest that clinical studies of LDN are merited in MS and possibly in other autoimmune disorders."

Off to my MS specialist tomorrow morning. Afraid I'm feeling rather bolshie at the moment; my tolerance for the amount of tests and poking and prodding of my limbs I'm always subject to by my neuro etc is falling rapidly. I'm not sure how my specialist will take the news that I'm now on LDN. Something tells me it won't go down too well. Tough! I'll be my charming self as always though.

Anyway, off to catch up on the beauty sleep I missed last night ;)