International LDN Awareness Week eBook - User Control Panel

11Bridget, New Mexico2005 - Ankylosing Spondylitis2006 - Fibromyalgia, Endometriosis, Raynaud’s, Osteoporosis1 May 2007 – LDNI developed Ankylosing Spondylitis at age 10. I was diagnosed by the time I hitadulthood, then developed Fibromyalgia soon after.I started LDN two years later on May 1, 2007, and I had a baby (while still taking LDN)the following year. I'm now in my mid twenties, am healthily breastfeeding my daughter,and wouldn't stop LDN if someone put a gun to my head.My AS is in the 'Moderate to Severe' category, with almost every joint in my bodyaffected, including jaw, fingers and toes, but not much fusion. The year before I startedtaking LDN, I was using a cane about 40% of the time, using a wheelchair occasionally,using the handicapped parking spot 100% of the time, and absolutely unable to eventhink about going to the mall. I had to drop out of my college classes because I couldno longer write or draw. My doctor told me the Fibromyalgia is a secondary diagnosis .. . and that I probably developed it BECAUSE of the AS.I had tried Remicade (broke a big flare but fizzled out and wasn't helping anymore),Prednisone, Methotrexate, multiple NSAIDs, and opiates (had a long-term relationshipwith Vicodin and Tramadol, with a nasty break-up) and several other things. When mydoctor said the next step was Enbrel, I decided to try LDN instead, mostly because Ididn't want to inject myself, and Remicade had already failed. A friend of the family hadbeen telling us about LDN for a long time because it had helped her father withParkinson's.After one week on 3mg, my family noticed that I was moving more smoothly. After twoweeks, I was absolutely ECSTATIC because my pain was cut down drastically, and Iwas running around in the rain chasing the sheep. Running, chasing, and rain had allbeen impossible before.The second month I went to 4.5mg, and my improvement plateau-ed after about amonth at that dosage. I'd say that my daily pain number before LDN was 7-9, and afterLDN it's 2-4. When I overdo it, and send myself into a flare, the flare lasts a fraction ofthe time it did before (for example, 6 hours on the cane instead of 2 weeks oncrutches).I'm still nowhere near NORMAL, but now, 95% of the time, no one would know I haveAS. I can go to Walmart now, without using the wheelchair, and I don't have to use myparking pass very often, and I even get to DANCE with my husband occasionally.I worked at my job for about 11 months before anyone even knew I had AS. When Icame in one day flaring, on the cane, everyone asked if I'd been in a car accident.Before, I'd have been on the cane for two days after going grocery shopping, or anyProduced by LDN Research Trust for International LDN Awareness Week 19-25 October 2009© LDN Research Trust 200934