"I Feel Decades Younger": Alan's Relief from Osteoarthritis

As a young man in my 30s, I became an avid runner. I developed knee pain that I assumed was related to my heavy frame and the high impact of the long-distance running. After a knee surgery, I stopped the running and began bicycling and walking instead. I found that I could walk on the treadmill and do my favorite hobby (genealogical research) for 75 minutes each day! However, I was still suffering from knee pain. I had been wearing away the cartilage and was eventually diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

I would try to treat the pain with daily ibuprofen. But my daily trips up and down the stairs still hurt. Also, after cooking together with my wife Cindy, my job was to dry and put away the dishes. When it came time to bend down to put the pots in the lower cabinet, there was inevitable pain. I learned to anticipate it with a wince or a groan. That was just daily life.

As you may know from Cindy’s LDN story, my wife has Sjögren’s syndrome. Just as I’m an obsessive genealogical researcher, she is an obsessive Sjögren’s researcher. Cindy was doing research on LDN for Sjögren’s, and she found that people were also using it for osteoarthritis. She mentioned it to me, and we researched it further.

Cindy decided she wanted to try LDN for her Sjögren’s. As a matter of our teamwork, I thought, if my bride is going to take LDN, why don’t I too? That way we can experience whatever side effects there are together. We can compare notes. That’s where our joint LDN journey began.

We started at a low dose of LDN 1.5 mg, and decided to be patient with moving up in dosage level. We went up by 0.5 mg about every 3 weeks.

All of a sudden, 1-2 days after taking the LDN, it’s almost like a cloudy day parted and blue skies showed up. The mind was far, far clearer. Clearer than I can maybe even remember in decades

Within the first 2 days, we both experienced a result we didn’t anticipate. Brain fog we didn’t really know we were having (!) cleared. I had attributed my occasional forgetfulness (such as forgetting why I went downstairs) to being a male in his mid-fifties. All of a sudden, 1-2 days after taking the LDN, it’s almost like a cloudy day parted and blue skies showed up. The mind was far, far clearer. Clearer than I can maybe even remember in decades. That surprised us, because we both experienced it. In addition, I noticed that the knee pain was starting to subside. It was just amazing how it happened so quickly.

Within the first 4 or 5 days of starting, we noticed that when I would start to bend down to put pots away, the pain I would also anticipate with a groan wasn’t there! It was just shocking to us how quickly I experienced relief.

I worked my way up to 4.5 mg and have stayed there. I’ve been basically virtually symptom free from arthritis for 2 years now

That level of relief lasted about 7-10 days, and then a little of the brain fog and some of the little pains or discomforts started coming back. So we took that as our signal to step up the dose another 0.5 mg. Once again we started seeing results and the symptoms subsided. We went through that process repeatedly probably over 4 months to get to a dose where we wanted to be. I worked my way up to 4.5 mg and have stayed there. I’ve been basically virtually symptom free from arthritis for 2 years now. I do realize, with LDN, we’re not growing new cartilage in my knees, but what we are doing is working on the inflammation that causes the pain.

Yes. Body-wide. I’ve noticed that my recovery time is quicker system-wide. I’m an active guy out in the yard (we live on a farm). If I go out there to dig and shovel (things that maybe a 60 year old guy should be a little more careful about doing!) I come back that evening sore. But the next morning, I’m not sore! I actually feel, body-wise, like a 30 year old, or younger, man. So for us, it’s just a remarkable, remarkable drug.

We both experienced some mild irritability when we first started the LDN. It went away after a little while.

Pain is not an enjoyable thing to live with. It is a stressor. And that stress takes a toll on the body, emotionally as well as physically. The LDN has been a crucial part in dealing with the pain I had before with my knees. Between that and the fact that it's cleared up the brain fog that I didn't even realize I had, I feel like a million bucks. I feel like a person decades younger than I am.

The story of our teamwork in starting LDN together brought so many unexpected blessings that we are still benefiting from. In addition, our bulldog Maggie’s LDN story is one of much improved quality of life, which had been previously diminished due to arthritis and a torn ACL. Following our suggestion, our son also gave LDN to his very sick dog, Rocky, and saw amazing results (Rocky’s story).

It is important to remember that this is a slow, step by step journey. People in this day and age want results within the first week. Have patience. We have seen too many instances of people hearing that this is a miracle drug, and if they see no results after 1 week, they quit. Or people start with too high a dose of LDN, and if they experience negative side effects (such as a symptom flare), they quit. Cindy and I believe that starting low and escalating slowly is the best path. Our motto is “start low, go slow.”

^{* www.arthritis.org}