Update on our cat, Budley -- he's getting better! THIAMINE!!

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

What the heck fixes auto-immune issues, gee...got any info on POTS??

The issue with autoimmune disorders is it is common to have more than one. Calming the immune system seems to be the way to treat it. Conventional medicine uses things like steroids and chemotherapy. One alternative therapy that I stumbled across back in the early 2000s when information was first being talked about online was low dose naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that blocks opioid receptors and has been used for the last couple of decades or so to help with opioid addiction. However, low doses of it (2mg-7mg as opposed to 50mg) has been shown to help people with lots of different autoimmune disorders, like Multiple Sclerosis. Low dose naltrexone seems to 'reset' the overactive immune system. I think inflammation and gut health is something that probably needs to be addressed with all autoimmune diseases. Folks that I know who have autoimmune disorders also have gut issues.

As far as POTs, Thiamine was the big surprise for me. My daughter has a friend who has POTs, took a while to be diagnosed. And she has another who has EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) and POTs. EDS is an autoimmune condition of the body's connective tissue. I really haven't done a lot of reading on it though, but I have read that doctors are beginning to consider POTS an autoimmune disorder and recognizing that it can come with EDS

So if anyone is dealing with autoimmune disorders, I would tell you to read up on low dose naltrexone. Most doctors probably haven't heard of it. And it's only been recently that the MS society website even mentions it and talks about clinical trials. People who find out about it have been getting their doctors to give them rx that they can take to a compounding pharmacy. The main website to start is https://ldnresearchtrust.org/

[Miss Hepburn]

Wow, what great information. Thank you for taking the time...esp re MS!
I will send that to a friend's daughter that helps her mom.
Some youtubes on low dose Naltrexone from LDN Research:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu5...DLhRcijbhtCJ5Q

[Traveler]

Happy to share. It's an obsession/passion of mine. And I tend to pick up and hold onto this kind of information with no one to share it with, lol.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Wow, what great information. Thank you for taking the time...esp re MS!
I will send that to a friend's daughter that helps her mom.
Some youtubes on low dose Naltrexone from LDN Research:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu5...DLhRcijbhtCJ5Q

[Traveler]

Budley still continues to do well as we slowly wean him off the phenobarbital. We should have him completely weaned off by November 21 (before Thanksgiving) unless the vet (we're checking in with him next week to get refills) says a faster or larger wean ok. I just want to get it done and over with already, but the kid is probably right, slower is probably better. (weekly or 1/2 tablet vs 1/4 tablet). We do another cut down on Monday (1/2 tablet am and 3/4 tablet pm and hold for 2 weeks). He's still getting thiamine, starting month 3. I even started giving thiamine to our cerebellar hypoplasia cat, Loki. Any improvement would for him would be welcome, though I'm not expecting much. I do know it can't hurt him. Budley is still getting the probiotic and we're still having normal stools and not so normal stools. Frustrating. He's getting stronger. He's walking around more and instead of looking like an unstable old person wobbling down the hall, he's got a little bit of 'model swagger' going on, lol. He's jumping off my daughter's bed but he won't try jumping up on it yet. We've seen nothing but improvements cognitively and motor control wise since introducing the thiamine and cutting back the phenobarbital. The new kitten is having a blast running around between the back two bedrooms where Budley and my brother's other two cats stay. She was up until 2 am this morning (we all were) and she was running around like the Energizer Bunny! They're slowly beginning to warm up to her. She's such a friendly sweet little ball of energy. She's about 12 weeks old and is almost 5lbs.

Nah, good news, one step at a time :)