Inclined Therapy I.T. Multiple Sclerosis & Varicose Vein

[ForeverSpring]

My bed has been tilted for 4 months now.

The petechiae continue to gradually diminish in number.

I did not believe that I would experience the healing, "shooting pains” you described earlier, because the LDN (low-dose naltrexone) that I take for MS prevents various pains for me.

Since I began LDN 4 ½ + years ago, there have been no new symptoms, no relapses, no further progression of MS. There are no new lesions evident on the MRIs. The damage caused prior to LDN is still present, but I am doing well -- as long as I continue the LDN.

It helps with immune problems, too, not only for me , but also for some of my friends with MS -- with our allergies, asthma, etc., as well as some MS symptoms. I have tried several times to skip a dose (just to see if I could! ), and have had problems begin within a couple of hours -- problems with spasms, paresthesias, breathing, allergies, joint pains, etc. This is why I thought that the LDN might hinder any “healing pains” in my case.

However, several times during this past month I was surprised to experience brief, unusual pains that were different from anything I have previously experienced. They occurred in different places in my feet and hands, and once in my upper arm. They came and went very quickly. It felt like burning, but not like the ever-present, sensory sunburn feeling on the skin of my upper arms. It was internal rather than surface, and there was movement rather than stasis -- just different, and hard to describe.

Another surprise for me this month is with my fingernails. Since 1990 or so, during a period of relapses, my fingernails all developed vertical ridges on them and gradually grew softer over the years. This year they have been so soft that they would split and break if they were bumped into anything.

Over the last two weeks, I have noticed that the nails are growing harder. The vertical ridges are still there, but the nails are not splitting and breaking like they were earlier. I have even been using them to pry some plastic lids open (bad practice, I know! ). Today I clipped the nails and could see a definite improvement during that process as well. Very interesting!

ForeverSpring

[ForeverSpring]

In the autumn of 2002 my hands and feet began to be somewhat numb and clumsy, and they also could not feel how hot was the temperature of water and other items. A physician rolled a little wheel with prickly points all over my limbs and, in the lower sections of both arms and legs, it felt like someone was only brushing a feather over my skin. EMG/NCV testing ruled out peripheral neuropathy, but revealed problems with nerve conduction. My hands and feet have been like this continuously for almost 7 years, and I had accepted it as being permanent.

Recently my fingers have regained enough dexterity that they no longer fumble when trying to pick coins out of my change purse, or tiny bits of lint off the floor, for example. They are also actually feeling hot items when handling them. My feet are experiencing similar changes, but I notice it more with my hands in the daily activities of life.

The skin on the lower arms and legs feels strange -- a little “irritated” (for lack of a better word) -- and I am very aware of the sensation of clothing resting on the skin, or the movement of air across the backs of my hands.

I am a bit awed!

ForeverSpring

[AndrewKFletcher]

Your last 2 posts made me smile, and reminded me of the people on the pilot study who first began to report the same pattern of observations. The nails are very interesting as they indicate visible improvements in circulation.

The recent improvements in sensitivity also reflect perfectly both the time scale of inclined therapy and the level of improvements from others.

There are undoubtedly people out there who would rather believe anything other than face the facts that you are indeed experiencing the same improvements predicted from pilot studies with ms.

I just wish that ms did not damage an open mind as much as it obviously does and that more and more people with ms would decide to investigate this simple therapy for themselves rather than drawing a contemptible conclusion from the onset.

Your sensitivity return is the tip of an iceberg. There are many more improvements to follow.

I see the people with ms that have been helped using Inclined Therapy locally, they used to have walking sticks and used to be in wheelchairs.
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[ForeverSpring]

Last week I spent 4 nights away from home and away from my own bed, which has been inclined for over 4 months. I was visiting in someone else’s home and had planned, “for the sake of science“, to sleep flat and horizontal for those 4 nights and note what might happen. However, I was not able to get through even the first night that way!

When I laid down for sleep, I could feel fluids shifting and moving into my head. My sinuses felt like they were filling up and I suddenly developed a post-nasal drip. I felt fullness and pressure in my entire head, but especially in the back and top, and it grew into headache. Then pains developed behind both eyes, and more so behind the right eye.

It was really awful! It was a little similar to what most people might feel if you were lying on a horizontal bed and then hung your head down over the edge for a while. Ugh!

For years before I tilted my bed, I frequently mentioned specific pain in the right top of my head and behind my right eye to doctors and never received any answers as to what was causing it. Now I know!

I think that I have CCSVI in some of my veins, but I do not want to undergo any more surgery. I am hoping that, with time, the Inclined Bed Therapy will help to correct it.

Anyway, after about an hour of this discomfort, I got out of bed and took the seat cushion from a chair that was in the room, folded it in half, and stuffed it under my pillow. I slept with my upper body raised at a high angle and my legs horizontal. It was not as good as my inclined bed, but it was better than lying totally horizontal.

The next morning, I learned that the head of that futon bed could be raised to 3 different positions (maybe 30, 60, and 90 degrees?), I set the head of the bed at about 60 degrees and slept that way for the remaining 3 nights.

That is my brief experience with reverting to sleeping horizontally. It’s no wonder that people in Andrew’s trials refused to revert for a period of time! I wouldn’t do so, either, not even for the sake of science!

What was most surprising was how badly I felt within only minutes! And I used to sleep that way every night for nearly 68 years!

Andrew, words cannot express how grateful I am to you!

ForeverSpring

[Jamie]

What I don't understand about IBT is that, if its linked to CCVSI, why the jugulars are closed further when one is at a 90 degree angle, i.e. sitting up and when supine, i.e. flat, the jugulars are fully open (except of course for the occlusion/stenosis).

One would think the reverse would be true.

[AndrewKFletcher]

Jamie, if we were talking about sitting up rather than stretched out at a much lower angle, the pressure points on the body would be very different to Inclined Therapy. For example, the spine would be compressed rather than decompressed by the traction applied to the spine by the inclined posture. Furthermore the weight of your upper torso would also be compressing the buttocks and more to the point the bones in your pelvis would be compressing the nerves, tissue and vessels, but these are just the mechanical differences between the two methods. The circulation is according to many peoples observations very much dependent on having the correct alignment with gravity, after all the nervous system does not end at the base of the spine but continues from head to toe, so it is important that we keep this in mind when dealing with posture at all times. This is why wheelchair posture designed to keep people in wheelchairs does a great job of speeding up the demise of a patient confined to a wheelchair and does nothing to assist their recovery.

Again, simply elevating the seat slightly using a wedge cushion for example could and indeed has drastically altered the way the nervous system responds but normally gently and over time, and not usually over one or two weeks, although there have been exceptions and some significant results reported from day one of Inclined Therapy.

What I don't understand about IBT is that, if its linked to CCVSI, why the jugulars are closed further when one is at a 90 degree angle, i.e. sitting up and when supine, i.e. flat, the jugulars are fully open (except of course for the occlusion/stenosis).

One would think the reverse would be true.

[ForeverSpring]

Andrew, I think it would be well for you to explain on this thread why IBT would not be helpful to a person whose veins are completely blocked by collapse, a blood clot, or congenital disorders. Although the reason is obvious, it may be overlooked or forgotten, or just not thought through.

Also, please note that most persons with MS have cognitive dysfunctions, including slower speed of processing information and difficulty with retrieving it from memory storage, despite the intellect being intact. We may have problems with attention, planning, organizing, and making decisions. We may not like to talk about it, because of the misconceptions of others. Some may even deny or ignore it, but it is part of the challenges we have in our daily lives.

ForeverSpring

[ForeverSpring]

I would also like to mention, for the sake of any new readers to this forum, that Chronic Venous Insufficiency (or CVI) in publications usually refers to that problem encountered in the legs, but it may be found anywhere in the body. There are various degrees of CVI, and a completely blocked vein would be the most extreme case and would require extreme intervention. This applies to only a small percentage of cases.

Inclined Bed Therapy is a gentle, non-invasive treatment which has been shown to be helpful to non-extreme cases of CVI, including some people with MS.

Logically, most of the factors that increase your risk for CVI in the legs should also be considered factors that would increase your risk for CVI in the brain and spinal cord. Think about such things as: saturated fats in your diet, overweight, smoking, drinking insufficient water, lack of exercise -- in general, anything that would hinder perfect circulation of the blood. We can do for ourselves what no physician can do for us, simply by making some positive changes in these aspects of our lifestyle.

Next week I will make my monthly post related to my own ongoing experience with IBT.

ForeverSpring

[AndrewKFletcher]

This should be on the first post, as you rightly suggest.

Following a report from a lady with a collapsed vein in the foot who joined the pilot study and found that her circulation in the foot deteriorated due to the incline rather than improving as many had done. It was quickly realised that in the case of a collapsed vein rather than a swollen vein that decreasing the venous pressure as is the case with varicose veins and oedema, the restriction would be further closed.

A post from Cheerleader makes this point and for which I am grateful and would like to learn more if possible. I don't think under these particular circumstances Inclined therapy will be of much use to anyone with a collapsed vein without corrective surgery to open up the veins.

This was written a long time ago and reference can be found on the net.

A collapsed vein is rare and should be carefully monitored and anyone who has this condition should not join this study as this study is aiming to cause the veins to be drawn in by changing the pressure inside the veins and increasing the tension in the blood. In the case of a collapsed vein circulation will already be severely restricted so further reductions in the size of the vessel will restrict circulation rather than improve it in this case. If however a vein has been surgically closed for cosmetic reasons, this is not the same as a collapsed vein and in this case should not complicate your experience using I.T.

One other case was a known heroin addict of many years who had severely damaged veins and ulcerated legs. His veins sustained heavy damage from constant injection in the legs and arms. Hi veins were collapsed and responded well to I.T. with the ulcerated skin becoming fully recovered in several months of avoiding flat bedrest.

With this observation in mind, if you suspect or have a confirmed case of a collapsed vein, I.T. may be of some help but you will need to monitor skin colour and pressure test the skin using a finger pressed firmly into the skin and released. The skin should return to normal colour quickly almost instantly responding to the pressure release as your finger is moved away. If this is not the case during Inclined Therapy you may need to consult your doctor to find a remedial solution before returning to I.T. or indeed returning to sleeping flat.

It is also very important to increase the amount of water you drink using I.T. as it has a diuretic effect on the body as waste products are more effectively removed from the blood more water will also be removed along with it into the bladder and will need to be replenished.

Reference to earlier mention of collapsed vein.
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/804528.htm

[ForeverSpring]

As of today, my bed has been tilted for 5 months. I have been eagerly awaiting this date to post the changes noticed during the past month.

Summer days are getting hotter. I am not experiencing the MS fatigue or pseudo-exacerbations when I get hot and sweaty -- no more dysarthria and dysphasia (speech and swallowing difficulties) from the heat. My heat tolerance is much improved.

Not only is my body more energetic, but my mind is clearer. Some previous cognitive difficulties have disappeared, some others mitigated, and it feels like I am awakening from a long nightmare, thankful for the freedom and light of day.

I used to inadvertently bite the inside of my left cheek several times a week -- painful and bloody. There is quite a buildup of scar tissue there. That has not happened for weeks.

The stiffness is gone from the lower legs. I used to feel a burning sensation on the soles of my feet upon arising in the morning. It is no more.

There is still some very faint sensation of numbness and tingling in places from head to foot on the left side, but the limbs are not as heavy and that entire side is stronger. There is a new spring in my step.

For the first time in 6 years, I am not limping anymore while walking! After living all those years with a weakened left side, I had considered that to be permanent -- with all its accompanying problems -- and expected it to gradually worsen..

During the visit mentioned after my last monthly report, we spent an entire morning at the Denver Zoo. Afterwards, I was impressed at how well my body had handled the heat and being on my feet all morning -- on hard pavement, no less -- but I still had a slight limp.

Several days later, while I was walking from my home to the post office, I noticed that I was not limping as I moved along. I was so excited that, when I arrived at the post office to check for mail in my box, I forgot to mail some items that were in my backpack. About halfway home, I remembered them and returned to the post office to put them in the mail slot. By the time I reached home, I had walked 3 miles and was still not limping.

The next day I decided to really put myself to the test. I walked 5 miles in the midday heat -- with no problems other than a sunburned nose and my hot, sweaty, tender feet did get blisters on the bottoms due to the unaccustomed workout!

To increase strength and endurance, I am gradually increasing my daily walk from 2 miles upward, and am thinking about changing the type of exercise on alternate days. I hope to join some of my family members on their hikes in the mountains before the end of summer -- a goal I could not have envisioned before this new development.

ForeverSpring

[ForeverSpring]

In my monthly report above, I should have mentioned that, along with the disappearance of years of stiffness in the lower legs, the muscles there no longer look so straight and drawn, but have been filling out and are more normal in appearance -- a visible sign of good things happening!

ForeverSpring

[AndrewKFletcher]

Forever Spring

This is indeed great news. Your improvements are mirroring exactly the improvements of pilot studies involving people with predominantly ms.

Each time you post, your obvious improvements lay down a path for others to follow, yet sadly the uptake on such a simple paradigm is painfully slow. I try to picture myself in other people’s shoes to imagine why an excuse not to try this simple and safe method could enter my head and am unable to comprehend how people with neurological conditions including ms are willing to ignore this therapy and the exciting results that are unfolding. I am no stranger to this knee-jerk reaction and scepticism. I have said before it was my own scepticism of the accepted literature from more learned people that brought about this very exciting research in the first place. In fact after over 15 years of self-funded research helping many thousands of people, contempt prior to investigation still rears it’s ugly head all too often and only a few people find their way to doing something about it and tilt their beds.

But even then many people expect miracles in a day or two and come back to say I have tried inclined therapy, it didn’t work so we have put the bed flat again, or my husband does not like it so the bed has been put back to horizontal. But I suspect that many have put the bed up and expected nothing to happen and like yourself have experienced some changes within a few weeks and become intrigued enough to carry on regardless of what others may say to discourage them.

In your report you mention muscles firming up and bulking up. Again this has been reported many times now by people with neurological conditions, none more so than a little girl in Kent aged 12 with cerebral palsy, who until the age of 12 had never walked so had very little muscle on her legs and wore callipers day and night to keep her fragile bones straight.

After some 8 months of Inclined Therapy, not only did the girl walk at school for the first time and climbed the stairs much to the amazement of the whole school and her parents. This little girl had developed muscles on her legs that according to her mother were too masculine looking and strong. Precisely the opposite of her previous muscular atrophied condition.

Her mother to my astonishment called me to advise that Caroline’s bed had been placed flat once again and that she would remain flat for the foreseeable future. Within a week it became apparent to her parents that her condition was rapidly reverting back to her pre-inclined therapy state and she had panic in her voice when she called to say the bed is up once more and will never be placed flat again.

This was followed by an unexpected phone-call from a girl who I had never spoken with before, who asked first of all if I was Andrew the man who raised her bed, introducing herself as Caroline, the girl with cerebral palsy. I replied, yes it is hello Caroline it’s good to hear from you at last. She said I just want to say thank you for all you have done for me and for how it has changed my life.

That day I was reduced to a quivering jelly unable to support my own weight, I collapsed on the floor and was reduced to tears trembling from head to toe while a little girl spoke about her incredible improvements.

For weeks after that call I found it difficult to think of anything other than that incredible phone call and to this day it drives me forward in the hope that I may reach another child in need with cerebral palsy, and this is exactly what happened 2 days ago at a barbecue. We now have another parent willing to try Inclined Therapy for their little girl with CP.

Read carefully what Foreverspring has written about her experiences using I.T. I for one know her reports are accurate and un-exaggerated and that like me she is trying to reach people with ms to share her obvious and impressive results.

If you have already tilted your bed for several months, perhaps you can come back with an account of your own observations so that people on the forum can learn how Inclined Therapy has or hasn’t helped over various timescales so we can understand more about its effects on people with ms.

Foreverspring. May I post your observations on my blog?

Best wishes,

Andrew

[ForeverSpring]

Hello, Andrew!

My legs feel so much better that I just want to go, go, go!

I wish that I could somehow view what is happening inside my body as these changes are occurring. That would be fascinating to watch.

Please feel free to use on your blog any observations that I have posted publicly here. (Pardon my ignorance, but where is your blog located? )

ForeverSpring

[AndrewKFletcher]

My blog: http://andrewkennethfletcher.blogspot.com/
My webpage (slow progress and huge learning curve): http://www.andrewkfletcher.com

Hello, Andrew!

My legs feel so much better that I just want to go, go, go!

I wish that I could somehow view what is happening inside my body as these changes are occurring. That would be fascinating to watch.

Please feel free to use on your blog any observations that I have posted publicly here. (Pardon my ignorance, but where is your blog located? )

ForeverSpring

[AndrewKFletcher]

Rainbowdaby said...
VERY WELL DONE Andrew!

I have been using his Inclined bed therapy for the last NINE years and I would never go back to sleeping on a flat bed. When I left the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen I had major problems in my spine, sciatica varicous viens, circulating problems etc. etc. I was taking a bucket full of pain killers. That was EIGHT years ago.

Now at 72 years young. I have not taken any drugs (of any description) in the last SEVEN years. I genuinly feel I have taken total responsiblity of my health. No need to buy expensive health insurance. You have saved me a lot of money and given me a lot of long term happiness Andrew.

I am extremely grateful to you. Keep up the good work!

8:17 AM