I was a bit anxious as I waited for Dr. Pridgen to pick up. It had been a year and a half since we talked and I had heard nothing.
Given Pridgen’s approach – using antivirals in a disease (fibromyalgia) that few connected with pathogens – his startup’s name, Innovative Med Concepts, actually fit.
Pridgen and his startup, Innovative Med Concept, were in a perilous time for drug developers. Would they be able to make to the next level?
Not only was Pridgen, a surgeon (not an fibromyalgia expert) treating his FM patients with an antiviral (Famvir) (something unheard of in the field), but he’d added another drug, an anti-inflammatory with antiviral properties (Celebrex), to it. Not even ME/CFS experts long acquainted with antiviral regimens were doing that.
While some viruses can be treated with single-shot antivirals, Pridgen believes highly evolved viruses like herpesviruses, HIV/AIDS and others are probably best treated with multiple drug combinations. HIV/AIDS, of course, is the poster child for that approach, but the same general approach, he said, is also used in hepatitis B and C.
Pridgen was definitely attempting to break new ground but now he, his startup Innovative Med Concepts (IMC), and his IMC antiviral drug combo were in a perilous period, indeed. They were trying to traverse a particularly risky period for drug development known as “Valley of Death”.
The Valley of Death refers to a period after Phase II trials when many drug efforts die before they can come up with the oodles of money needed to get the last drug trials necessary – the big Phase III trials – up and running.
Surely no news was not good news, I thought. I fully expected Pridgen to state that he’d failed to get his funding, and that the effort was on life-support.
That wasn’t the message at all. As soon as the FDA gave them their final to-do’s, Pridgen said his team had been “crushing it”. Everything was actually humming along. It was just taking the time it takes the U.S.’s incredibly complex and expensive drug process to get anywhere. Pridgen noted that it takes about 12 years for a drug idea to get to market. At year nine, he thought they were actually about on track.
Not that they had taken the usual approach – far from it.
An Unorthodox Approach
“We did everything backwards.” Skip Pridgen
Most drug companies begin their long journey with the FDA by doing laboratory and animal studies (rat and, ouch! dog toxicology studies) first. Lacking the funding of the big pharma companies, Pridgen did his Phase II trial first in order to show results, and then began the Phase I lab, clinical and animal studies.
Innovative Med Concepts did things a little differently
That approach had consequences. Because Pridgen was using much higher than normal doses of antivirals, the FDA wanted assurances that the doses were safe and that required new toxicology, clinical and animal testing.
Pridgen described the daunting pharmacokinetic hurdles the FDA erects with a new drug. Worried that patients will take too much of their drugs and suffer from liver or kidney damage, the FDA requires that drug doses be safe at 8-10x’s times their intended dosage.
The Gist
- Nine years ago, Skip Pridgen, MD, a Tuscaloosa surgeon, proposed that the gut issues in FM might be due to herpesviruses
- To his surprise treating his patients with antivirals often helped both their gut issues and their pain and fatigue
- Pridgen subsequently developed a two drug combo containing Famvir and Celebrex to attack the viruses
- This first treatment trial using a reduced dose of antivirals mandated by the FDA had good but moderate results
- Since then Pridgen has raised the money to do the necessary toxicology and other tests the FDA required to ensure that his original protocol – using significantly more antivirals than have been used in medicine before – are safe.
- Pridgen and his startup, Innovative Med Concepts, recently passed all FDA requirements and expect to launch a large 240 person, 30 plus site, 9-12 month long fibromyalgia trial this summer.
- This will be the first test of Pridgen’s original protocol – the one he uses to treat his patients.
- If this trial succeeds at least one more Phase III trial will be necessary. If all goes well Pridgen hopes to have his IMC drug combo approved for FM within three years.
More importantly, they were good enough for Pridgen to get the funding needed to successfully get through the maze of toxicology, and clinical testing the FDA required – and to get the next trial off the ground.
Over the past year or so Pridgen and Innovative Med Concepts have basically gone underground as they successfully completed a bunch of FDA requirements. Brimming with confidence, Pridgen expected the results of the next trial – using an antiviral dose several times higher than that used in the first trial – would be much better.
That next trial is not, however, going to be a Phase III trial. Pridgen still needs to show the FDA that this more powerful drug combo is safe and effective in humans – and that means another Phase II trial – a Phase IIb trial is necessary. Tilting at orthodoxy again, though, Pridgen has made the Phase IIb trial so large that the FDA – which has given the IMC protocol a fast-track basis – is expected to include its results in the next Phase III trials.
The viral study hasn’t been published yet but Pridgen described a remarkable result. Endoscopies of the 70% or so of the FM patients with gut issues showed red streaking, which Pridgen and University of Alabama virologist Carol Duffy believed might be causing the gut irritation. Biopsies found evidence of a herpes simplex virus (an HSV protein) in over 80% of patients (and less than 10% of healthy controls). No other herpesviruses were found. Scoping patients after treatment found that the red streaking had disappeared.
First Real Test of the Pridgen Protocol
Coming up this summer – the first REAL test of the Pridgen Protocol. (Skip Pridgen MD and Carol Duffy virologist)
Fibromyalgia has three FDA-approved drugs and that’s a good thing, but no one is satisfied with the drug choices which fail to help many and can produce considerable side-effects. Despite the FDA approvals, opioids – which have never been approved for FM – still appear to be the most used painkiller. The FDA’s opioid crackdown, however, has been depriving more and more fibromyalgia patients of relief. In short, if the IMC can pass the FDA’s last hurdles, this would be a perfect time for a new non-opioid treatment option for FM.
Pridgen reported they have one funding source lined up for the next phase and possibly another one as well. He expected the Phase IIb study – assessing, for the first time, it should be noted, the real “Pridgen protocol” – to commence by the end of this summer. He expects the 9 month to a year trial to include about 240 patients and take place in 30-35 sites, probably mostly in the U.S. (but perhaps in Canada as well.)
Two more studies are expected to be needed for FDA approval: a multifactorial trial and another trial similar to the 240 person one expected to begin this summer.
If the FDA approves this drug combo – which Pridgen hopes will happen in three years – he plans to move onto ME/CFS and other diseases.
Check out one person for whom Pridgen’s approach worked.
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As one of many happy Pridgen Protocol patients, this comes as exceptionally good news. I had severe Lyme Disease which, while in remission, left me with persistent symptoms including chronic fatigue, body pain, brain fog, poor memory and lethargy. Dr. Pridgen’s protocol provided the breakthrough I had hoped for for 13 years! While the brain damage from Lyme remains, I have been able to return to work part time and no longer live in pain. Thanks Dr. P!
Good news. Thanks for sharing that and good luck moving forward from here.
I’m on high dose Famvir already and have Celebrex prescribed also. Are you able to share what milligrams of each medication that he uses? Much appreciated.
I’m on 1500 mg of Famvir 4 times a day.
How long did it take for you to see results on the famvir ?
Hi there, Glad this helped you. Might you be willing to share the doses used? I live in Canada and would like to try. I have send my MD this link. I have lots of pain and am struggling to work 3 days a week. Thank you for sharing!
Did you have any luck with your Canadian doctor? Mine completely poopooed the whole thing and with the border closed due to Covid my plan to go to the US is not happening. She says antivirals are not a first line treatment and refuses to prescribe them. She’s very young, inexperienced and isn’t open to anything outside the box. It’s so frustrating.
Such awesome news for those of us hanging on to hope. It must be so wonderful to find yourself again. Thank you for sharing and hopefully I can find a doctor to participate in providing this treatment to me as well. Congrats and thank you!
I too am one of Dr Pridgen’s fibro patients and in the last 2 years have seen a real increase in my quality of life. Excited to see his work move forward!
Hi, I live in Canada and developed ME/CFS in 2017 after a bout of a flu virus. I was house and bed bound for 14 months. After extensive research I wanted to try anything to get better. I have been taking two medications that I have seen dramatic improvement of my ME/CFS. I started on a high dose antiviral drug, Valacyclovir 4000mg per day 8 months ago. I read of this in Dr Myhills book and wanted to try it knowing that HSV was a problem for many years. My symptoms improved within 2 months. I have returned to work part time, brain fog has cleared, energy level is much better, I can go for walks. I have been able to lower my dose to 1000mg a day with no ill effect. I also am using Naltrexone at 4.5 mg daily. I hope that people don’t have to wait 3 years to try this as it has been life changing. I am thankful for the information that I was able to share from Dr. Myhill and that my doctor was willing to allow me to experiment based on the recommendations and protocol in the book.
Where in Canada are you? My daughter cannot be tested for HSV in Toronto and I don’t know if any doctor would treat her if she were positive. She’s on naltrexone and NADH which made a big difference for her.
Hi Cathy. I am from Canada also and would love to get more details on your treatment. My doctor is also willing to experiment and I am wondering how long you took the 4000mg for? Did you have any negative side effects? Did your doctor check your liver function to see how it withstood to the high dose?
I was curious about the trajectory of your symptoms. Did you have gradual improvement, sudden improvement, any worsening of symptoms at the beginning? I just started my treatment and have had an uptick in symptoms. It’s only been a couple of weeks and I was curious if this is typical.
Regina, could you tell me what you are taking for the fibro? I have been in constant pain for months. I have Lupus also. The Gabapentin I was first put on causes me to feel unsteady and out of balance. I have fallen 3 times.
Was there any mention from Dr Pridgen if someone is allergic to antiinflammatories, if this may still be a good fit for their fibro? I am very interested in finding out more, but with medication allergies and some what Leary. I also have doubts that the insurance industry is so far behind the introduction of new drugs approved for a particular illness that they will again insist on something else that has a different purpose.
How do you get into the trial?
We’ll know when the trial is announced – hopefully some time this summer. Health Rising will certainly provide the details.
(I say, hopefully, because these things always seem to take longer than expected.)
Do you have any information if Canadian patients might get into the trial?
All I know is that the Famvir doasge is much higher than usual – higher than it has been used before – hence the need for more testing, and the Celebrex dosage is unusual as well.
Pridgen said that Canadian sites might be included in the trial but he wasn’t sure. I guess we’ll see.
Thank you!
Following, I am another Canuck who really wants to be in a trial,
How can you get into the trials?
I think they’ve probably already gotten started but you could contact Dr. Pridgen in Tuscaloosa Alabama.
I was also a Pridgen patient for several years. I have Fibro and severe M.E. While this regimen did help with Fibro pain, it did nothing for fatigue. I typically spend 23 hours a day in bed. Dr. Pridgen believed my fatigue was due to being out of tone with absolutely no core strength (I had double Herrington rod surgeries as a child and am fused from my shoulder blades all the way through the sacrum). I tried my best to do his exercises-but it left me unable to get out of bed at all for 5-9 days each time I would try. I mentioned to him about PEM, and he said that didn’t exist. I also mentioned other studies and he got angry with me and said I apparently wasn’t serious about getting well. I believe he may be on to something with Fibro-but he is completely ignorant about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis!
Hi Katharine,
I had the same surgery when I was 14 in 1978, only with a single Harrington Rod. I’m fused the same as you. i also have fibro and moderate/severe ME. Has anyone ever mentioned to you the rod may be contributing to how/why we got sick? None of my doctors really know, but I read somewhere a while back that there was a connection.
I’ve been sick for just over three years now.
Weird! Where did you have your surgery? In 1998 my old surgery fell apart. Lost all feeling in my legs. Lost bathroom control. So this time I had to have a neurosurgeon do the work. I went to another State to find the best man for the job. My rods were removed. All the old fusion material was scraped out and I was completely refused using titanium cages instead of rods. When I woke from surgery-I knew something was wrong. Pain that made a37 year old woman scream out constantly until I was sedated. Long story short, after 2 years including escalating fatigue, I was placed on opioids for the pain. I finally had relief (no euphoria or any other feeling but relief). The fatigue has slowly escalated for 20 years to where I am now bedridden. I did get off opioids 7 years ago to see if that was causing the fatigue- but it wasn’t the culprit.
I had spinal surgery with a Harrington rod for most of my back except neck and tailbone in 1975 and had the rod removed in 77. I still have fibromyalgia and ME/CFS. I’ve gone through different bouts from bedridden to creating a new normal of activity. I’ve never heard of the Harrington Rod causing issues it’s possible I would suppose. There’s been studies of neck spine Etc related to fatigue and other ME CFS issues. I find all this fascinating.
I wonder if there’s a link to AAI or chiari Malformation?
Several M.E people have had surprise remission of their M.E and Mcad after neck fission surgery. Could the Todd be causing brain stem compression n I wonder?
Katherine, I started on an abbreviated version of his protocol Nov 2019. That means my PCP and I decided not to include the Cymbalta (I generally do not do well with pharmacological antidepressants). My PCP and I also decided that the gallbladder aspect was not of interest to test for. When I told Dr. P about this a year ago, he also told me that i was getting in my own way of actually getting better. i sense that he cares, but for an ill person i felt that he was a bit too hyper-focused on his prescription style, and I felt a bit insulted. He also had mentioned at least 2 or 3 other pharmaceuticals he thought i should try. The implication also was that i should have my gallbladder removed. It was a very thorny conversation. I decided that I no longer wanted to interact with him, and am now only on the antivirals, and the meloxicam (I don’t take that every day). I can’t tell if they are helping a lot more, as in the beginning. But, I do get fewer HSV1 outbreaks for which I am grateful. Anyway, I just wanted to write this because I empathize with how I imagine how you must have felt by him saying that to you. Anyway, I am very happy for the people who are truly making gains with his protocol! Are you on any of the protocol medications still?
Id love to know what Dr Prigen said about the gallbladder as I had mine removed approx 2 years prior to coming down with me/csf which was strange for a 32 year old man at the time. Also the gut for me is the first thing to get iffy during a major crash, have also tested positive for a lot of viruses but no one in ireland treats with antivirals. Does dr pridgen take patients or is he just focused on his trials.
Dr William Pridgen has worked with patients all over the world. Call 205-366-8789 and ask for Angie.
Similar to my experience
Nico,
I would say my experience was very similar to yours in some ways
Nico, sadly I have never had any doctor want to be a part of my Fibro, ME problem. Dr. Pridgen was the first, and he said he treated ME. So when we cut ties-I had nowhere else to go. Frankly, I didn’t think the Famclivor helped until the Fibro Pain came back full steam about 6 months later. Pridgen did insist that I have the gall bladder test & others. My gall bladder was perfectly fine. Interestingly, I suffered with recurrent shingles on my back and waist for many years. I haven’t had one problem with shingles since the antiviral protocol. Yhea!!
Hi just read about Colm from Ireland. Totally the same experience with gall bladder and viral infection was wondering if you found anyone in UK to treat you with antivirals.
You’ve been through so much, dang. Sending you big hugs. ((Hugs))
Katharine, Dr. Pridgen was also impatient with me the year he was my doctor, questioning my commitment to the protocol, even though I was following it faithfully. (Why wouldn’t I do everything I could to get well?) I think he sees his treatment as an extension of himself, and if it fails, it hits him hard. I feel the same frustration with myself for not getting better, so I get it. Better not to take it out on anyone else, though.
Herpes simplex is definitely a problem for me. If I don’t take daily valacyclovir, BHT and L-Lysine, I get fever blisters on my face. I can tell when I accidentally skip a dose or two because one erupts to remind me! But the treatment didn’t decrease my pain, and I was so hopeful that it would. (I don’t have fatigue, but pain and insomnia are severe. My fight or flight button feels stuck.) I’m glad I did the protocol for a year. Other people have benefited greatly, so it’s worth a try.
What a great news!!!I had tested positif for HSV ( antigen and antibody) in the past but never had a cold sore in my entire life. My virologist here in Canada founded that a little weird. I have irritable bowel syndrome and for sure when I’m in a crash this problem is one of the first to arrive. I’ve been diagnose with fibro, ME and POTS.
Can’t wait to see the results
This is such good news that I’m nearly in tears. Let’s pray for a successful outcome!
Cort,
These little articles keep the hope alive! Any idea on the dosage of Famvir and Celebrex?
Thanks for “GIST” sidebars on your articles Cort. I have severe electrical hypersensitivity and can only spend a few minutes on the computer per day. Now I can more safely keep up to date on all the fabulous things you keep us informed on.
Really appreciate your efforts,
Susan Jasper
Good! I’m glad it helps! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂 There is also a print option at the bottom of the page in case that helps.
This sounds very promising. I’ll be interested in the results. Thank you!
I tried his protocol for about 5 months (he communicates it to your doctor, or did for a time at least) and didn’t see much improvement. I’m sure it works for some but his anecdotal estimates seem inflated to me.
I’m curious about the endoscopic results, i.e. the ‘red streaks’. Are they using a special staining method or something that a normal endoscopy wouldn’t detect?
I’ve test negative for HSV1-2 antibodies but I’ve found that my fibromyalgia symptoms are triggered by GI flares and that GI targeted therapies significantly improve them (FMT, steroids).
I don’t know if any special techniques were used. It seemed like it was a normal endoscopy but I’m not sure.
Anecdotal results often feature those who do really well. There definitely are patients who do really well on the protocol and as you have pointed out others don’t benefit. With this next study the mystery will, thankfully, clear up a bit.
Not to take away from what may be done with pharmaceuticals, there are alternative ways to do this too. I’m using Lomatium as an antiviral, antibacterial, etc. Will be a long process but have been told should be effective with about 18 months of regular use. No major side effects and at least 4 months into it now. Was told it will help Post Lyme.
https://barlowherbal.com/blogs/blog/the-super-natural-power-of-lomatium
“The Lomatium dissectum extract has a viro-static effect, meaning that it stops the growth of all viruses, bacteria and fungus in the body and eliminates the lethal micro-organisms without harming the ones necessary to good health. The effectiveness of Lomatium dissectum in eliminating infections and restoring health is an incredible gift from Mother Nature.”
Hi Issie
Can I ask how much you take and if there’s any improvements after 4 months?
Yes please provide the exact protocol that you’re following. Have there been any noticeable changes after 4 months?
Cort, Lomatium is very interesting. Would you be willing to do a more in-depth article on it and see if it’s effective? I would have loved to have seen Issie’s response too but it doesn’t appear that she saw the requests for more details…
Hi Issie So 18 months on how have you got on with your Lomatium extract? Well hopefully? Would be useful to know if this is worth trying. Thanks, Steve
I am a bit skeptical.
If you are able to tolerate the Pridgen protocol-is it a life time commitment to be successful or do you allegedly take it for a certain amount of time & then no longer need it?
Pridgen says it’s a lifetime commitment.
For sure. I think we should all be cautious. Look, after all, what happened with Rituximab – two good phase II study results – and then an absolute bomb with the Phase III trial. I will never put too much faith in phase II trials again.
The good news is that with this big placebo-controlled, blinded, etc. study, we’re finally going to find out once and for all how effective this protocol really is. Just the facts…
Yeah
I am skeptical of antiviral regiemes fullstop.
I am convinced and have been for a long time that neither chronic viruses nor reactivated viruses are a factor in fibromyalgia or CFS.
I think our disease is trigger by an infection but not perpetuated by one, and that the most likely perpetuating factor is autoimmunity and/or neuroinflammation.
It’s very possible that’s true. In fact, given the virus results so far, I’m that’s certainly the prevailing theory at this point.
Dr. Chia who has also examined gut issues would probably disagree, though.
“Yeah
I am skeptical of antiviral regiemes fullstop.”
I have very clear results with Isoprinosine, also known as Imunovir. No miracle drug for sure but a clear step up in functionality. It is a combined antiviral and imunomodulator. So it’s hard to say which part is at work here.
But the point I wish to make is that many antivirals intervene in cell division and renewal and some other basic processes. Most don’t kill viruses but rather change our own biology so that viruses can take less advantage of it.
Some of these changes may just happen to interfere with the mechanism of ME itself more so then fighting viruses. Who knows?
I have been on the Pridgen Protocol (Famcyclovir / Celecoxib / Duloxetine) for 1 year and 5 months now. Prior to this I was desperately ill for 6 years with CFS then later tested positive for Lyme Disease. Over the 6 years I tried just about every treatment I could and spent a bucketful of money doing so. I remained mostly bedridden and in terrible pain and suffering.
The ONLY thing that made any difference has been Dr. Pridgen’s protocol. Am I ‘cured’ ? No. But I’d gauge I am now 80% healed. I am living again. When I ask Dr. Pridgen can I stop the meds or ease off, the answer is an emphatic ‘absolutely not’. I am willing to follow his instruction, because no way do I want to regress to the desperate state I existed in for 6 years prior to this treatment.
Karin, can you give us an idea how long it took before you noticed a good difference in how you felt? Thanks.
Karin, good to hear you have improved Could you share how you treated the Lyme Disease.?
It’s so awesome to hear of patients success with this protocol! I started researching it to present to my doctor and soon realized that I can’t take Celebrex due to my severe allergy to NSAIDs!
Curious is any other folks have NSAID allergy?
Hi Danielle,
I used to be able to take Ibuprofen and it helped bring down inflammation. However after a while my heart rhythm started to become very irregular and I felt a bit weird.
I have ectopic heartbeats anyway but this was different. I probably had other symptoms but I can’t remember them! It’s the – all over the place heart rhythm – I recall.
I started the protocol and seemed to be doing well on it actually but stopped it after acid reflux popped up. I didn’t want to be on acid reflux blockers.
Am a supporter of anti virals but quite quickly my Liver starts to really struggle ….. hopefully he may include something to cope with this side effect …. ?
I don’t think his protocol is rocket science, or curative.
The fact is that inflammation is a big part of these illnesses, so whether natural or pharmaceutical, anti inflammatories will offer benefits.
I have received some reasonable benefits from NSAIDS and also natural products such as turmeric.
In the end it doesn’t matter what either of us thinks, though, does it? Soon enough we should have some hard data. Then we’ll finally be able to have an informed opinion. Until then we’re only guessing.
Hi. Can you tell me if turmeric is safe to take for those who suffer with severe gerd/digestive problems?
Thank you!
Matthias, as I was helped so much by the anti inflammatory Ibuprofen, I have really tried to limit the inflammatory foods and focus on the anti-inflammatory ones like kale, olive oil, mackerel and salmon, Omega 3 supplements, walnut, Rooibos tea and I sprinkle tumeric and ginger on my food.
I did take curcumin supplements for a while but they’re very expensive and need to be taken with black pepper for the piperine, for better availability. I tried the black pepper and my mouth, throat and stomach were burning afterwards.
So I just sprinkle some tumeric and ginger over my food and hope for the best! Apparently it’s absorbed better with oil too.
It seems to be working for me, which is great as I can’t take the anti-inflammatories.
I’m really excited by this! I sincerely hope it goes through ok but I have just checked out Famvir has been discontinued!
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23 Oct 2018
Hopefully there is a genetic version or other available.
Hope and healing to all xx
What concerns me is that Pridgen has started a business, Innovative Med Concepts, to profit from his protocol. While there is nothing wrong with that per se, I do think it may introduce a bias for him to overstate how well his protocol works. (I also wonder why well-known ME/CFS and fibromyalgia specialists do not seem to be prescribing this combination of drugs to their patients, even though Famvir is well-known to them.)
I also wonder about the relationship of his protocol to Anne Oaklander’s finding that about half of fibromyalgia patients have small fiber neuropathy. She seems to think this neuropathy may be the underlying cause of the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Does the Pridgen protocol reverse small fiber neuropathy? If the drug combination caused small nerve fibers to regrow — something that Pridgen could test for through pre- and post-treatment skin biopsies — that would be a major breakthrough, as right now the only treatment that Oaklander recommends is high-dose IVIG, which is extremely expensive and hard to access.
I wonder if we should just disregard the profit issue.An pharma exec told me big pharma is purely about profit! That’s unfortunate but it still enables them to bring good drugs to the market.
For me there is every thing right with Pridgen or anyone else forming a company to bring drugs or treatments to market that may help people with fibromyalgia and other diseases. Doing something like that – enables him to raise the funding to do the very expensive trials needed needed to get FDA approval. That is the only way for any treatment to become available for the most people possible.
That said, I don’t think Pridgen is driven by profit. I just don’t get that sense. I do think that he is very high on his treatment approach and can get upset when patients don’t follow his protocol exactly and do what he suggests. He can be a bit touchy at times, for sure.
The really important thing, though, is that Pridgen has not been content to simply serve patients out of his clinic – and is putting the protocol to the test with these large trials. Ultimately we will be able throw away all the worries about profit or undue zealotry or whatever: we’ll have the facts soon enough and that’s all that really counts.
As to the skin biopsies – that’s a great idea – and hopefully that will come later. Right now Pridgen and company probably have their nose to their grindstone securing the best funding and getting this next trial under way.
Getting a drug through the FDA, securing funding, getting patents written up to safeguard their work (Pridgen said they’ve filed about 20 of them), getting the drugs manufactured to spec (he said it wasn’t easy), etc. takes a mammoth effort – particularly from a Tuscaloosa surgeon. Cortene’s been taken to task for not publishing an animal model. Well, Cortene is a very small corporation – it has an enormous workload – and it can only do so much.
Hopefully Pridgen’s trial will turn out and, if it does, checking out those skin biopsies is a great idea.
Having worked in big pharma for years up until I had the car accident that caused my FMS I can vouch for the fact it takes nearly 30 years from the time formulations are found and to get them to market it takes many millions of dollars. Most original formulations never make it…
Given they then only have about 10 years to make their money back and get a profit before the patent is lost… money plays a big part in making a profit ONLY!
Cort is correct all companies rely on money to get drugs to market without it nothing would get done
ALL trials are done with strict protocols so the money part is just a consequence of doing business and will not affect the outcome
Unless you have crooks at the helm in which case they all get caught up with eventually and given the penalties if the research is fudged it is not worth it…
Earlier on in the postings, someone mentioned that the doctor does not believe that PEM exists. I am really taken aback by this. After all, though I do not have this nightmare illness, I live with someone who contracted it young. And I see what PEM does clear as day. Does anyone have more to contribute about why he does not believe in PEM, what he think exertional intolerance is all about. PEM is often described as a very unique feeling, one that patients never felt before becoming ill. Anyhow, anything that moves things along is great, but I am wondering about this hallmark symptom. Thank you Cort for all your hard work. Thank you.
Pridgen informed me he does believe PEM exists but that he was calling it by a different name. I don’t know why he was moved to do that (lol).
Thanks for your nice words 🙂
I had an EGD recently with a strange effect when the doctor said he accidentally scraped across – does anyone know if we can find out about the streaking
and Ive been begging for them to check virals when I became more seriously ill 3 years ago because nothing else is helping.
Hi there. My PCP wants me to try the protocol but could answer very few of my questions, and told me to email Dr. P for answers.
My first basic one: she prescribed Valacyclovir, not Famciclovir. Looks like they’re very similar, but does it matter? Dose is 1g twice a day.
Before we got into the protocol, I told her I’ve been experiencing weird new random kidney pain. I drink tons and tons of water. Shouldn’t this be addressed relative to taking such high doses of these meds? (Celecoxib 200 mg twice daily).
Finally, I am a very small person. Does this affect the dosage?
Thank you in advance to anyone who can help. I have tons of other questions and may come back with some more once I get them organized. Brain fog!
I found a lot of information in Dr Pridgen’s patent application publication, which lists all the information about his treatment protocol, including a decision tree diagram. I don’t have the link, but it’s application number is: US 2013/0203710 A1
I contracted HSV six years ago and since then my life hasn´t been normal ever again. I think my case is the perfect example of Dr Pridgen Theory about fibromyalgia origins. Previously of the time I contracted HSV I had NEVER felt any symptom; now I live in pain 24/7 and no doctor seems to believe all of this could come from Herpes but I know it is. I was raped and contracted this disease and a from that day I barely live because all the symptoms. I´d love to know what dosage of this combo was safe to try and for how long I´m desperate. REALLY.