Sami, a charity worker from Bristol, was plagued by numbness and she could barely walk or leave her room. But she is now back on her feet after trying a treatment called Bee Venom Therapy (BVT). The treatment involves holding a bee in a pair of tweezers and deliberately stinging an area of skin on the patient's body.
Experts believe the venom in the sting helps ease the pain of MS symptoms and also stimulates the body to fight back. Sami says she was stung around 1,500 in eighteen months and says it has given her her mobility back. She said: ''When I started the BVT I couldn't get out of bed or get out of my room - it was really grim.
Photo from here.
''Most people would be terrified by the prospect of being stung by a bee. But when you have a condition like MS, that involves the numbing of the body, any kind of sensation is welcome - even if it's from a bee sting. You use a pair of tweezers and get hold of a single bee. Then you gradually desensitise your body to the sting by injecting it in and out of your skin a few times. You have to build it up slowly - you start with two, then four, then six. Ten to 14 was my average for each session.
''It had an immediate effect because it has a kind of psychological, mental effect. I used to feel elated for about two hours after the treatment.'' Bee Venom Therapy, or Apitherapy, uses the stings of live bees to relieve symptoms of MS such as pain, loss of coordination, and muscle weakness.
Researchers suggest that certain compounds in bee venom reduce inflammation and pain and a combination of all its ingredients helps the body to release natural healing compounds. The alternative treatment remains unproven by evidence-based medicine but it has been used to treat other wasting diseases and arthritis.
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