TEENAGER Charlotte Durham – who had to fight for medication for a rare brain condition – has been told it has put her in remission.
Charlotte, from Cresswell was the first person in the UK to be given the drug Octreotide, pictured below , for idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).
She was featured in The Sentinel in July when funding for the drug ran out a fortnight into the six-month trial.
Charlotte got funding from another health body and went back on the medication in August.
Now she is celebrating after her latest check-up revealed she no longer has any signs of the condition which causes blindness.
The 19-year-old clinical support worker said: "My consultant says I'm in remission. I'm so happy."
IIH is an illness where the body cannot regulate the amount of spinal fluid that surrounds the brain.
It leaves the sufferer with problems such as migraines, vision loss and hearing trouble and they are often in pain 24 hours a day.
Octreotide is normally used to treat hormonal imbalances, but Charlotte's dad Andy found information on the internet about a trial in Greece three years ago.
The tests saw 24 out of 26 IIH patients cured within six months after taking the drug.
He showed the results to Charlotte's neurologists at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, who bought a two weeks' supply of the �28-a-day drug, but funding ran out.
The full �5,400 trial, funded by South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), began with daily injections for 19 days and then one injection a month.
Charlotte had her last monthly injection last month.
She started seeing improvements a month into the trial.
Charlotte said: "I saw dramatic improvements. The headaches weren't as bad, the noise in my ears had gone, as had pressure behind my eyes.
"I'm shocked it has made an impact on my eyes because they are the last things to repair themselves."
Charlotte is now back working full-time at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and able to enjoy almost all the activities she could before she was her diagnosis.
She said: "I'm grateful the PCT funded it. I dread to think where I'd be without it."
But her fight has not just led to Charlotte getting the drug.
Her story has spread across the internet and Charlotte and her family are now in touch with IIH sufferers worldwide.
Charlotte's mum Sharon, aged 49, an ambulance technician, said: "Within eight months of Charlotte getting the drug, we have helped about 10 people get Octreotide all around the world.
"We get so many people emailing us, thanking Charlotte for telling her story because they say they wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for her.
"We're surprised how it has gone, but really pleased, especially because it has worked for Charlotte."
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