I made it myself with 50mg Naltima tablets, using a graduated cylinder to mix it with 50ml of distilled water, resulting in 1mg per ml. I also picked up 500 disposable graduated pipettes on ebay to measure doses -- works well. I began at 4.5mg because I'm gungho like that, but I ended up dropping to 1.5mg for a bit because after a few days I had so much energy it was almost uncomfortable, like I was on some kind of stimulant. I'm going to gradually ramp back up to 4.5mg. The only negative side effects noted were sleep disturbances for the first few nights, decreasing in severity each night until I was sleeping perfectly normal again. Bowels were a little loose initially, but this was not entirely unexpected considering the way opiates affect gastrointestinal motility. Also I used to have some kind of persistent, minor rash around one of my eyes -- this flared up worse than usual as I first started LDN and then disappeared completely. Apparently it is typical in many cases for existing symptoms to flare initially before improving.
There is only one published study on LDN so far, although there are several trials underway which you can review at the ldn trials link I posted above.
Am J Gastroenterol. 2007 Apr;102(4):820-8. Epub 2007 Jan 11.
Low-dose naltrexone therapy improves active Crohn's disease.
Smith JP, Stock H, Bingaman S, Mauger D, Rogosnitzky M, Zagon IS.
Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Endogenous opioids and opioid antagonists have been shown to play a role in healing and repair of tissues. In an open-labeled pilot prospective trial, the safety and efficacy of low-dose naltrexone (LDN), an opioid antagonist, were tested in patients with active Crohn's disease. METHODS: Eligible subjects with histologically and endoscopically confirmed active Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) score of 220-450 were enrolled in a study using 4.5 mg naltrexone/day. Infliximab was not allowed for a minimum of 8 wk prior to study initiation. Other therapy for Crohn's disease that was at a stable dose for 4 wk prior to enrollment was continued at the same doses. Patients completed the inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (IBDQ) and the short-form (SF-36) quality of life surveys and CDAI scores were assessed pretreatment, every 4 wk on therapy and 4 wk after completion of the study drug. Drug was administered by mouth each evening for a 12-wk period. RESULTS: Seventeen patients with a mean CDAI score of 356 +/- 27 were enrolled. CDAI scores decreased significantly (P= 0.01) with LDN, and remained lower than baseline 4 wk after completing therapy. Eighty-nine percent of patients exhibited a response to therapy and 67% achieved a remission (P < 0.001). Improvement was recorded in both quality of life surveys with LDN compared with baseline. No laboratory abnormalities were noted. The most common side effect was sleep disturbances, occurring in seven patients. CONCLUSIONS: LDN therapy appears effective and safe in subjects with active Crohn's disease. Further studies are needed to explore the use of this compound.
If you want to better understand LDN's impact on the immune system and elsewhere, you can start pubmedding beta-endorphin, because LDN raises beta-endorphin levels 200-300% according to Dr. Bihari (the discoverer of LDN) and that is how it is thought to work.
I should also mention that I experienced dramatic improvements in mood and libido.
Edited by FunkOdyssey, 21 April 2008 - 12:39 PM.
