Last night (12am) I took 500mcg of naltrexone. I felt really sleepy soon (maybe 30min?) afterwards and fell asleep on the couch. Around an hr later I woke and and went to bed, fell back asleep really fast. I still had a somewhat restless sleep after that but better than the previous few nights.
I woke up at 8:30am again and still felt in pain and kind of groggy when I woke up but mentally I felt a little bit better than usual, and I actually didn't lay around in bed for hours like I normally do. Aside from that I did not feel much more energetic or motivated than usual.
I decided to try taking some more naltrexone - 250mcg - at 12pm today. I haven't noticed much so far from that aside from feeling a little bit more relaxed and perhaps more focussed, but it's only been a few hours.
I think I'll try 1mg (1000mcg) tonight.
Haven't noticed any adverse effects.
Myths about LDN:
There seems to be a very popular myth online that, regardless of the person or reason for use, LDN should only be taken at night. Read more if you want to hear why I think this is a myth...
This idea originates from 1 or 2 of the main proponents of LDN claiming that endogenous opioids such as endorphins are only produced by the body (mainly pituitary gland) between the hours of around 12am-4am, which is not even true. There does seem to be a circadian rhythm regarding circulating blood levels of endorphins (like beta-endorphin) in average healthy people (who also don't have sleep difficulties/deprivation), with higher levels being detected in the blood at night and lower levels during the day, but that is not evidence that the body only makes or secretes endorphins at night, let alone in everyone, nor does it support that LDN should only be taken at night. These people made the assumption that the sole way LDN works is by blocking the opioid receptors for a few hours (they present it as though when you take their recommended doses of 1.5-5mg the opioid receptors are fully blocked for 2-4 hours and then suddenly unblocked, which makes no sense) and your body responds to this blockade by producing more endorphins, which can then affect you after the blockade wears off. They concluded that if the blockade doesn't occur during the specific hours in which your body supposedly (according to them) makes all of its endorphins that the naltrexone won't increase endorphin production and will therefore have no benefit to anyone. Well, it's a lot more complex than that, I think this comes from theories from over 20 years ago when much less was understood about LDN and the body's endogenous opioid system, and then has been repeated as gospel ever since.
I heard an interview with Dr. Ian Zagon (an LDN proponent) where he said he was partly responsible for starting the "LDN should only be taken at night" rumour because he'd suggested before bedtime dosing simply for the reason that he thought you wouldn't want your opioid receptors blocked during the day but now his advice is to take it whenever you want (but just once a day according to him), especially if you find it adversely affects your sleep quality. Not that I agree with everything he says, but I do agree that there is insufficient evidence to support everyone being told to only take it at night.
I think I will mostly try to continue taking it at night for now though, but we'll see.
There are a lot of pervasive myths, claims and pseudo-science surrounding LDN, (including on some of the most popular LDN websites unfortunately), and certain people promote it as a panacea that treats everything. So be aware of that when reading about it and look for evidence and people's experiences as opposed to just believing everything you read. The fact that some people make it sound like snake-oil doesn't mean it doesn't actually work or that there isn't real evidence behind it. Some studies can be found in my earlier blog posts.
I woke up at 8:30am again and still felt in pain and kind of groggy when I woke up but mentally I felt a little bit better than usual, and I actually didn't lay around in bed for hours like I normally do. Aside from that I did not feel much more energetic or motivated than usual.
I decided to try taking some more naltrexone - 250mcg - at 12pm today. I haven't noticed much so far from that aside from feeling a little bit more relaxed and perhaps more focussed, but it's only been a few hours.
I think I'll try 1mg (1000mcg) tonight.
Haven't noticed any adverse effects.
Myths about LDN:
There seems to be a very popular myth online that, regardless of the person or reason for use, LDN should only be taken at night. Read more if you want to hear why I think this is a myth...
This idea originates from 1 or 2 of the main proponents of LDN claiming that endogenous opioids such as endorphins are only produced by the body (mainly pituitary gland) between the hours of around 12am-4am, which is not even true. There does seem to be a circadian rhythm regarding circulating blood levels of endorphins (like beta-endorphin) in average healthy people (who also don't have sleep difficulties/deprivation), with higher levels being detected in the blood at night and lower levels during the day, but that is not evidence that the body only makes or secretes endorphins at night, let alone in everyone, nor does it support that LDN should only be taken at night. These people made the assumption that the sole way LDN works is by blocking the opioid receptors for a few hours (they present it as though when you take their recommended doses of 1.5-5mg the opioid receptors are fully blocked for 2-4 hours and then suddenly unblocked, which makes no sense) and your body responds to this blockade by producing more endorphins, which can then affect you after the blockade wears off. They concluded that if the blockade doesn't occur during the specific hours in which your body supposedly (according to them) makes all of its endorphins that the naltrexone won't increase endorphin production and will therefore have no benefit to anyone. Well, it's a lot more complex than that, I think this comes from theories from over 20 years ago when much less was understood about LDN and the body's endogenous opioid system, and then has been repeated as gospel ever since.
I heard an interview with Dr. Ian Zagon (an LDN proponent) where he said he was partly responsible for starting the "LDN should only be taken at night" rumour because he'd suggested before bedtime dosing simply for the reason that he thought you wouldn't want your opioid receptors blocked during the day but now his advice is to take it whenever you want (but just once a day according to him), especially if you find it adversely affects your sleep quality. Not that I agree with everything he says, but I do agree that there is insufficient evidence to support everyone being told to only take it at night.
I think I will mostly try to continue taking it at night for now though, but we'll see.
There are a lot of pervasive myths, claims and pseudo-science surrounding LDN, (including on some of the most popular LDN websites unfortunately), and certain people promote it as a panacea that treats everything. So be aware of that when reading about it and look for evidence and people's experiences as opposed to just believing everything you read. The fact that some people make it sound like snake-oil doesn't mean it doesn't actually work or that there isn't real evidence behind it. Some studies can be found in my earlier blog posts.