I have decided to start taking very low doses of naltrexone (an opioid antagonist) for my PAWS and general pain/lethargy/depression/etc. I have been off methadone for ~4-5 months after over a decade of being on it and a very slow taper to come off it, and off all opioids/opiates for over a month now. I still have severe PAWS (a whole bunch of symptoms), hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain), allodynia (pain from things that wouldn't be painful to a "normal" healthy person), and other chronic pain. I have been doing a lot of reading about low dose naltrexone (LDN) and ultra low dose naltrexone (ULDN). This is NOT the same as taking 50mg naltrexone pills (like Revia) or the naltrexone injection (Vivitrol) or anything like that. The doses I am talking about range from less than 1mcg to ~5mg. If taken in the right dose it should not block opioid receptors perceptibly. The idea is that "ultra" low doses (0.5mcg-1mg depending on the person/situation) can even be taken WITH opioids to reduce tolerance and dependence and can be taken during withdrawal to reduce withdrawal symptoms, and that low doses (usually 1mg-5mg) can be taken by non-opioid dependent persons to reduce chronic pain and many disorders in which low endorphins play a role.
The theories of how this works include:
- Naltrexone causes upregulation of opioid receptors (this is the opposite of what opioid agonists do and is part of the cause of tolerance/dependence/withdrawal). Receptor upregulation increases the receptors' sensitivity to the body's natural opioids as well.
- Naltrexone can change aspects of opioid receptors that cause hyperalgesia, getting rid of the hyperalgesia.
- Naltrexone causes the body to start producing more of its natural opioids like endorphins.
There are a lot of studies supporting the above and the use of these kinds of low doses. If anyone is interested in learning more I can post some.
I am not going to be starting the naltrexone for about a week, I just wanted to give some background info first. Taking low doses specifically for PAWS is not something there seems to be any research on and very few anecdotal reports either, so I'm going to be a guinea pig and blog about my experience.
In the meantime you can check out these threads for more info:
Ultra low dose Naltrexone for tolerance (this contains discussion of ULDN for withdrawal as well and a bunch of studies)
Low dose or ultra low dose naltrexone for post acute withdrawal syndrome? (my thread, includes more details about how I am going to go about this and some questions)
Ultra low dose naltrexone, lets talk mode(s) of action (a thread in ADD)
[EDIT: changed title to differentiate as I will use "Day 1" etc once I actually start the naltrexone; added categories]
The theories of how this works include:
- Naltrexone causes upregulation of opioid receptors (this is the opposite of what opioid agonists do and is part of the cause of tolerance/dependence/withdrawal). Receptor upregulation increases the receptors' sensitivity to the body's natural opioids as well.
- Naltrexone can change aspects of opioid receptors that cause hyperalgesia, getting rid of the hyperalgesia.
- Naltrexone causes the body to start producing more of its natural opioids like endorphins.
There are a lot of studies supporting the above and the use of these kinds of low doses. If anyone is interested in learning more I can post some.
I am not going to be starting the naltrexone for about a week, I just wanted to give some background info first. Taking low doses specifically for PAWS is not something there seems to be any research on and very few anecdotal reports either, so I'm going to be a guinea pig and blog about my experience.
In the meantime you can check out these threads for more info:
Ultra low dose Naltrexone for tolerance (this contains discussion of ULDN for withdrawal as well and a bunch of studies)
Low dose or ultra low dose naltrexone for post acute withdrawal syndrome? (my thread, includes more details about how I am going to go about this and some questions)
Ultra low dose naltrexone, lets talk mode(s) of action (a thread in ADD)
[EDIT: changed title to differentiate as I will use "Day 1" etc once I actually start the naltrexone; added categories]
