Anyone experience anxiety on LDN and just push through it??

[cturcot]

I hope people can give me some feedback. I have been on .25 mgs of LDN for a couple of weeks and have experienced a bit of an improvement in mood and cognitive function. However, I am starting to get anxiety like symptoms. After doing research, it seems LDN can cause anxiety in some people. My question is, should I persevere? Has anyone else experienced anxiety with it and had it go away after the body adjusted to the medication? Or, should I try taking less or maybe not take it everyday? Hate to stop it when its had some positive effects but can't stand this rollercoaster sensation in my stomach!

Thanks!

 

[minkeygirl]

I don't have anxiety but I just discovered there is a difference in the effects/benefits depending on when I take it. Huge difference for me taking it at 5:30 am Vs 4:30 am or 6:30 am.

So maybe try a different time?

 

[RUkiddingME]

I haven't experienced anxiety on it. I have been taking LDN for over three years at 3 mg daily. if you are on Facebook look up the LDN Research Trust page. They are a wealth of information and you can ask anything with so many members responding. Good luck

 

[Sushi]

After doing research, it seems LDN can cause anxiety in some people.

Possibly dose dependent? I know that I had very different responses at different doses.

 

[panckage]

@cturcot .25mg is only 5.6% of a regular dose. I wonder if it is a placebo effect you are experiencing

 

[bertiedog]

I had severe anxiety/dizziness after virtually every dose I took of LDN about 1 mg. It was really horrible and as I didn't get any real benefits from it gave up after about 5 months.

Normally I don't suffer with anxiety at all.

Pam

 

[cturcot]

Thank you all for your responses. Yes, .25 mgs is an extremely low dose but I am very sensitive to meds and supplements and listened to others on the forum with recommendations to start very low and slow. I will keep the dosage as is for a bit longer and see how it goes. Today was a bit better, still had some anxiety but not as intense as yesterday. Pam, I admire you for persevering 5 months with the anxiety and dizziness, don't think I could do that. I tend to pack it in quickly if I think something doesn't agree with me as I am afraid it may make me worse.

 

[PatJ]

I had anxiety when I went over 4mg/day. I found that I do much better overall at 2.5mg/day. When I encountered the anxiety I found the following comment on an LDN message board:
"I experienced an up tick in anxiety when i first started. However when i switched the Avicel filler to probiotic filler, i didn't experience it again."

So it might be the filler causing your anxiety. If you are using water to dilute a full-strength Naltrexone tablet then you can use a syringe to draw off the liquid to get the LDN while the filler remains on the bottom of the container. It may help to reduce or eliminate any anxiety caused by the filler.

TMG may help to reduce the anxiety if it isn't very bad. Hip also has a long thread here on PR about reducing anxiety with many different supplements you could try.

 

[cturcot]

Thank you, will look into the filler and check out the thread on anxiety.

 

[Porke]

No offense, but I dont think a filler will make much difference. I had quite substantial anxiety on 0.25mg of it. Tried to push through for 2 weeks, but it didnt get any better. I also had heart palpitations and a wired feeling from it. Apparently this is tied to the rather significant dopamine / norepinepherine increase that LDN is responsible for. I get the same feeling from other 'dopamine boosting' supplements.

I had high hopes for LDN, but it doesnt seem tolerable in my case.

 

[cturcot]

Thank you @Porke for your input, I have persevered at .25 mgs and the anxiety seems to have settled down for now. I have been feeling quite ill lately though and it is so hard to know if it is the LDN or just coincidental. I, like you, had high hopes for LDN as it has been the only real treatment (other then a few supplements) I have tried for this discouraging illness the past 15 years. I have only been on it a little over a month but am not sure if I'm going to continue on it. So sorry to hear it did not work for you. It is all so frustrating!

 

[Porke]

Yup, my LDN use was intended to address immune imbalance, but it was a dead end. I am now looking at other th1 / th2 immune shifters - Oxymatrine, Moducare, Astragalus etc...

 

[JES]

Thank you @Porke for your input, I have persevered at .25 mgs and the anxiety seems to have settled down for now. I have been feeling quite ill lately though and it is so hard to know if it is the LDN or just coincidental. I, like you, had high hopes for LDN as it has been the only real treatment (other then a few supplements) I have tried for this discouraging illness the past 15 years. I have only been on it a little over a month but am not sure if I'm going to continue on it. So sorry to hear it did not work for you. It is all so frustrating!

I'm afraid you are probably not going to see a positive effect on disease progress with a dosage of 0.25 mg. A central way in which LDN works is that it blocks certain opioid receptors, causing a rebound effect when the blockade is over. With the standard dosage of 3-4.5 mg once daily, this blockade lasts around 4-5 hours, which produces a rebound effect for the remaining 19 hours. 0.25 mg is less than 10% of 3 mg, so in theory it would block mentioned receptors for max 30 minutes. In practise it probably doesn't do even that, as the pharmacodynamics are never fully linear.

LDN has some other effects by which it reduces inflammation, but for this main effect to work, I really doubt 0.25 mg is enough.