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LDN & Brain Fog

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
Is it common for LDN to improve Brain Fog? If so, does it get way worse before it gets better?

Here and there I've read that it's helped some ppl w brain fog, but I don't know enough about LDN to know if this is common... Also, it seems like LDN makes your worst symptoms even worse before they get better, so for me it makes sense that my head & fatigue are so much worse... brain fog is my most frustrating symptom.
 

Cheesus

Senior Member
Messages
1,292
Location
UK
I don't get brain fog, but many of my symptoms improved straight away with LDN. As long as you start slow enough there is no reason to get worse.
 

ErdemX

Senior Member
Messages
113
Location
Istanbul
I've been on LDN for nearly a year now. It never made my symptoms worse (at the beginning), so probably it depends on the individual.
 

Cheesus

Senior Member
Messages
1,292
Location
UK
O.5mg. I stayed there for a couple of weeks then worked my way upwards slowly. I am stable on 2mg now.
 

ErdemX

Senior Member
Messages
113
Location
Istanbul
@ErdemX - what about you?

I started with 1 mg but went up to 4.5 mg in a month. I only had a slight side effect on my sleeping routine and my dreams. My dreams has become more vivid and detailed. After a month this effect was not noticeable.

LDN has no effect on my fatigue, but since taking it I have no major crash (which is really bad that makes me bedbound with unable to walk and even talk easily). I continue LDN because I think it might be helping with this no big crash period.
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
@ebethc - I tried ldn twice, and each time it GAVE me brain fog, which I did not have before. I stuck it out once for 10 or 11 days and ended up so tired and fuzzy, could not function and finally stopped it. I don't think it's for everyone.

what dosage were you on? i'm thinking of dropping down to 0.5

also, I've read that you should stop gluten & dairy whilst taking LDN.... the peptides in gluten & dairy (gluteomorphin and caseomorphin..sp?) are opioids and can interfere.. so you should stop those or take them away from LDN
 
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Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
@ebethc - I don't remember the first time how much I was taking, I know the second time it was very low, and I kept cutting the dose, maybe even down 0.25 mg., and it didn't help, I was so tired and felt so awful, I finally stopped it. It took several days, maybe a week or even more to recover from it.

I eat a little dairy, a little gluten, but not much at all. My reaction was so different from most people I read about, I really don't think it's for me. I did try as hard as I could to stick with it! :sluggish:
 

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
@ebethc - I don't remember the first time how much I was taking, I know the second time it was very low, and I kept cutting the dose, maybe even down 0.25 mg., and it didn't help, I was so tired and felt so awful, I finally stopped it. It took several days, maybe a week or even more to recover from it.

I eat a little dairy, a little gluten, but not much at all. My reaction was so different from most people I read about, I really don't think it's for me. I did try as hard as I could to stick with it! :sluggish:

thanks - good to know. I really want to make it work, but it's not possible
 

Oberon

Senior Member
Messages
214
I've been on LDN for 3 months now, and have had zero improvement in Brain Fog. I had a huge insomnia problem for the first 2 months until it slowly faded. I'm on 3mg now and plan on increasing to 4.5mg. I haven't had any major benefits from LDN, but have noticed my sinus inflammation and pain isn't as bad so I'll likely keep taking it.
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
I've read that you should stop gluten & dairy whilst taking LDN.... the peptides in gluten & dairy (gluteomorphin and caseomorphin..sp?) are opioids and can interfere.. so you should stop those or take them away from LDN

I can't eat any gluten while taking LDN. I become so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open and my brainfog increases as well. The effect can last for 24 hours or more from a single piece of bread, or even a handful of crackers. Dairy doesn't seem to be a problem for me, but I always take an enzyme capsule with the dairy in an attempt to avoid having undigested proteins cause problems. Also, the only dairy I eat is yogurt, so maybe that makes a difference.

My balance dose with LDN is 2.5mg. If I go higher then I get brainfog, lower energy, and some anxiety. LDN has helped my sleep and mood so much that it's one of the life-changing supplements that I never want to stop taking.
 

bthompsonjr1993

Senior Member
Messages
175
@ebethc - I tried ldn twice, and each time it GAVE me brain fog, which I did not have before. I stuck it out once for 10 or 11 days and ended up so tired and fuzzy, could not function and finally stopped it. I don't think it's for everyone.
It is certainly not for everyone. I also tried it twice, at 1.5 mg once a day both times. First time, it gave me really bad brain fog, so I stopped after about 5 days. Slowly recovered to my baseline level. Second time, I thought I just hadn't stuck it out long enough the first time, so I did the daily 1.5 mg again, this time for 7 days. It gave me all kinds of weird symptoms I had never had before, including neurological issues, being unable to stand due to dizziness and shortness of breath, and terrible cognitive dysfunction. I stopped taking it, and the very most alarming symptoms like neurological issues and being unable to stand went away, but it has been almost 6 weeks, and I still am left with dizziness and constant cognitive dysfunction that I did not have before. I am just praying that over time I am able to return to my pre-LDN baseline level of symptoms.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
@bctjr1993 - I'm sorry to hear you still haven't recovered from the ldn! I have no idea why ldn causes these symptoms in some people (including me). I'm wondering if someone on the board here might have a clue why, and thus a possible remedy? Have you done a post about this already?

eta: I just thought of something. Your symptoms sound similar to how I felt when my liver was overloaded with toxins. It made me spacey, felt a bit sick and fluish and digestion was off. Regular dose (50 mg.) naltrexone can be hard on the liver. What you took was roughly 1/30th of that. Anyways, I'm wondering if your liver is impaired, if it has an overload of toxins which was exacerbated by the naltrexone. I had to do a major liver detox some 14 years ago which helped my liver a lot and then I started taking milk thistle and betaine HCL with pepsin with meals and that has also been very helpful. Simple things to support the liver are lemon juice, milk thistle, n-acetyl-cysteine. I took the ldn within the last 8 years so my liver was in pretty good shape then, though it still affected me adversely, but I recovered relatively quickly.

eta: one more thing - one sign of my liver toxin overload was an inability to tolerate alcohol. One glass of wine would leave me sick for an entire day, and 2 glasses would make me sick for 2 to 3 days. That doesn't happen any more to me, I can have a couple of glasses of wine with no problem now. I had other digestion problems but that was the most noticeable.
 
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me/cfs 27931

Guest
Messages
1,294
I take 9mg LDN at bedtime. It calms immune symptoms and helps sleep.

It does nothing for brain fog, and I have no pain.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,665
Location
Alberta
For me, LDN (2.5 mg sublingually [need 1/3 less when taken sublingually]) effectively blocked my perceived muscle aches. It did nothing for any other symptoms. I was more active, but that was because it didn't hurt to walk. I haven't tried LDN for a while, so I'm not sure if it's still effective for me.
 

Pink

Senior Member
Messages
574
Location
Tri state area
Ldn increased my anxiety to unbearable levels, and made me feel very aggressive, so I stopped taking it. I have enough anxiety as it is.
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
Ldn increased my anxiety to unbearable levels

I've read about someone who had anxiety because of the filler that was used. Changing the filler relieved the anxiety.

I had anxiety if I went above 3.5mg per day. Did you try a lower dose to see if the anxiety lessened?
 

Pink

Senior Member
Messages
574
Location
Tri state area
I didn't use a lower dose, mine were prescribed at 4.5 mg
But almost every med has the side effect of worsening my anxiety and I'm too reluctant to play around w it
 

Diwi9

Administrator
Messages
1,780
Location
USA
I didn't use a lower dose, mine were prescribed at 4.5 mg
But almost every med has the side effect of worsening my anxiety and I'm too reluctant to play around w it
That's pretty crazy. You should have been titrated up. I got worsening of symptoms, and it took about a week after each upward titration. The only thing that has significantly improved my brain fog is a keto diet, I was not expecting the results I had.