I posted on the Low dose Naltrexone thread the other day and thought it might be helpful if I blog my initial LDN experiences, so here goes...
First off, I'll copy (with a couple of corrections) what I wrote before, after that I'll be updating in real-time.
http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/showthread.php?379-Low-dose-Naltrexone&p=148535#post148535
I started taking LDN about a week ago.
I got a prescription from my lovely GP, who even faxed it through to Glasgow for me. The LDN then arrived in the post.
The recommended initial dosage level is 1.5ml, which I took the night it arrived. Oh dear! Palpitations, nausea, dizziness (of a slightly different character to my 'normal' feelings of dizziness), extreme brain fog during the night, then barely able to move - leaden limbs, dizziness and constantly falling asleep the next day - awful, horrible, scary!
The following night I dropped the dose to 0.5ml, no bad effects at all, and the facial pressure and pain that I've had for many months seemed to go.
2 nights at 0.5ml, then I upped it to 0.6ml for a couple of days - bit sleepy, bit foggy-brained, and about 20 mins of palpitations at night, but otherwise nothing bad. I've now gone up to 0.75ml - still a bit 'fog bound' and palpitation-y but nothing worse. Still clear of the facial pain etc, and I think, maybe my legs are feeling a bit less 'tight' - I tend to get a lot of calf cramps.
Will creep up to 0.8ml tomorrow, and see what happens.
It does cause sleep disturbance at the moment and I've been avoiding bedtime because of the discomfort of the palpitations. Hopefully I can get round that, or maybe it'll sort itself out in time.
It's not a wonder-drug, so far (about 1 week in, lol), but it's definitely an improvement not having the facial pain and pressure, often accompanied by dizziness and vertigo.
And, hurray! I'm having dreams again - major plus - I seemed to stop dreaming when the ME started.
So, I'd say start at much lower than the recommended initial dose and work up. If there are no bad effects, bump the dose slightly every couple of days?
First off, I'll copy (with a couple of corrections) what I wrote before, after that I'll be updating in real-time.
http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/showthread.php?379-Low-dose-Naltrexone&p=148535#post148535
I started taking LDN about a week ago.
I got a prescription from my lovely GP, who even faxed it through to Glasgow for me. The LDN then arrived in the post.
The recommended initial dosage level is 1.5ml, which I took the night it arrived. Oh dear! Palpitations, nausea, dizziness (of a slightly different character to my 'normal' feelings of dizziness), extreme brain fog during the night, then barely able to move - leaden limbs, dizziness and constantly falling asleep the next day - awful, horrible, scary!
The following night I dropped the dose to 0.5ml, no bad effects at all, and the facial pressure and pain that I've had for many months seemed to go.
2 nights at 0.5ml, then I upped it to 0.6ml for a couple of days - bit sleepy, bit foggy-brained, and about 20 mins of palpitations at night, but otherwise nothing bad. I've now gone up to 0.75ml - still a bit 'fog bound' and palpitation-y but nothing worse. Still clear of the facial pain etc, and I think, maybe my legs are feeling a bit less 'tight' - I tend to get a lot of calf cramps.
Will creep up to 0.8ml tomorrow, and see what happens.
It does cause sleep disturbance at the moment and I've been avoiding bedtime because of the discomfort of the palpitations. Hopefully I can get round that, or maybe it'll sort itself out in time.
It's not a wonder-drug, so far (about 1 week in, lol), but it's definitely an improvement not having the facial pain and pressure, often accompanied by dizziness and vertigo.
And, hurray! I'm having dreams again - major plus - I seemed to stop dreaming when the ME started.
So, I'd say start at much lower than the recommended initial dose and work up. If there are no bad effects, bump the dose slightly every couple of days?
