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Low Dose Naltrexone and Neuropathy
Hi everyone. Lori Renee here. I have been on Low Dose Naltrexone for about 2 weeks. It may be too soon to post about this medication, but I thought I would post now, and post again, in about 2-4 weeks. Bottom line is that Low Dose Naltrexone has helped considerably with my foot neuropathy. My pain is sometime gone, and usually only reaches a level 5 or so, sometimes. Usually, it is about a 2-3, kind on a low level foot throbbing. Enough to be annoying, but not enough to want to cut my feet off. Without it, I wanted to cut my feet off. Certain problems do remain, so my feet are far from normal still. I put on shoes, and feel like my socks are bunched up, or that there are pebbles in them. It takes me a long time to find a shoe to wear. The balls of my feet still feet like they have been stuck in cement, but not all the time. My toes still feel stuck together, or too widely spread. All crazy sensations of neuropathy. So Low Dose Naltrexone has not taken all the crazies away. However, the pain is so much lower, that I am amazed. I have only used Kratom once in two weeks, which is remarkable. I have no side effects at all from the drug. It is not covered by my Medicare insurance, but is about 35 bucks a month. Not too bad. Anyway, it really is the best pain killer I have tried, other than Kratom. I don't have to taste the vile Kratom, so that is very good. I suggest that everyone give it a try. I read that it helps approximately 25% to 40% of people that try it. The endorphin rush it produces is loaded with pain fighters. Yes, give it a try. I will post again about it, as I use it more. Love to all, Lori Renee
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I have a local compounding pharmacy. After being at 4.0 for three days and falling asleep an hr or 2 before bed time, I made it through to bedtime the last 2 days! I have a med allergy list a mile long. This is my last attempt of having an oral pain med. With the great pain management doctor I have I do get respite somewhere in my body. It's tough having multiple areas of pain to try to be pain free at one time!
Started with heart problems, irregular heart beats. I think the next problem involved dizziness. The last were headaches which I don't tolerate well. Hoping this not being sleepy for two days will continue.
Yep, I felt too alert. That’s so interesting because that’s the opposite of what I heard! But everyone’s different.
I was prescribed it for mainly fatigue, actually. You may know this already from reading about it, but the suspected mechanism of action is that LDN temporarily blocks the receptors in the brain that detect endorphins. The body then produces additional endorphins, which can improve fatigue and pain relief.
The first dose, I felt hyper-alert, ran a whole bunch of errands when I normally would have been tired, then couldn’t sleep. It got better the next day, but still I felt wired. I ultimately had to start at a lower dose. I can’t say I’ve noticed much difference in my pain or GI symptoms, just a slight improvement in my fatigue.
Compounding pharmacies can make any formulation usually: liquid, topical cream, capsule, or tablet. My dad used to take a liquid, but it was very expensive and had to be shipped refrigerated, so we switched.
There were two local, independent compounding pharmacies I checked out, which also both deliver. The pharmacy I now use is CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy in New Jersey (there’s a different one with the same name somewhere). I don’t live in NJ, but they ship all over and seem to do a lot of mail order business. They specifically can make any size tablet from .5 mg and up.
I might have said this already somewhere, but my doctor said it has the best price she’s come across. I take 6 mg, and I think I pay about $78 for a 90 day supply.
Has anyone tried low dose naltrexone ? Did it help for neuropathy symptoms?
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1 Reaction@acannpain64, I moved your question to this related discussion where you can read previous posts and connect with others talking about:
- Low Dose Naltrexone and Neuropathy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-dose-naltrexone-and-neuropathy/
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2 ReactionsYes LDN works for neuropathy. It’s been 2 years & 3 months- no pain at all, just numbness. 4.5mg is the recommended maintenance dose. I pay $35.00 for 90 pills at Publix compound pharmacy.
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1 ReactionThank you!
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1 ReactionWhen I tried this it made my neuropathy so much worse, and I felt generally awful, but I hear it takes a while for you to get used to it. I had to stop taking it, besides it doesn’t help with numbness and stiffness which is all I have.
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1 ReactionThat’s good to hear. I do LDN, mama bear magnesium roll on or cream, infrared sauna blanket and vapor rub to control my pain. I also wear compression socks for the feet. I do ankle socks in the summer and knee high bamboo compression socks when it is cooler out.
Which compound pharmacy do you use?
I’m also trying methylene blue in capsules 10 mg 2 x a day.
I’m qualified to get hyperbaric oxygen therapy for my radiation proctitis but I also will reap other benefits from it too.
That sounds like inflammation! Ouch! Have you tried infrared sauna?