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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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How long dud it take for it to work?
How long did it take for it to work?
How long did it take for the LDN to work for pain?
A good 6 mos
There are also neuropathy socks online
I started on LDN well over a year and a half ago. I had to work my way up.very slowly. Finally this May I made it to 6 mg. It may be helping fir light pain. I received the most benefit with a sympathetic nerve block. It stopped pain and numbness in left butt and leg from CRPS and SFN.
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1 Reactionsockz 6-pairs neuropathy-socks
Dear Lori...Thank you for sharing you experience. I am excited hearing about your trial of low dose Naltrexone.
I can really relate to your symptoms. I was living an active life, and one day 10 years ago, at age 63, I felt a sharp stab in my right ankle. I thought I cracked a little bone in my foot, but X- rays and MRI showed nothing. It was thought that I had peronial tendinitis, so I wore a boot for 6 weeks, but it just kept getting worse. So I was sent to a neurologist who did all the tests and yup...I've got idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, worse in right leg. I can only walk around my house in Clarks flip flops. My feet are ultra sensitive, like raw nerves, so I can't tolerate hardly any shoes. I feel like I'm walking on grit or pebbles. Also the right leg is clumsy and burns. It has been life changing. I swim everday, or tread water for hours and talk to people. The water helps me more than anything!! The leg hurts to sit, walk or stand, so between my chores, I lay down a lot during the day. I only take gabapentin 300 mg 3 times daily, and I've been looking out for any new safe, helpful medication, even if it just helps a little. So I read about low dose Naltrexone and felt encouraged. Please keep us posted as to how you're doing. Is the low dose compounded by a pharmacy?
I've had numerous MRIs of my spine and seen many neurosurgeons, in the hope that there was something pressing on a spinal nerve causing my pain. Nothing remarkable ever found. I've been to pain clinics but they only offer epedural steroid injections which have not been helpful.
I've been taking low dose naltrexone for a little over a year now, and I've found it very helpful in keeping my pain manageable. I was diagnosed at one point with fibromyalgia. About 9 months ago, I had a skin punch biopsy, which ruled out Parkinson's but showed small fiber neuropathy. I'm now working with a neurologist at John's Hopkins Small Fiber Neuropathy Center, and further testing suggests an autoimmune disease. The constant for the last five years has been pain, at times completely debilitating.
My primary care physician is the one who suggested LDN; she'd had patients who found relief with it. It took about 3 months or so of playing with the doses to find the right one for me. I started at 2 mg/day, worked my way up to 4.5 mg/day, ending up back at 3 mg/day. I get the pills through a compounding pharmacy. The cost varies by pharmacy—$39/30 to $69/30—and insurance doesn't pay for it, but it's worth it to me. I ran out at one point, and the pain came back, so clearly the LDN makes a difference.
What I've found is that the naltrexone helps most with general pain. I still have to supplement with meloxicam and baclofen for flares of back pain, joint pain, etc. I take duloxetine, which is very helpful too, but I can't take gabapentin or pregabalin.
So many of these meds have different effects on different people, so there is always a process of trial and error involved. Reading up on LDN was very helpful to me. Here are some links to info I found useful:
Online Articles
LDN for Fibromyalgia
https://www.verywellhealth.com/low-dose-naltrexone-ldn-for-fibromyalgia-cfs-716070
LDN and POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37706146/
Drugs.com Overview
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/low-dose-naltrexone-ldn-3570335/
Pretty Technical, But Somewhat Helpful
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3962576/
YouTube Videos
*Excellent Comprehensive Presentation on LDN
How LDN Works
Using LDN for Chronic Pain
Dr. Brandy Rose, Naturopathic Doctor, on LDN Pain Relief
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1 ReactionThis is awesome! Thank you so much! Can I ask what the duloxetine does for you? Does it help with anxiety ?
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