I have been on LDN for 2 yrs for my CRPS, and have found it to work very well for me, in conjunction with ketamine infusions and intranasal ketamine for breakthrough pain. Before the LDN and ketamine, I was taking high doses of morphine, and getting only minimal pain relief. I've now been off of all opioids for the past 2 yrs (with the exception of right now, in which I'm temporarily off the LDN & back on opioids for post operative pain), and in general, I experience much better pain relief from my CRPS with the LDN than I ever did with opioids. However, that being said, I don't think that the LDN is for everyone. At very low doses (usually 1.5 - 4.5 mg/day), naltrexone acts as a glial cell modulator within the central nervous system, and works to reduce neurogenic inflammation/neuropathic pain and also plays a role in immune support/function within the central nervous system. In diseases like CRPS, where neurogenic inflammation (and also likely an autoimmune component) is a contributing factor, it can work very well, but as you can see, for other things, like my acute post-operative pain, it is much less helpful, & I still have to rely on opioids. However, it has been theorized that glial cell activation occurs both with chronic pain states in general, and with long term opioid use, as well, so LDN may be useful in non-neuropathic forms of chronic pain, too (though I don't have any personal experience with that).
Yes, it is compounded, and insurance doesn't cover it, but it is actually pretty affordable. A 3 mo supply costs me around $60, which is cheaper than most of my other medications, and I have heard of people getting it for even cheaper (though it is recommended that you use only certain pharmacies that have experience compounding LDN). The one caveat, though, is that you cannot take LDN in conjunction with opioids, as even at the low dose used for LDN, it is enough to block the action of any opioids you take, and put you into withdrawals. So you have to stop all opioids before starting it, or stop the LDN if you have to go back on opioids (such as before any surgery, or if you have acute pain that needs to be managed with opioids).
There is some pretty good/reliable information about
LDN at
lowdosenaltexone.org and
ldnresearchtrust.org, and those are actually the very same websites that my doctor gave me when he first wanted me to consider trying LDN.
This is also a pretty good generalized article about
the use of LDN for chronic pain.
/www.ldnresearchtrust.org/content/low-dose-naltrexone-and-chronic-pain-pradeep-chopra-mdThe one other thing that I will say about
LDN, though, is that it is NOT a quick fix. It can take weeks to months to start working, so you have to be willing to give it time, which many people are not.
Skeye
Post Edited (skeye) : 10/13/2017 12:12:29 PM (GMT-6)