Constipation? (LDN? Mesalamine enema?)

Yesterday my husband took his first dose of LDN at night: 1.5 mg.
Woke up this morning--no urgency! Usually he sits on the toilet for about 2 hours every morning, having 2-3 bowel movements back to back, with some bleeding. He was feeling great, and very well rested (probably because he didn't have to wake up early morning due to urgencies). He also noted that he slept very deeply.

We were hopeful, but a little skeptical because we never read of LDN "working" this fast. It is now evening time and no BM, and we both agree that he is probably constipated.

Also, this is his second day taking mesalamine enema, and he started the SCD diet two weeks so basically no fruits or veggies (thus no fiber).
He has been in a flare for over a year now (which basically means blood and no formed stools so no BM for this long is a bit of a surprise).

So I am wondering if anyone else has had similar effects using LDN/mesalamine enemas/scd diet? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Every time I am in need of help or confused about his condition, I always come to this site and search for info, but this is the first time I have posted since I couldn't find any info about this before. Thank you in advance!

Mango,

Welcome to the forum.

Curious, where did you hear about LDN to begin with?

Most doctors won't prescribe it.

I believe the reason your husband is getting such quick results with the LDN is because he is on the SCD diet.

LDN works most effectively with those on gluten and dairy free diets ( such as SCD or Paleo).

As far as constipation, my recommendation would be to try: some vitamin c, such as Emergen-C ( It's pretty gentle and well tolerated) or another natural for the body is Magnesium as in Natural Calm product.

Be careful with fiber because some types cause bacterial growth ( which you do not want). If you want to go the fiber route, I would suggest Acacia fiber as it doesn't allow for bacterial growth.

There are many other things you can do as well: l-glutamine powder, slippery elm powder, and if you are interested in any of this,  there are things IMO that you can control, which will have a direct impact on your disease, the symptoms you experience and their severity.

I was able to control my UC into remission through various supplements, probiotics, diet modification, and LDN , low dose naltrexone.

For more info on the protocol which has put me into remission, please go to this link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1666318 , and look at the 11th post.

I hope your husband feels better and let us know how we can help you.

@sarav88 he has a colonscopy scheduled in a couple days, so we will be finding out then. Thank you for your helpful info! He ended up having a BM later that night. He didn't do an enema last night to test things out, and he went this morning... so not sure if its minor backing up, or something (either enemas, diet or ldn) working.

@InSoFla Thank you for all the helpful information! I will certainly look into the protocol you used. I read about LDN in an article written by Dr. Thomas Cowan (a doctor who I think is based in San Francisco). I did a lot of online reading about it. We asked two GI's about it, and they both refused. We ended up finding a naturopathic doctor in our city who uses it as a treatment and got it through him. I don't think my husband was constipated since he had a BM later that night, and one the following morning which was very similar to the BM he has been having lately. The difference is that he doesn't feel the urgency he usually did, so he goes on his own accord and is down to one BM a day. I want to believe this is a sign that something is working.

@kazbern I think you are right, he had a BM later last night. So I am guessing he wasn't constipated, or severely constipated. We began thinking along those lines since it was the first time, in several months, that he didn't have to go rushing to the bathroom in the early morning, and then didn't go at all the rest of the day until late night. Thank you for your help!

Mango,

Yes, not surprising the GIs don't want to prescribe it as they are too tied in with BIg Pharma. But I am so glad you were able to get LDN prescribed for him through a holistic doc.

I hope he keeps doing better and better.