Low Dose Naltrexone

[nate81]

Has anySWIY considered this therapy for addiction? It might work very well for milder opiate addiction or those who have abused opiates heavily over the years.

The theory is easily found online but I'll outline it. Low Doses of Naltrexone are administered late at night, these doses are 1/10 those used to "block" alcohol or opiate enjoyment. The naltrexone wears off in a few hours and the body responds by creating more natural endorphins than usual. This brings the bodies natural 'opiate' levels up to what a normal person experiences. This effect is similar to what happens when a bodybuilder takes ibuprofen, which suppresses natural enzymes necessary to muscle growth. The body responds by bouncing back on the enzyme level, the final result being more than usual amounts of the growth enzyme.

Also, since this therapy is being used with good success for AIDS patients and cancer patients, boosting their immune systems, those opiate addicts who get sick might be able to reduce some of the health problems.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Interesting information on this addiction treatment option.
	Really interesting idea. I hope this thread attracts more information! A good question is worth a thousand answers.

[Dickon]

I've also heard claims that low dose Naltrexone raises natural endorphin production, which would almost certainly be a good thing for recovering opiate addicts.

I would certainly consider giving this a try, as the mechanism of action has a ring of plausibility to it, at least should I not be able to boost my levels of endorphins my more conventional means. I am somewhat anti-pharmacological when I'm not allowing my cat to take drugs, so will not be trolling through on-line pharmacies in search of naltrexone. I have ordered it on-line before, used about a third of a tablet, precipitated withdrawals in my cat, and never touched the stuff again, eventually throwing out the pills I had.

If you go to http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/ there is a wealth of probably one-sided information on this. Just to give you an idea of the level of quiet understatement :

"LDN may well be the most important therapeutic breakthrough in over fifty years. It provides a new method of medical treatment by mobilizing the natural defenses of one's own immune system." — David Gluck, MD

"New method of treatment" would be putting it somewhat strongly, but I'd be interested to see how this develops and especially to hear from any former opiate users on here who've had personal experience. I'd also be curious to know whether the principal (current) perceived benefits of this treatment modality, which constitute, as you say, boosting the immune system are thought to come about as a direct result of increased endorphin production or by some other mode of action. It is anecdotally claimed that people who have recently quit opiates are prone to minor ailments, especially colds etc., which might well bear this out. As a sample of one, my cat quit opiates a shade over 3 months ago and has a yucky cold at the moment!

This is a really interesting post. Thank you.

Dickon

[miffy]

I heard the opposite - that Naltrexone blocks endorphin receptivity. . . is this not true?

Swim has considered it in the past, but tends to stick with subutex. You have to be especially careful not to have any accidents on Naltrexone - don't want to end up on an operating table, blocking all the anesthetics. . . nasty!

[Dickon]

miffy,

You are right. Naltrexone is an opiate-receptor antagonist. It should never be given to someone with a habit as it will precipitate withdrawal symptoms. If given to someone who has undergone withdrawals it will, so the theory goes, provide a "blockade" of the receptors, so using opiates such as heroin will not produce the desired effect, as naltrexone binds to the receptors more tightly than heroin and most other opiates.

Low dose naltrexone (I think the optimal daily dose is considered to be about 4.5mg as opposed to the 50mg used as a blockade) is taken once at night and will push the natural endorphins off the receptors for a period of a couple of hours, which will, so the theory goes, stimulate natural endorphin production. I do not know if higher dose naltrexone would have a similar effect, with the difference that the increased productions is not noticable until the drug is stopped (since while taken at higher doses the blockade effect will be permanent).

[ex-junkie]

ah... low dose naltrexone was the final stage in swims detox. first of all, ill describe swims detox so you have a background story...

swim was using IV methadone. she was on around 55MG (forgotten exact dose lulz). however she was buying it on the street, so in a day she would use between 55-115MG.

anyhows...

day 1 + 2= cold turkey (used up all her takeaways, so had nothing). swim didnt sleep well, but she had some chlonodine, so she got a few hours kip.

day 3= quarter gram of heroin. swim slept for maybe 5 hours, with aid of chlonodine and promethazine.

day 4= 12MG subutex- which she stupidly injected, and suffered withdrawals. swim slept all night with aid of chlonodine and promethazine.

day 5= ~6-8MG of subutex in small doses orally throughout the day. swim slept all night with aid of chlonodine and promethazine.


day 6= 3MG of subutex in small doses orally throughout the day. swim slept all night with aid of chlonodine and promethazine.

day 7= ~1.2MG temgesic throughout the day orally. swim didnt sleep this night. she was excitable, but not uncomfortable.

day 8= ~0.6MG temgesic throughout the day orally. she drank some zambuca (lol) late that night. she slept fine. all night with aid of chlonodine and promethazine.


day 9= no temgesic.

swim went into hospital for the day, where her doctor dosed her up with promethazine injection in the bum, 10MG temazepam, chlonodine tablet (forget the dose- it was a higher dose than normal, probably one tablet), then waited for the medication to kick in. when the medication had kicked in, swims doctor proceeded to dose her 2MG of naltrexone every two hours. swim was medicated throughout the day with more chlonodine and temazepam, but she slept the entire day, and night. lol.

swim only rose to have cigarettes, and she also smoked a little bit of weed when she felt nauseous. swims doctor was fine with this (surprisingly). it was not even one joint. it took the nausea away. swims never been a huge dope smoker, but it was extremely beneficial.

the only withdrawals swim was aware of, was feeling cold, and she had some diarroeah at about 4am.

day 10=

at 11am the doctor came in and gave her a full naltrexone tablet, then she was made to hang around for another 4 hours to see if there was any withdrawal reaction, so they could medicate her appropriately.

there was none- she was free to go home.

swim has been clean ever since. doing it this way was extremely easy. admittedly, instead of half a tablet every so often, like prescribed, swim was taking a 1.5/2 chlonodine tablets. swim admitted this to her doctor, and he said that dosage if taken at night before bed is ok, because its still within the recommended daily dosage.

swim doesnt doubt her old doctor, he was a pain and addiction specialist. he knows what hes talking about. swims blood pressure was slighty lower than usual, but she was taking it easy at home.

also swim was double dosing the promethazine. realistically its dangerous to combine promethazine and chlonodine in that manner, if youre going to be out and about, driving on the road, etc. however if youre lucky enough to have the time to relax at home and do nothing, then its quite ideal.