sorry to go over old ground but is anyone got some info on this drug...is it a painkiller,does it work for most folk,does it reduce CRP levels in some,is it safe/free from bad side effects ?

i don't take anything at all these days and i am looking for something a little body friendly and less dramatic than the TNFs or the cocodamols or brufens or........

http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/

You are in the right place for it! Dicksons Pharmacy in Glasgow is the main compounding pharmacy for it. You do need to get a doctor onside to get the prescription, but I think there is information on the website for how to get prescriptions sorted.

If there isn't enough info on that website, just contact them and they will answer any questions you want to ask.

thanks CEMC

i've been on it since sept 2009.

no side effects that i can detect. NONE!

prior to the LDN, i had an extremely bad time with enthesitis (tendon and ligament problems).

more tendonitises than any one person should have, from the most mundane of daily living. nothing even "that repetitive".

i even tore a few tendons/ligaments that took months if not years to heal. they were very painful and really handicapped me at times.

since the LDN, my tendonitises persist for only a few days vs months and months. and nothing torn since going on the LDN. that is a BIG deal for me. BIG!

i've been doing better between flares as well. don't know if its the LDN, supplements, chiro, or acupuncture, or some combination. but do think LDN is part of the mix.

but it hasn't prevented flares in me. that's still the big challenge.

as for getting on it. some doctors will flat out refuse. others are much more open to the idea. but if all else fails, finding a local compounding pharmacy, and asking which doctors in the area prescribe it. then making an appointment with one of those doctors, seems to be a very good strategy.

as for how it supposedly works:

it is an opioid receptor agonist. at higher doses, it is used for drug addiction by blocking the opioid receptors. but at lower dosages, it blocks the opioid receptors for just a few hours. during that time the body produces more endorphins, and those endorphins support the immune system.

my understanding is that they used to think that "autoimmune" and "autoinflammatory" diseases were an exuberant immune system. where now days they think its just a misfunctioning one.

all the things my doctors have me doing, are things to "upregulate" the immune system: the LDN, vitamin C, fish oil, etc.

it does seem to be working in between flares.

PS the wikipedia site is not kind in regards to LDN. they can say what they want; i am a believer. and i started it by itself, observed its effects for several months, before adding anything else in. for me, its effects were subtle. as mostly it just prevented enthesitis. so it was really "negative" data. and so it took many months of NOT tearing anything for me to realize it must be the LDN because that was the only thing new.

many thanks Sue...i am constantly hurtin' my groin area,maybe,just maybe,this could help

one last question...any evidence of LDN lowering CRP levels?

ahem ....another question....did you notice an uplift in mood at all?

hi,

i really haven't had high CRP the few times i've had it checked, so can't say either way, it fluctuates between 5-10 (just below the supposed borderline), before and after LDN. i think it goes up when i flare and down between flares, and don't think LDN affects it. never had it tested in a real flare, so no idea how high it really goes.

as for mood, no affect on mood that i can tell. my mood seems mostly influenced by my pain levels. i must say, the only pill that ever seemed to affect my mood was prednisone. i call them magic happy pills! (of course in small doses only for short periods of time only! )