Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group LDN is helping, how?

I am currently taking LDN, 1.5mg at bedtime. In the past at about 3-4 days I would have to stop taking it as I would have increased pain in my spine. This time I started out every other day for a week and now I'm at every night and doing well.

I'm confused how it is helping. My bowel movements have become regular and normal as well. Does anyone know in layman's terms how it helps?

Two ways that I've read about:

1. blocks the opioid receptors for a short time. The body produces more endorphins to overcome this. Then when the receptors are no longer blocked, the endorphins "flood" the body. Endorphins help boost the immune system, in a good way.

2. LDN blocks the opioid growth factor which is involved in the immune system, cell proliferation (why it helps with cancer).

And since the inflammation of the intestines is part of the inflammatory response in us, makes sense that your bowels are better. Molly always says it helps her bowels. It didn't help mine so much, but prednisone and Humira does.

One example of a partial explanatory write up on LDN from the interweb:

The body-mind has its own complex system to maintain health and balance (called homeostasis). For instance, our bodies “know” that too much glucose in the blood stream can be dangerous. It utilizes a hormone called insulin to help tuck away any excess glucose and convert some of that glucose into glycogen for later use.

This is one way that an optimal balance is maintained. When it comes to various drugs that are taken orally, the body also needs to maintain a balance. For instance, Prozac acts to enable more serotonin to circulate in the brain. The homeostatic mechanism in the brain recognizes the excess serotonin and reduces the number of serotonin receptors and reduces serotonin production. In other words, it detects an imbalance and works to correct it. Homeostasis keeps us alive, and also optimizes and enables so many millions of processes in the body –all automatically.

But what if we could actually “trick” the body’s homeostatic mechanism to our benefit? Enter Low Dose Naltrexone –LDN. Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist. It blocks opioid receptors so that when a heroin addict shoots up, no high is achieved.

When Naltrexone is used in ultra low doses (LDN), a funny thing happens. A drug whose primary purpose was to discourage substance abuse gets transformed. Our bodies create compounds that are very much like opiates in structure and function (called endogenous opioids or endorphins). These endorphins have many functions other than just mood alteration or pain reduction.

Our bodies manufacture many different endorphins and their functions include pain modulation , immune system regulation , cellular growth modulation, mood maintenance , & cellular blood supply (called angiogenesis). Of particular interest for cancer patients is an endorphin called Opioid Growth Factor (OGF). This oddly-named endorphin effects tumor growth. When it’s increased, it tends to slow and even halt the growth of tumors .

When Naltrexone is given in its normal dose –50mg or higher, it blocks opioid receptors for many hours effectively cutting off any pleasure to be had by drug use. However, when LDN is given in tiny doses it blocks the opioid receptors for just an hour or so. During this time, our homeostatic mechanism recognizes that endorphin production is subnormal. As a consequence it does two things: it raises production of endorphins as well as creates more opioid receptors. Endorphins are made by the body between 10 PM and 2 AM each night. So if LDN is taken in this time window, the body can increase endorphin amounts by up to 300%.

The elegance of this approach is that we are utilizing the body’s homeostasis to create the effect we want –increasing endorphin levels. In other words,
naltrexone is just being used as a catalyst; the body’s homeostasis is what
does the work. In essence, it’s the “side-effect” of the LDN that we are aiming for.

Here's a different train of thought I've heard on how LDN works. Autoimmune diseases like AS or MS are actually autoimmune systems that have become unregulated rather than just overactive (helps to explain some remissions and relapses). As such, LDN helps to regulate the systems so that they work better.

Can you take it if you are taking narcotic pain meds? I keep looking at posts about it and wishing I could try it, but I take Norco and MSContin.

Donna, I'm in the same boat. I've read some places that you can take both if you separate out the doses sufficiently, but other places say you have to stop completely. I want to get a bit better advice before I look at starting it, because I can't see myself coping at all if I have to go right off the codeine.

Lulu-glad your LDN is helping you this time . Hope it just keeps getting better and better.

My pharmacist told me I can expect progress on LDN for up to a year. I had a change in bowel habits too and my doc seems to think my stomach is healing now that I am on LDN .

Shari

Donna and cemc,

I just don't know; I've read it both ways. I tend to play it safe and since I was never on any narcotic, I just never started.

Guess I've been lucky that the methylprednisone and Humira work as well as they do so I could avoid the pain meds.

Maybe someone else has experience of using both LDN and pain meds and spacing them apart; I've never tried it.