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You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs.

Low-dose Naltrexone in the

Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

LDN is a treatment method that has been in use in the USA since 1985 but is relatively new in the United Kingdom.

Despite its claimed successful use in America, until fully proved here, it must be considered as experimental and that no long term beneficial response can be guaranteed.

Our own experience indicates that for some MS people it does not work at all, whilst in others it is helpful, a few have worsened.

It has since been reported that some MS people receiving this drug in the treatment of MS, initially at a dose of just 3 mg per day, have experienced a range of improvements, including such as: reduced spasm and fatigue, improved bladder control, improved heat tolerance, with improvements in mobility, sleep, pain and tremor.

The two main symptoms that appear to improve most significantly are muscle spasm and fatigue.

Are there any side effects or cautionary warnings?

At the doses usually prescribed in these conditions side effects are normally minimal though some patients find it difficult to tolerate with disturbed sleep being the most widely reported negative effect.

It should not be taken in conjunction with narcotics including opioid derivatives and codeine.

Side effects: - LDN has virtually no side effects. Occasionally, during the first week's use of LDN, patients may complain of some difficulty sleeping.

This rarely persists after the first week. There may also be temporary increase in specific symptoms of the MS, such as muscle spasm, pain, tiredness or fatigue.

This drug was developed in the '70s and early '80s to treat heroin addiction but it was found that lower doses (typically 1/15th to 1/50th) beneficial effect on other conditions.

Responsive conditions include some cancers, autoimmune diseases and neurological conditions.

Effects on HIV/Aids appear promising too.

In general, in people with diseases that are partially or largely triggered by a deficiency of endorphins (including cancer and autoimmune diseases), restoration of the body's normal production of endorphins is the major therapeutic action of LDN.

Continued >>>>

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis offers

symptomatic improvement in a wide range of symptoms in MS and other conditions.

Side-effects may occur: (including sleep disturbances).

Full-dose Naltrexone (50 mg) carries a cautionary warning against its use in those with liver disease.

This warning was placed because of adverse liver effects that were found in experiments involving 300 mg daily.

The 50 mg dose does not apparently produce impairment of liver function nor, do the much smaller 3 mg and 4.5mg doses.

(this has yet to be proven over time)

Naltrexone is a drug, referred to as an opiate antagonist. Its normal use is to treat opiate drug addicts addicted to such as heroin or morphine. Doses used for this purpose is usually 150 mg or more each day

How does LDN work?

LDN boosts the immune system, activating the body's own natural defences.

The brief blockade of opioid receptors that is caused by taking LDN at bedtime each night is believed to produce a prolonged up-regulation of vital elements of the immune system by causing an increase in endorphin and enkephalin production.

Normal volunteers who have taken LDN in this fashion have been found to have much higher levels of beta-endorphins circulating in their blood in the following days.

Animal research by I Zagon, Ph.D., and his colleagues has shown a marked increase in metenkephalin levels as well.

In human cancer, research by Zagon over many years has demonstrated inhibition of a number of different human tumours in laboratory studies by using endorphins and low dose by LDN, it appears to work directly on the tumours' opioid receptors and, perhaps, induce cancer cell death (apoptosis).

In addition, it is believed that they act to increase natural killer cells and other healthy immune defences against cancer.

Cautionary warnings.

Because LDN blocks opioid receptors throughout the body for three or four hours, people using medicine that is an opioid agonist, i.e. narcotic medication, such as Codeine, Dihydrocodeine, Ultram, morphine, Tramadol, Percocet, Duragesic patch, diamorph, etc, should not take LDN until such medicine is completely out of one's system.

In addition, it is advised that LDN should not be taken during pregnancy.

Note.