Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Suspending LDN....for now

Unfortunately, I am going to suspend the low dose naltrexone (LDN) experiment....for now. I have been on a moderate crash since Wednesday, which is about when I started taking the LDN. The crash and the LDN may be completely unrelated--in fact I think they probably are--but I can't take the chance.  Even if I only have a slight suspicion that a treatment is making me worse, it is extremely difficult to push forward with that treatment in spite of the suspicion.

Unfortunately, a trio of old symptoms which I thought had been resolved, have returned with this crash: shortness of breath, swollen tongue, and G.I. distress. None of these are normally reported side effects of LDN.  I have also experienced the usual side effect of LDN: insomnia.

If/when I return to normal functioning within the next few weeks, I plan to eventually resume the LDN and see if these symptoms return. For now, I'm disappointed, especially since I was doing so well before this crash. I almost wonder if I got too greedy and should have simply left well enough alone and not taken the LDN. There's always a temptation, when we get a little better, to push ahead and try to improve even further. It seems many times, we end up backsliding instead.  Having said that, I'm not ready to write off LDN.  I will give it another chance in the future.  If it fails me again, I will probably drop it at that time.

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