Re: Skip's view on LDN/constipation

[Guest guest]

I spoke with Skip today, and he was very helpful. He said that LDN wouldn't

cause

constipation because it doesn't have the same effect as the other drugs that

affect opioid

production (like morphine and benzodiazapenes in general).

I'm still not sure I understand. LDN works as an opioid receptor agonist,

meaning it

blockades opioid receptors in the brain for a short period of time. During that

period, the

body can't get any endorpins to attach to the receptors and thus compensates by

creating

more endorphins.

Beta endorphins will bind most with the Mu receptor, which is the same receptor

that

morphine acts on. The Mu receptor inhibits GABA production and disinhibits

dopamine

pathways, causing more dopamine to be released. Morphine, like many other

opioids, acts

on the myenteric plexus in the intestinal tract, reducing gut motility and

causing

constipation. So if LDN is releasing endorphins and acting on the Mu receptor

in a way

similar to morphine, why doesn't it also cause constipation?

Incidentally, the inhibition of GABA production described above seems the likely

culprit for

why LDN causes insomnia. GABA is a neurotransmitter in the brain with a

" calming " effect,

and sleeping pills like Restoril and Klonopin essentially enhance GABA

production thus

leading to sleep. If LDN is inhibiting GABA production, perhaps that's why

sleeplessness is

such a problem.

I'm not a scientist, nor an expert of any kind. Just trying to figure this out.

Chris

[Guest guest]

Skip,

Thanks a lot for your clarification. As I mentioned, I don't have

extensive formal scientific training (just a few classes in anatomy,

physiology, pathophysiology and one in pharmacology), so I'm kind of

trying to figure this stuff out as I go along.

I don't have a scientific or medical way of explaining this, but I

often experience constipation as a side effect of medications I try,

even when it isn't listed as a side effect. I am one of the very few

people with Crohn's that has constipation, instead of diarrhea. When

I have a flare-up, I get more constipated than I normally am. It

just seems that constipation is what my body " does " when it

encounters something it doesn't like, or when the disease is in a flare.

Again, I don't have any rationale for this but it is definitely true

in my experience. I start a drug, I get constipated. I stop the

drug, the constipation stops. This isn't true with all meds, but a

lot of them. I know the opposite is true for some of my friends with

diarrhea predominant Crohn's. If they take or eat something that

irritates their system, they get diarrhea, regardless of whether

whatever they ate or took normally " causes " diarrhea.

I'm hoping that with the cream I'll be able to build up very, very

slowly and avoid this undesirable effect.

Thanks again,

Chris