/LDN/cake

[Guest guest]

,Holy smoke, what an informative email, thank you!Even SVR, I continue to be interested in ways to support my liver and immune system outside of Big Pharma. I'll save this email in my hep-c folder to make sure it doesn't wander off over time.I'm sure Don is highly relieved that chocolate cake isn't contraindicated. I know he'll sleep better for weeks to come...you're such a hero!SteveLife is much more fun when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party. Jimmy Buffett [ ] Re: Welcome Mcg

Hi Don,

As a lurker I have been way impressed with your presence in this group. You have a kind and encouraging word for everyone and create a positive place for people who share this viral infection. Many kudos to you!

I am responding to gently suggest that you, if you can, give LDN a try...mainly because a 300% daily increase in endorphins seems to be only beneficial. In particular I have noticed a reduction of the little nagging irritations that used to bug me all the time. Also, as you probably know, there seem to be a good number of people with fibro who report benefits.

Here are some points that might add to your decision making process in regards to LDN.

1. It takes some getting used to. Because it is an off-label medication, very little is actually known about how to use it. I spent a month or so on the main LDN group getting the hang of how and when to take it.

I ended up taking 1 mg a night for a week or so and then bumping it up gradually over another week or so to 3mg. I stayed there for about a year before I moved to 4.5 mg a night.

For some people it seems to make things worse at first (maybe a detox reaction) and also seems to bring out problems in people with yeast infections.

2. Some people (not all) have some sleep issues with it. I am one of them. But I have managed to deal with it using 5htp and melatonin. That took some work too.

There is a period for me between about 3:30 and 7:00 am when, if I wake up, I can tell the LDN is blocking all the natural endorphins. If there are little aches or pains (liver area pain for me) I am likely to feel them at that time. But because of the 5htp and the time release melatonin I am usually able to sleep through this.

3. Opiates are completely contra-indicated while taking LDN. Skip, of Skip's pharmacy recommends 72 hours of LDN abstinance before taking an opiate. That makes it harder to deal with dental treatments, colonoscopies, etc. Ont he other hand, I've had root canals, fillings, and even a colonoscopy (without the anesthetic) and never took any pain pills (including over the counter acetaminophen or tylenol)afterwords. I've always had a low tolerance for pain so maybe the endorphin flood is doing its job!

4. I can actually feel the surge of the endorphins at around 7:00am. For me it's not unlike I would imagine the rush a heroin addict gets in the first few moments after an injection of heroin. I haven't seen anyone else report this...but it's what happens for me. Then it fades into a kind of in-the-background good feeling for the rest of the day.

5. Everyone I know who has taken it for HCV reports a lowering of viral load. I am the sole exception that I know of. My viral load went down also at first...but then went back up. Still, anecdotally, the odds are good it will make a good difference in that area.

6. Where I think it does help me, and which is why I still take it, is in helping my overtaxed immune system. As you know, the HCV virus is the most active virus known to humans and makes over a trillion copies of itself daily. This must put an incredible strain on the body's immune system. Because the immune cells all seem to have opiate receptors that benefit from the body's LDN endorphin flood, it seems to reason that this helps provide super-support for the body's immune system.

I certainly get less and weaker colds than my wife who doesn't take LDN. Getting my vitamin D3 levels up may also have helped in this area.

7. The LDN didn't help with my fatigue. Neither did it make it worse.

8. LDN also seems to have some anecdotal preventative effects in the cancer arena. If the immune system is involved with destruction of cancer cells on a daily basis, as i have read it is, then it only goes to reason that supporting the immune system would help prevent cancer.

9. On the other hand, what seemed to make the most difference for me in terms of how I felt on a daily basis, was not LDN, but The Hepatitis Technologies products. Taking them is like being on a super-Berkson supplement protocol. I think the combination of LDN and HT products is a good one.

10. To sum up: For you the possible benefits of LDN would include supporting your immune system (which would allow it more power to fight the hcv) and possibly reducing the symptoms of fibro and any other autoimmune issues you may have. I don't think it could hurt to try for a month or so other than in the inconvenience of getting it prescribed and adjusting in the beginning.

11. It's not expensive and can be had even cheaper if you get Naltrexone tablets and compound them yourself. It's low cost is actually why there is so little science to support it. What drug company is going to spend the millions needed for testing a substance on which the patent has long expired?

12. The other thing that used to always make me feel better were a week or so of ALA IVs. Since I've started the HT products I've been feeling less like getting the IVs.

13. Chocolate cake is not contraindicated with LDN.

Cheers,

McGovern

>

> Hi

> Thanks for saying hello.

> SuziQ mentioned you awhile back, and said that you were walking the alternative path also.

> Your right, Insurance doesnt cover non-AMA stuff.

> I live on SSI-Medicaid, and I know, but I still find the dollars to use some.

>

> Right now my doctors wont let me treat due to my heart.

> They are afraid the Interferon will kill me.

> That would be a bummer - to die from the healing process itself. LOL :-)