Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

September 10, 2026

I am new here and I am not sure what is and is not allowed but I am curious if anyone else has tried low dose naltrexone (LDN). At low doses it partially blocks opiod receptors for a couple of hours before a rebound happens which increases the bodies natural endorphins. It also calms microglial cells that cause inflammtion in the brain. I can FEEL the pressure in my brain when the waves hit and since I started LDN it has seemed to calm things down. It could also be time alone that is healing things. Any thoughts?

Parnate — 60mg — 10 years — completed taper

4 Replies

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CatinaSep 10

Community AnchorEffexor

Hi @Missymarie, nice to have you here. I personally haven't used LDN. Maybe some other members can chime in. It's challenging because something that helps one person can make another person worse. We usually advise people if they want to try something to start with an extremely low dose to see how they react first. The greatest healer that I've seen is keeping things as simple as possible and allowing time to do its healing. I hope you'll get some thoughts from other members too. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg

“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”

Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.

Flyguy10Sep 11

LighthouseProzac · supporting

Hi @Missymarie. I was on LDN for about a year. I was on that after the valium but before the duloxetine and then fluoxetine. I found once we titrated to 4.5mg I was sleeping better but eventually gave up on it due to the compounding cost and it not helping my underlying pain, which was the reason for it being prescribed. I stopped it during my current ongoing discontinuation syndrome and haven't noticed a difference. My symptoms did not change drastically for the better or worse. Whatever works for you is the best decision. I just know from being on it that the benefits tend to take at least a month to surface but will go away within days after stopping since it is such a low dose of a med with a very short half life.

Valium — Started 02/2025, max of 20mg — current 10mg - holding | Lexapro 5mg - Started 9/25 | Prozac 10mg — Started 8/13/26 — Ended 9/2 | Cymbalta 20mg - 1 month, 40mg - 6 months, 60mg - 1 month, 90mg - a few days, 60mg - 1 month, 40mg - 15 days, 20mg - 3 weeks, discontinued 8/13/26 | LDN 4.5mg - 1 year - discontinued | with clinician

Flyguy10Sep 11

LighthouseProzac · supporting

@Missymarie I may have not have been as clear as I should have. If you think it is helping you, then stick with it. LDN has one of the lowest side effect profiles of any drug on the market and as far as I have read no discontinuation symptoms other than the return of what it was helping with. The medical field should be better informed and go for that BEFORE trying heavy hitters like gabapentin, lyrica and duloxetine, rather than the other way around. The most common side effect is the one I had, extremely vivid dreams. If you have that side effect switching to morning dosing instead of the standard bedtime dosing helps.

RazorSep 12

WelcomerLexapro · holding

I've been on LDN for about a year. It's helpful for my Hashimoto's hypothyroid and somewhat for headaches and lower back pain due to arthritis.

Lexapro — 2.5 mg — 7 years — holding | without clinician

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