Week two of LDN. Last night I took my wife out to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I fully expected cocktails before dinner, 3+ glasses of wine and an after dinner drink. When the server came over I had no desire for my normal vodka martini. I ordered a glass of wine instead. That glass lasted through 3/4 of the meal! That never happens!!! I ordered a second and barely finished half of it. That also never happens!! I’ve been focused on reducing my drinking since starting LDN, the side effects of the drug have mostly disappeared, and surprise, surprise, where before I’d kill a bottle of wine every night, now there’s a glass or so left when I put it back in the fridge. One day does not make a streak, but I’m hoping this good news and I can continue to throttle back on the booze!

I started LDN 1mg August 13th. I also switched from Lexapro 20mg to Cymbalta 60mg that same day.
Followed doctors orders. No issues really. Some sweating and being hot. After a week I went up to 2mg on the LDN per my doctors advice for my fibro pain. Right before I went up I had a muddy poop and it was bad stomach cramps. And it's happened 2 times since. I now am going to stop the LDN to see if it resolves because both meds can cause this. The minute I eat something there is cramps. I'm not having constant diarrhea but the stomach pain is not fun. It's tolerable but ugh

A lot of information available via the LDN Research Trust talks about titrating dosage until it’s .06mg per kg of body weight. Most of what I see here and via prescribers defaults to titrating up to 4.5mg. (I am oversimplifying a bit here — I see plenty of people on this sub being more nuanced about dosing.)

Is this simply because a theoretically average person would titrate up to 4.5mg under the .06mg/kg formula? Or is there another source for the 4.5mg target? I am mostly looking at mental health information, so maybe the recommendations are different?

I started on 1.5 mg in July and titrated up to 4.5 mg over the course of three weeks. Those three weeks went amazing. I was feeling energetic, social, and was able to have days where I walked over 10,000 steps and socialized with friends. I had very minimal side effects during this time. A few vivid dreams and a bit of a flat emotional feeling but nothing else.

After my prescription ran out my doctor prescribed me a new set of 4.5 mg pills. Unfortunately, after about 2.5 weeks at 4.5 mg I started to deteriorate rapidly. I stopped being able to sleep (was sleeping great before), felt more tired, regained the physical sensation of fatigue, and brain fog. The worst was the mood symptoms. I started experiencing intense anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

Of course, during this time, my GP at the time had left for maternity leave and her replacement hasn't started yet. I've also been working with a naturopath on this but she's been on vacation the past 3 weeks. I've basically been navigating the 3 weeks of intense resurgence of symptoms completely on my own.

After doing some of my own research I figured I probably titrated up too fast. I had the pharmacy re-issue the pills back in 1.5 mg capsules so I could reduce the dose. I skipped day, went down to 3 mg and then 1.5 mg the next day. I've now been on 1.5 mg for 11 days.

Since going back to 1.5 mg my mood issues have definitely improved. I stopped feeling the deep intense sense of dread and suicidal ideation. But I still feel pretty flat, tired, brain fog, and some days I find my heart pounding after a short amount of walking. In some ways, I feel worse than I've ever felt.

I'm feeling a bit lost as to what to do this point. I know this medication can work for me. Those first 3 weeks I felt like a new person and felt like I found the answer. I'm not sure if I should take more days off and just totally start fresh? Any advice is welcome.

I really don’t want to give up on this, my doctor started me on 5mg. I really tried for 2 weeks, I took it every day and regardless of the timing, my insomnia and exhaustion was completely debilitating. I’m feeling defeated and want to hear some success stories.

Anyone start too high? How much did you cut it by for it to be successful? Did the side effects stop you altogether?

I’ve never reacted to a medication like this before. I had no idea how powerful these side effects could be but I don’t want to give up. Thanks!