The Best SCD Diet Tag Team Partner: Low Dose Naltrexone?

While my doctor and I were refining my gut healing from Celiac Disease with the SCD diet, we found something strange. For the past five years, and even before being diagnosed with Celiac, I have been consistently receiving blood test results indicating high levels of Eosinophils and Lymphocytes coupled with low levels of Neutrophils.

What does this mean?

Well, it means that my immune system is fighting against something all the time. It is somewhat indicative of a low level infection (not likely) or some degree of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). My doctor wanted to start working on improving my immune system to not only help my gut heal more effectively, but also to combat whatever was triggering the abnormal defense mechanism. She started to explain the benefits of trying out Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) over time and how it could potentially be the SCD Diet’s ideal tag team partner.

Naltrexone was approved in 50 mg doses by the FDA in 1984 to be used on heroin and opium addicts, because it blocks the drug’s effect on their brains.

How does this relate to us and our gut issues?

Over time physicians started to realize the effects of low doses (4.5 mg) of naltrexone on the body’s immune system. It works by taking it at night between 9:00 pM and 4:00 AM. During the period from 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM, your brain is actively scanning your body and running diagnostics on each system. The LDN blocks your brain’s opioid receptors during that time period, resulting in your brain assuming it did not make enough of two chemicals that your immune system needs each day: endorphin and enkephalin. So, the next day it produces a little more and each night the LDN makes it think it didn’t produce enough… slowly building up the levels of those two chemicals in your blood.

People with any level of autoimmune disease that are a result of these chemicals being low are seeing drastic improvements from LDN treatment. For you and me, it can assist in any level of damage from Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, CFS, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and all the way to HIV or Cancers. The only side effects that I have experienced has been an enhanced sleep state where I feel almost conscience while I’m asleep. It can make for some interesting dreams.

The Bottom Line: LDN has really ratcheted up my healing process, by improving the overall well-being of my immune system. I started to feel more energetic and I was digesting food more efficiently. Most importantly, I was feeling better all over.

My advice, do some research on LDN and talk it over with your doctor. See if they have any experience with it and what results they were getting. Just remember to get it filled at a place, like Hopewell Pharmacy, that has experience with LDN and can make it SCD legal for you. I have included some more information and clinical trials at the end of the post for you to form your own opinion. It might just be the best tag team partner for the SCD Diet to bring you back to a normal life!

The Low Dose Naltrexone homepage (non-profit and independent of the pharmaceutical companies)

LDN Trial Showing Improvement in Crohn’s Disease

Great Philadelphia News Report on LDN

The LDN Research Trust

Other Resources for LDN

-Jordan

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