Low-dose naltrexone is the opposite of a sleeping pill. I have been a bad sleeper my whole life, but I have never experienced anything like this. In the past, when I had insomnia it was because my mind was racing, even though I was exhausted. This last week, my mind isn’t racing, I am just wide awake. Wide awake with my eyes closed. Mind alert and blank. Eyes wide shut.
Take a look at the Zeo graph ~ there should be more black than blue. There should be fewer graph lines showing because you are asleep. You want empty space, not these huge blocks of blue that show you were awake (the top line = “W” for “wake”). I was in bed from 10pm until 9am. I didn’t sleep. Even when I was asleep, I wasn’t really asleep. Each of those graph lines represents 5 minutes. I would be in deep sleep for 5 minutes and then awake again.
Also, that bright light in my eyes was a constant last night. I am lying in a dark room with my eyes closed, but it feels like someone is shining a spotlight on my face. I would open and close my eyes and what I saw with my eyes opened was darker than what I saw with my eyes closed. How does that happen??
So, needless to say, I am tired today. My eyes are very swollen, my hands hurt. My back and shoulder muscles feel a little better than yesterday and much better than the day before, but I have a headache. I even had a massage yesterday and I fell asleep during my daily meditation ~ you would think I would be so relaxed for bedtime.
My chest was still tight last night and, for the first time, I got some nausea right before bed. Other than that, I can’t tell that LDN has done anything. I will stick with it, but I better start sleeping more or feeling better during the day ~ either one will do.
Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart 
[…] LDN = no sleep […]
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[…] job and, three months after that, I became housebound. Symptoms have shifted and changed: Pain and sleep dysfunction became my biggest concern, the sweats eventually stopped and the pain abated, but flu-like symptoms […]
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I was given low dose naltrexone, at 25 mg or a half dose for three days in the morning, I was extremely tired and sleepy. After two days after being introduced to naltrexone, and being fatigued my doctor changed the timing to early evening to late afternoon. I did not sleep as well or even feel tired. Even worse was when my dosage was increased to the standard 50 mg dose, I’ve been using naltrexone for about 14 days now, and I have not really slept as well as I did previous to being prescribed the pill. Other than that, I’d rather choose to be dog-tired than to crave alcohol, after all as long as you relax and close your eyes, your body does still receive some benefit (I was a Marine infantryman before, so I do know what it’s like to be sleep deprived).
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OMG. So glad I’m not going crazy. I had same reaction to LDN. I’m on day 5 of it. Terrible insomnia. Same feeling as mentioned in previous post, (feels like lights are on even when they are off) Terrible migraine. Sweating. Dreaming while I am awake. No rest whatsoever.. feels like I’m losing my mind. The only good part is that I think it is lowering my inflammation. I’m just useless now that I can’t get any rest and feel “wired”.
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Dragonfly, try taking it in the morning instead. And start over on a lower dose. This is what I intend to do the next time I try it. So sorry you went through this!
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