A Dream Come True

I'm walking outside with my friend; I can hear every step.  Click, clomp, click, clomp.  My cat is winding in and out between my feet and I almost trip.  It begins to rain.  I can hear the drops hitting the leaves on the trees and I can smell the moisture in the air.  It's a bit chilly.  We keep walking for what seems like hours.

BEEP   BEEP   BEEP

I wake up, turn off my alarm and when I look at the display, I can't believe it's already 7am.  I'm not rested at all.  I feel like I've been up all night walking in the rain.  What is going on here?

It's the Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).  Some of you are nodding your heads right now.  The rest of you...keep reading.

LDN is an experimental oral medication used to treat M.S.  In its full dose, it is used to manage alcohol and opiate addiction.  In much lower doses, it helps to relieve the symptoms of M.S. among many other diseases.  I take this drug.

The great thing about LDN is that it began working for me within three days, it speeds up the time taken to recover from a relapse and several patients report that they have less lesions as evidenced by regular MRI's.  The major bonus is that LDN has virtually no major side effects.

Except One:  abnormal dreams.

Before LDN, I was already a vivid dreamer whose nights were jam-packed with magical trolls, flying bodily through the clouds, purple people, talking animals etc. I kept a dream journal and delighted in replaying my movie-like experiences upon waking. It was exciting going to sleep every night; it was an escape from reality and there was no way I could mistake my night life with the daily routine.  Until now.

Who has dreams about making coffee, putting on shoes (flats, no less), talking on the phone and sitting on the couch?!  For hours; all night?!  If I wasn't already asleep, I'd pass out from boredom.  My dreams (eight looooooong hours of dreams) are mimicking daily life so, it's like I'm doing what I always do on an average work day...24 hours a day.  Another M.S. patient taking LDN described her experiences like this: 

"…my dreams were psychedelic epic tales of suspense and surrealism." 

Lucky lady!!

Although, I am extraordinarily grateful for LDN and the relief I've gained from being on it, I can't help but laugh when I see the warning "may cause abnormal dreams".  I already had those in spades.  I really liked them.  I think that my pharmaceutical literature should be altered to read "may cause dreams so realistic that you realize you may have to spice things up".

So, I'm taking some travel plans down from the shelf, dusting them off and am planning a trip to Ireland.  Maybe I can see a real-life Leprechaun and then I'll be able to sleep a little less easy.  Although, I mustn't whine too much; even though I can't fly in dreams anymore, I can walk in real life.  And that, my friends, is better than anything.

Do any of you M.S.ers out there have any weird LDN-inspired dreams you'd like to share with the group?  I need them for my journal; it's getting a little sparse.