About four out of five doctor’s visits share the same symptom.
Pain.
Pain is a mighty motivator to action. When you feel pain, you want to make it go away – and quickly. Pain is also a mighty driver of profits for Big Pharma. Solving the pain problem would spell financial ruin. To them, keeping the pain mill turning endlessly is a fundamental business principle. Anyone who gets in the way will be eliminated.
When your doctor is confronted with pain, Big Pharma offers only three options:
* Mildly effective but safe
* Mildly effective, but unsafe, sometimes fatal
* Effective, but both addictive and dangerous, even fatal
Paracetamol is an example of the first type. In large doses over a long time, it is also unsafe, but few people use it that way.
Aspirin, steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are examples of the second category.
Opioids are an example of the third category.
If you listen to global news from time to time, you would have heard mention of the “Opioid Crisis” that America is dealing with. In fact, it was (ostensibly) the main reason why President Trump wanted to levy tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Now, as a lay person, you may be wondering, “What is an opioid?” If you are an ANC parliamentarian, you may be wondering, “What is a crisis?”
(Below, we had to add stars or spaces inside words to avoid this email being attacked by nanny filters.)
The word “opioid” effectively means “like op ium”. Opioids are a class of medications derived from or chemically similar to op ium.
Here’s the thing: All opioids are highly addictive. And, in the long term, often fatal.
Estimates vary, but roughly 1 in 30 Americans is affected by opioid use disorder (OUD). Furthermore, the vast majority of suicides by overdose in the USA are due to opioids. They induce an almost overwhelming desire for death in regular users. However, long before that point, they systematically steal the user’s joy, hope and empathy. Self-motivation is another casualty.
So, about that doctor’s visit…
South African doctors have not been told about the opioid crisis. Your doctor has been told that opioids are “safe and effective” (ring any bells?). Which doctor, when confronted by pain, will settle for “mildly effective” when there are “better” options available? In 2023, American doctors issued some 125 million prescriptions for opioids. That’s a LOT of money into the hands of Big Pharma – and it unwittingly turns doctors into legal drug pushers.
Opioids have become first-line pain-killers in South Africa. However, even ONE DOSE can be addictive for some people. Most patients are given repeat prescriptions. Getting off an opioid if you’ve been using it daily for a month or more can be quite tricky, even in professional hands.
There are many types of opioids out there. Most of them require a prescription by a doctor (like tramadol). However, South Africa is one of a handful of countries in the world where you can buy one of these, called codeine, over-the-counter (OTC) – without a prescription.
Some of these OTC headache remedies also contain caffeine. Talk about a marriage made in hell. The combo gives almost instant pain relief, but two to three days later, you’ve booked your next headache. That’s when the withdrawal effects kick in and you need to take your next fix or face the backlash headache (which is always worse than the previous one). Eventually, people end up drinking multiple doses a day just to function “normally”.
Crisis? What crisis?
In South Africa, nobody is counting. We don’t have any publically available statistics on the size of the opioid crisis in South Africa. It’s likely bigger (in percentage terms) than what is going down in the US of A, but we are living in blissful ignorance.
At the very end of this email, we list some of the most common codeine-containing brands. If any of these are in your medicine cupboard, throw them out. None of them is branded Co-Demon, but that would have been an apt trade name. Don’t give the Co-Demon a foothold in your house.
So… Are there any pain-killers that are actually both effective and safe?
Yes. It so happens that there are – and your doctor has been told to avoid them.
Let’s list some of them:
* Chilli Oil
* Cannabis
* Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and variants
At Integrow Health, we don’t sell a chilli oil product (yet), but you can buy Banhoek Chilli Oil at any Pick n Pay. It is applied topically to localised pain areas, such as sore joints, neuropathic feet or spastic muscles. Onset of action is pretty rapid and lasts for 6 to 8 hours. There is no backlash. Pro Tip: Don’t apply chilli oil to broken skin and don’t touch your eyes or lips by accident!
Cannabis
As soon as it became clear that cannabis was a potent challenger to opioids in the treatment of pain, Big Pharma swung into action. The American congress effectively banned it in 1937. After this, many other countries followed suit.
In recent years, legal access to cannabis became easier in South Africa, but the framework is vague, to put it nicely. Doctors are still not allowed to prescribe it.
At Integrow Health, we have some options for you:
Green Immune (4%)
This is our most popular product. It contains a 4% cannabis extract, or 3.6 mg of active cannabinoids per dose, balanced in a 50-50 fashion between the two actives THC and CBD. One or two sprays below tongue at bedtime are excellent for sleep. It also helps for moderate pain, such as arthritis or headaches. For these indications, it can be used both below tongue and topically. For headaches, rub it on the temples as well.
It is not habit forming in any way.
Pro Tip: Green Immune, applied daily, topically, makes varicose veins and piles shrink significantly over a two month period.
Zee Bee Dee Oil (20%)
This is our high potency (20%) product that provides 18 mg of active ingredients per dose (one spray, below tongue). This is indicated for severe pain or insomnia. The THC component in Zee Bee Dee Oil may induce wild dreams, however.
This product is not habit forming.
Charlotte’s Angel Oil (8%)
“Charlotte’s Angel” is a particular variety of cannabis that consists of ~90% CBD and 10% THC. At this ratio, it is safe even for children (but only do so on professional advice). Every dose provides 7 mg CBD and 1 mg THC. It is good for daytime pain relief, but also useful in drug withdrawal (including nicotine) and epilepsy. It can also help induce sleep. In all these instances, a single spray is usually all it takes to see an effect.
This product is not habit forming.
And then there is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)
Naltrexone was discovered in the 60s and entered the market as a powerful anti-opioid with long-lasting effects. It is used to reverse anaesthetic, but also to treat opioid overdose (where it is life-saving). However, in the 90s, some clever doctors in India discovered that, if used in tiny amounts, it is a powerful pain-killer.
How can this be? How can something that reverses the effects of pain-killers be a pain-killer itself?
The secret is in the dose.
In small doses, Naltrexone “irritates” the body’s endorphin receptors (where opioids bind to produce their pain-relieving effects). The body then produces endorphin (its own pain-killer) to “chase away” the Naltrexone.
Once the endorphin factory has found its mojo again, it keeps producing endorphins. These are not only your own pain-killers, they are also your laughing hormones and immune boosters. You find your joy and hope again, while your body figures out how to heal itself better and faster.
At Integrow Health, we sell three different types of Low Dose Naltrexone. All three types were formulated as spray products by Doc Frank. The reason is that a sublingual spray bypasses the liver blood flow. So, unlike encapsulated LDN products (which get chowed up by the liver in a short time), the spray product stays in the blood much longer. This means you do not have to adjust the dose every couple of months.
Our three variants of LDN are:
* LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone): 1 mg (or 1,000 mcg) per spray.
* VLDN (Very Low Dose Naltrexone): 200 mcg per spray.
* ULDN (Ultra Low Dose Naltrexone): 10 mcg per spray.
Who needs what?
Let’s run it backwards:
ULDN
If you or someone you love is using an opioid daily or more than once daily, they can use ULDN together with their medication. Anything stronger will cause withdrawal effects. A single spray of ULDN in the morning will enhance the pain relieving properties of the opioids. After a week or so, a second spray later in the day can be introduced. Another week later, a third spray daily, and so on up to five sprays daily. During this time, demand for opioids will diminish gradually. When you only need an opioid every second day or so, it is time to move over to VLDN.
VLDN
If you only take an opioid occasionally for a random headache or migraine, VLDN is your friend.
If you’re in any doubt as to which of the three LDN variants you need, VLDN is also your friend.
Take one spray below tongue in the morning. If this is not enough to manage your pain challenge, you can add a second spray later in the day (but not in the first week of treatment).
Move over to paracetamol as pain-killer if you still need something extra for pain after the first week of use.
If, after two months, you’re still struggling with break-through pain, you can graduate to LDN.
LDN
If you rarely, if ever, use an opioid for pain, then you can start with LDN.
Take one spray below tongue in the morning for a week. If that is not enough to control your pain, you can add a second spray later in the day, or even a third.
Only in severe / rare cases will it be necessary to increase the dose beyond two sprays daily – even after using it for a long time.
Note: If you’ve been reading about LDN online, the above will fly in the face of what you’ve been told. Doc Frank figured the above out very carefully to obtain an optimal outcome for each patient. There may be individual variations, but the above works for almost everybody in pain.
Side effects
* A temporary sleep disturbance at the onset of treatment is common. It will pass, don’t stress.
* Some folks complain of stomach cramps after a dose. This will pass. Eat something like a banana to ease the stomach.
Other side effects are very rare, if above guidelines are followed.
Conditions that may benefit from Low Dose Naltrexone
* Addiction to opioids (ULDN)
* Severe, chronic pain (VLDN, LDN)
* Fibromyalgia (VLDN, LDN)
* Headaches or migraines (VLDN, LDN)
* Brain / nerve damage (LDN)
* Long COVID / Chronic fatigue syndrome (LDN)
* Cancer (LDN)
* Auto-immune disorders (LDN)
* Ulcerative colitis / Irritable Bowel Syndrome (LDN)
* Ding-dong dysfunction (LDN – taken every morning)
We’re not saying that all the above will disappear overnight, but Low Dose Naltrexone is very likely to be a game changer, at the very least.
Remember to keep Low Dose Naltrexone in the fridge as far as possible. It is relatively stable at room temperature, but rather not take a chance.
The Team at Integrow Health
