Dear Buddies,
There has been quite a bit of buzz on other sub-boards about NAD+ as a treatment for benzo wd, and several members have been after me to post my thoughts. We all decided a few months ago that "Chewing the Fat" would be the place for the discussion of research and treatments. I have been "wavy" these past couple of months, but I have been collecting info, waiting to both be well enough, and have enough info to share to make a new thread worthwhile.
I am not here to tell you all, "NAD+ is the cure! Go get NAD+!" I will tell you that I like its potential so much, I moved it to the front of the line of things I will probably try.
There are three buddies who posted how well it helped them. I do not have any issue pointing them out because they posted it themselves. If you wish, you can look up the posts of [...], [...], and Fishyfish5. I have heard about 3 other cases from a source not benzobuddies, so I will not share any contact or links.
In summary, those 6 people went to clinics and got multiple IV infusions of a nutrient called NAD+ and felt better. One person, fishyfish5 says he is 100% cured, and the other 6 are/were doing "much better to nearly well" in 3-6 months with continued improvement in 2-3 years approaching pre-benzo normalcy.
NAD stands for Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide. It is a coenzyme in dozens of chemical reactions in human metabolism. For me to move something to the front of the line, it has to answer the question, "Why would it help us?" Those that know me, know that I am 100% convinced that almost all of our misery is due to a disorder of glutamate reception. Well, I scoured the internet for days, and found exactly one paper, but it does answer the question, "why would this help us." For my fellow neuroscientists, here it is, but I will warn you, it [...] ALL I KNOW, to make the connection as to what it "says," and how/why it could help:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2017.00021/fullI dissected this paper. It makes a good case for reversing glutamate transmission and reception damage. (Anyone who can check my work, please have at it). I am taking the paper, my dissection, and the 6 informal case studies and will be discussing it with my neurologist on Thursday. He is also a neuroscientist, and literally the only doc I trust.
What I have learned about the specifics:
1. It takes 10-12 initial treatments of 500-1000 mg, usually with a day or 2 break in the middle.
2. You want to make certain you are getting pure NAD+. There are other similar chemicals that are cheaper that do not have the same effect.
3. It is not cheap. It will cost between 5 and 20 thousand US dollars, depending on where you go, and how much you get.
4. If I get it, I will personally choose to get NAD+, NAD+ and nothing but NAD+. It is given in two different settings, "rejuvenation," and "unspecified addiction recovery," and depending on the clinic, they may have their own ideas as to what else would be beneficial for rejuvenation or addiction recovery. If I do this, I am going to keep this experiment pure, and also, I am sooooooooo sensitive to every damn thing some "innocuous" vitamin is as likely to trigger me and ruin whatever the NAD+ helps.
5. I am not sure about fishyfish5, but [...] and [...] both used NAD+ to jump, as in ct from their benzo. Neither was on a very high dose, but it was a ct, and they did not have ct horror stories.
6. One may benefit from a few spaced out "booster" treatments, 1 or 2 sessions at a clip, a few months apart after the initial 10-12 treatments.
Right now. That is all I know. Do I think it will work? I do not know. A sample of 6 is too small, and if I had a nickel for everything that looked good on paper I would have a lot of nickels. I like it enough that I am seeing what it takes to try it myself, soon. I have personal checklist, and when it is complete, I will make my decision before the end of April.
If anyone has any thoughts or experiences one way or the other, please share.
Be well and good luck,
[...]