Vance Medical

Low Dose
Naltrexone
LOW DOSE NALTREXONE (LDN)

ABOUT LDN

Naltrexone is a medicine sometimes used to treat people with narcotic addiction and alcoholism. In very low doses (less than 10% of a usual dose), however, naltrexone is believed to help regulate people’s immune systems, helping with several different disease processes.

HISTORY

In the 1980’s, naltrexone was developed as a medicine to help heroin addicts. The action of the medication is to block the effect of opiates and opioid medicines, to prevent people from getting high while taking heroin. A researcher by the name of Dr Bihari found that the lowest dose of naltrexone didn’t help the addiction, but did prevent his AIDS patients from getting sick. Since then, this therapy has been successfully used not only for HIV but for many other diseases / conditions.

HOW LDN WORKS

At the regular dose, naltrexone blocks the opioid receptors in the body for a full 24 hours. At a very low dose it blocks them for only 2-4 hours, during which time your body makes more endorphins (the body’s natural morphine). When the naltrexone wears off, this new, larger supply of endorphins can help cut down on chronic pain. Endorphins also help modulate the immune system, allowing your body to better fight the things it should be fighting (like infections or disease) and not fight the things it shouldn’t (i.e. autoimmune disorders).

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SOME CONDITIONS TREATED

(per the Low Dose Naltrexone website)
Neurodegenerative Diseases
ALS, Alzheimer’s, Autism, MS, Parkinson’s, PTSD, etc.
Autoimmune Diseases
AS, Behcet’s, Celiac, Chronic Fatigue, Crohn’s, Fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, IBS, MG, Pemphigoid, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, etc.
Cancers
Bladder, Breast, Carcinoid, Colon/Rectal, Liver, Lung, Melanoma, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Prostate, etc.
Other Diseases
Common Colds (URI’s), Emphysema (COPD), HIV/AIDS, Depression (Major; and Bipolar)

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HOW TO GET IT

Because LDN is a lower dose of a standard medicine, it needs to be specially made at a compounding pharmacy. This can also mean that the cost is higher than what you’d find at a regular pharmacy. Each patient has their own particular dose that works best for them – it’s definitely not a “one size fits all.”

DOSING AND SIDE EFFECTS

LDN is usually taken at night time just before going to bed. Occasionally patients take it in the morning. Most people tolerate it very well, with the only common side effects being:

  • decreased sleep for the first couple of nights (after that patients often sleep better than they’ve slept in years)
  • vivid, “funky” dreams (not nightmares). These may or may not go away after a while, but are typically not bothersome to patients.
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