LDN for interstitial cystitis: is it helpful and how would you dose it?

LDN for interstitial cystitis: is it helpful and how would you dose it?

Yes. Seeing several people with interstitial cystitis - again, that's an inflammatory process. 

Low-dose naltrexone in very low doses, usually 4.5mg or under, has been very helpful. One thing I find is that not everybody tolerates 4.5mg because of some gastrointestinal issues. That's where a slow titration, or a slow taper up, would be a little more helpful, so in dosing that, you could start as low as maybe even 0.5mg and slowly increase maybe every 7 to 14 days until the individual finds either their happy dose or 4.5mg. It would be dosed just once a day as well. So again, once a day, in my professional opinion; maybe start as low as 0.5mg. And the reason why is because when we're dealing with interstitial cystitis, some people will flare if their hormones change, and we always want to err on the side of caution. We want the provider, the prescriber, to be the hero in this situation as well, so we we always want to ensure that number one we're looking out for patient safety, and number two, that we've got that patient individually in mind so that we can work with them to find their sweet spot, their happy dose.

Answered by LDN Specialist Michelle Moser, RPh, FACA, FACVP