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‘Promising Results’ for Low-Dose Naltrexone as Pain Reliever
Pain News Network
15 November 2022
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2022/11/15/promising-results-for-low-dose-naltrexone-as-pain-reliever
Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) continues to get more recognition from the medical community as a treatment for some types of chronic pain. In smaller doses of 5mg or less, patients with fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, intractable pain and other chronic conditions have found LDN to be an effective pain reliever. But because LDN is prescribed “off label” for pain, much of the evidence supporting LDN is anecdotal.
A literature review revealed that LDN improved physical function, sleep, mood, fatigue and quality of life in patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and low back pain. In patients with Crohn’s, improvements were also noted in the colon’s appearance during colonoscopies.
Side effects from LDN were minimal, consisting most commonly of vivid dreams, headaches, diarrhea and nausea. Most of the side effects resolved with continued use of LDN.
Because LDN is not recommended as a pain treatment by the FDA or professional medical societies, patients interested in trying it often encounter doctors who refuse to prescribe it or don’t know anything about it. The LDN Research Trust includes a list of LDN-friendly doctors and pharmacies on its website, https://ldnresearchtrust.org/