Can You Use Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) when Pregnant and/or Breastfeeding?

LDN Specialist Pharmacist Stephen Dickson
LDN Specialist Stephen Dickson, Pharmacist

Can You Use Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) when Pregnant and/or Breastfeeding?

LDN and pregnancy/lactation thoughts.  Again, this is something that happens all the time.  People ask this question reasonably.  I recently did some training with another couple of pharmacists talking about this, and it's one of those ones where yes, we're happy to dispense it with someone looking to get pregnant when they're working with a specialist obstetrician or someone who's a specialist in his field or fertility doctor.  However, suppose you are currently pregnant and/or you're currently breastfeeding. In that case, the risk-benefit ratio of starting LDN value in the middle of that process falls against you in our opinion. Certainly, I know other doctors and pharmacists are more experts in this, but I certainly believe you don't necessarily know what might happen in the future. So you're always better to try and wait until you're finished breastfeeding.  Wean the child before starting on LDN for the first time.