LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

Radio Show interviews, and Presentations from the LDN 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Conferences

They are also on our    Vimeo Channel    and    YouTube Channel

Dr Jill Cottel, LDN Radio Show 30 Nov 2016 (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Welcome Jill! How does it feel to be our first guest on the new LDN Radio Show?

Dr Jill Cottel: Hello, Linda. It's very exciting.

Linda Elsegood:  Thank you! Isn't amazing? I mean, you're out there in the West coast of the US and I am in England. Amazing!

Could you give us an overview of your LDN experience, please?

Dr Jill Cottel: Sure. I've been prescribing Low Dose Naltrexone since 2008 and have had a lot of success with it. It's been exciting to watch patients as they respond. I have a general internal medicine practice, so I get to see a little bit of everything. And so I've had a chance to try LDN out on a number of different clinical situations. It's kinda nice to get that, the rounded experience and try it out for different things that aren't typically used. It's been interesting.

Linda Elsegood: What would you say the main conditions that you've seen?

Dr Jill Cottel: Well, let's say in the beginning mainly I was treating autoimmune arthritis just because that was where I was seeing the main focus and a lot of the reading I was doing, and a lot of patients that I had already in my practice had different types of autoimmune arthritis.

So that was where I started. And then those patients would refer to other patients, and then I started branching out. And then kind of, it's a mixed path that I have a lot of patients with fibromyalgia or just muscle type pain and then different types of chronic pain syndromes, and then just a wide variety of other things, asthma allergies and some neurologic issues.

Linda Elsegood: One of the questions that people like to know before they start is what are the side effects likely to be. Have you noticed any side effects?

Dr Jill Cottel: Well, it's, it's really well tolerated. When you compare it with just about anything else that a doctor would prescribe.  All-day long we write prescriptions for various things, for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.

You look at any one of those numbers of things and plot the prescribing information. It can boggle the mind about the list of things that can happen. And so when you look at Low Dose Naltrexone, very, very minimal side effects are really good profile. I would say when people report a side effect, that usually has to do with sleep.

And I would say, in my practice, that's really only maybe 10 to 20% of the people will have sleep interruptions or vivid dreams. Sometimes that will pass and sometimes not. If it is an issue, they can always move it to dose at a different time of day. And that will usually clear up the problem.

And aside from that, pretty uncommon, I've had maybe in the past couple of years, a handful of patients who've had kind of a strange headache and that usually passed within the first week. And then some patients who their stomachs are very sensitive. In the beginning, they might get a little bit of loose stool.

But again, that tends to be just in that group of patients. Even that will generally pass after the first week. So not a lot of side effects to report.

Linda Elsegood: What drugs can't you take alongside with LDN?

Dr Jill Cottel: Basically it's the narcotic medications, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Morphine, those sorts of pain medications. Other medications for pain like Tylenol and ibuprofen are fine.

There's really a wide variety of things that can be taken with Low Dose Naltrexone and in the way of drug interactions I haven't seen any problems except with the narcotic type medications. 

Linda Elsegood: Because I know there have been people who've asked questions about Methotrexate, Interferon drugs, steroids, and I believe all of those can be used with LDN.

Dr Jill Cottel: Right. In my practice, I've not had any issues, and I know there are a number of other clinicians using them together and haven't reported any problems. so there's some good experience there.

Linda Elsegood: What would you say has been your greatest success with LDN?

Dr Jill Cottel: I would say, probably the autoimmune arthritis patients.

They respond really dramatically and quickly. That's exciting to see when that happens. With fibromyalgia patients, every now and then you'll get someone who responds really quickly and complete response. That's exciting too. It doesn't quite happen quite as often as the other ones.

Linda Elsegood: It's amazing, isn't it? That you can get people on very, very strong painkillers where elsewhere it doesn't control the pain. They come off then, try LDN and suddenly are playing free.

It always astounds me that such a small pill can do. It's like using a sledgehammer and it doesn't work, and you tickle it with a feather and It does.

Dr Jill Cottel: Exactly. One of my first patients came off large doses of pain medication a few years back. He was on almost a 100 mg of Oxycodone or something similar and wanted to try LDN. I thought:  "Well, this is just no way that this is going to work." And he tapered off on his own. And a hundred milligrams hadn't been controlling his pain. Then he was completely pain-free on 3 mg of LDN.

It was amazing! It worked! How can 3 mg of LDN work better than 100 mg of Oxycodone? There it was. He was pain free. That's amazing!

Linda Elsegood: Always amazes me too.

Dr Jill Cottel: Think about some of these studies showing that narcotic medications can actually cause hypersensitivity to pain and possibly central pain.

Look at it that way. Maybe it makes sense that patients are going to do better off of those medications and better on LDN.

Linda Elsegood: I've also been told that if you take a cocktail of pain medications, you can then take too many and then they don't work either.

So that's interesting as well.

Dr Jill Cottel: It's hard to sort out. Often a patient with chronic pain will come in, be on a lot of different types of medicines from different classes, usually off label, l because everyone's trying to help them and it's hard for those patients.

They've got a lot of side effects. I was getting them off of those medications slowly, then LDN may start responding. You can start weaning off some of these other medications. A lot of the medications that we use for chronic pain have many side effects, so people tend to feel a lot better being able to come off of them.

Linda Elsegood: That's good. Well, we'll take a break now, and when we come back, we'll take questions.

Today's show is sponsored by the Poway integrative medicine centre who take a holistic approach to provide the highest level of health care, combining internal medicine with alternative therapies, including acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

If you're in the San Diego area, they'd love to see you or if you're in the state of California, they offer secure video conferencing appointments when clinically appropriate. 

Go to www.pimchealth.com or call 858 312 1672. On Facebook, follow Jill Cattell MDs page.

Linda Elsegood: Welcome back! Now we've taken our first caller. Can you hear us?

Blanca: Yes. Thank you so much. I am here.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. What question would you like to ask Dr. Cottel?

Blanca: Doctor thank you so much for listening to my question. Did you have any experience with Multiple Myeloma?

It's a bone marrow cancer. My husband has it, and he has been taking LDN every day for four months and we have seen these numbers stable. So I was just wondering if you have any experience with Multiple Myeloma?

Dr Jill Cottel: Not so far, but that's a great question.

I would expect, based on the positive results that other people are getting with different types of blood disorders, that LDN would be something that could be beneficial. And you said that his numbers had been stable over the past four months.

Blanca: Yes, stable., stable. He's not using any chemotherapy for now. He did chemotherapy in 2013. I heard about Low Dose Naltrexone, but actually I wasn't sure where to get it or which doctor will give it to me. So finally, back in April, we got a prescription from a doctor, and he's been taking, it six months already. He's stopped taking it for like three weeks because he developed some anaemia because and we were afraid of any interactions of any with supplements. So we stopped the Low Dose Naltrexone, and I've noticed that his numbers raise a little bit. So we went back right away to Low Dose Naltrexone, and the numbers went back to a little lower but stable. It's not a huge change, remission or something, but at least it's keeping cancer at bay.

Dr Jill Cottel: How does he feel on it? Can you tell the difference taking LDN now versus when he wasn't taking it?

Blanca: He has a sleep problem many years ago, sleep apnea and he's not having any episodes of apnea anymore, and I've noticed that he sleeps deeper. He wakes up because he has that problem from before, but it's not as acute as it was before. I think it's helping like to get more like deep sleep.

 Dr Jill Cottel: That's good. I've had some patients report they're sleeping better on it. Their quality of sleep improves.

Blanca: Exactly. I wasn't sure if he has a little bit of anaemia if it's okay to take Low Dose Naltrexone or with Tylenol, but I heard Tylenol is fine.

Dr Jill Cottel: That'd be fine.

Blanca: And so having anaemia, do you think there's a problem?

Dr Jill Cottel: No, I can't see any reason why that would be a problem with anaemia.

Blanca:  That wasn't all his concerns because he didn't, he his thinking about introducing other very, very lows that were chemotherapy capsule. So I wasn't sure if it has any interactions with chemotherapy or immunosuppressant.

 Dr Jill Cottel: I don't have any experience in patients specifically with Multiple Myeloma, but I've had other patients where I've used LDN in combination with immunosuppressants, and we haven't seen any problems.

Blanca: Okay.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you. We will get to our next call on now. Hello Sabba. What question do you have for doctor Cottel?

Sabba: I'm a pharmacy student. I just learned about LDN and how it works. I'm really interested to know more, and I just wanted to see if the doctor can explain to me the exact mechanism of action.

What's happening with this medication? And in pharmacy school, I learned that it's mostly used for alcohol dependency, but they never talked about other indications for Low Dose Naltrexone. So I just wanted to see if the doctor can explain more about the medication.

 Dr Jill Cottel: That's a great question, and I'm so glad to hear it. From the best pharmacology standpoint, this is a fascinating compound.

There's an article that was published in 2014 in clinical rheumatology, and the lead author is Jared, Younger. The title is "The use of LDN as a novel anti-inflammatory treatment for chronic pain." It outlines different pathways and receptors. Also in the LDN book, which just came out this year, the first chapter is by Dr Steven Dickson, and it goes over the pharmacology of LDN in detail. There are several different ways in which we think it works. This chemical is a mixture of both up left-handedness and right-handedness. A number of these medicines that we use are like that. The left-handed side does a number of things with different receptors that have to do with inflammation. The right-hand side has to do with the effects that it has with the opioid receptors.

Sabba: Okay. Thank you so much.

Linda Elsegood: We'll go to our next caller now, James. Hello,  what question do you have for Dr Cottel?

James: I've been taking Low Dose Naltrexone for 27 months now. I began taking it for a Non-Hodgkin's Follicular Lymphoma and I'm almost 70 years old. I feel like I'm 50 years old again. It cleared up my depression; my brain fog, my fatigue. I'm physically about twice as strong as I was.

I've always done heating, and air conditioning work and  I'm actually back doing it again now.

It cleared up the ringing in my ears that I had for years. Anyway, my question is, after taking 4.5 mg for 27 months, I was wondering if I should dosing and scheduling. In this last Research Trust documentary, they talked about different dosing protocols. And I was wondering if I should get off of it for a few days and then take it seven days a week. If I should skip a day now and then, or skip a couple of days every so often if it would help.

Dr Jill Cottel:That's a very good question. I know that Dr. Dalglish in London is looking at intermittent dosing and it seemed like when you were in the treatment phase of the disease, it was continuous, and then off, somewhere in the distant future if you were in remission, you would maybe fiddle with the schedule a little bit. But I would say that for lymphoma, I would probably continue taking it daily, but  I'm not the most experienced person for oncology with it.

James: Thank you so much for all the good work! LDN just really given me my life back and I feel great.

I really appreciate all you did.

Linda Elsegood: That's good to know. Thank you. Well, we'll go to our next caller  Harry. What question would you like to put to Dr Jill Cottel?

Harry: Well, I don't have a question. Mine is a real success story with LDN. I had Ulcerative Colitis onset 15 years ago. And for the first eight or ten years after that, I was being given everything you could think of, 5,600 mg a day of Mel Salomon Emeran?, 50 mg of Oxycodone day, which didn't solve my pain problems, which nobody could figure out. And we finally, through dr Julian Whitaker, we got some information on Low Dose Naltrexone and started reading up on it and finally found a doctor who would prescribe it. And basically with me, we went, no dairy, gluten-free, making probiotics and 4 mg of LDN a day.

And I had resulted in less than a month.

And doctors, all of them would admit that there was no way that LDN could possibly hurt me, but none of them would prescribe it.

They did want to take out my colon. They were doing colonoscopy on me literally every four to six weeks.

The last one I had here this last August, they again. The gastro doctors will say, no evidence of active disease Ulcerative Colitis. They just won't admit it's gone. Literally, at this point, I have no dietary restrictions at all. I just take my 4 mg of LDN every night, and I eat anything and everything and have zero problems.

So I would just encourage anybody who has not found a doctor where they can talk to them about these problems and can maybe get something to just quote off-label to do so. Because at the very least, if all of the doctors admit that the LDN can't hurt you, it would seem to me that it would be inventory just to at least try it for some of the more drastic things.

And they had me on all kind of stuff and none of it worked. And there are some really nasty side effects to some of those drugs they use, just like with chemo drugs. So mine is just a good story, and I realize that may not work for everybody, but it's certainly worth trying.

Dr Jill Cottel: I agree.

James: One quick aside on the pharmacology student that called a while ago. There is a video out to YouTube called "LDN, how it works." which talks very specifically about how this works. I take it with me to every doctor I go.

It's something that a normal person can understand.

We need to try and get as much information out to everybody we can about this because there are so many things that people are taking that are so terrible on their system, and then they don't work.

 That's all I had. I do appreciate the time.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you, Harry. Well, we'll go to our next caller, Theresa. Hello. Would you like to ask a question to Dr.?

Theresa: It has been wonderful. I have been taking it since May. It has helped me tremendously. Unfortunately, it hasn't 100%, maybe 80, 85% but I do understand that it doesn't correct things that have been of an old issue.

Maybe I didn't catch my problem in time, but I was able to find my doctor who wasn't familiar with the medication, but he did allow me to try it. And it's been wonderful ever since. But it hasn't corrected everything so I still look at a couple of things, and I'm looking at something called Sam-e, which is an amino acid and it does suppose to help with arthritis but my concern is with stiffness. And so I'm wondering. Will it affect that? I know it affects your brain. The Sam-e and the LDN also work in the brain and I don't know if that would be an issue with mixing those together or not.

 And there's the other issue, which is Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, which may be an issue with me.

Dr Jill Cottel: That's a good question because I often will have patients and taking Sam-me and then we'll start an antidepressant if we're treating them for depression. And then it's important to know, what herbs and supplements they're on because not everybody will bring that up. And so there are some interactions with Sam-e and different types of antidepressant drugs. We do know that Low Dose Naltrexone has some interactions with the different neurotransmitters, but it's so mild in terms of the effects with LDN that you should be fine taking it with LDN.

Actually, I do have one patient who is taking Sam-e with the LDN, and she actually did better with the combination than she did with the LDN by itself.

Theresa: That's great to know. Now my other concern is that we haven't looked into this part yet, but because my issues have been so evasive, Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, so we may be going down that road looking at certain protocols that may require some Cytomel for a small amount of time to regulate the body temperature. And this may resolve a lot of my issues. Is there any complication with using LDN and the Cytomel and maybe the Sam-e? I also use Ashwagandha.

So combining all those, I mean, I don't know what I'm doing, but I do know I feel so much better, but I don't want to pose another problem that may be worse down the road. So there would be the Cytomel and then the ashwagandha and the Sam-e.

 Dr Jill Cottel: So the Ashwagandha should not be a problem. The Cytomel I would just be very careful with that because some people will respond fairly dramatically Cytlmel just on their own when you're treating for low thyroid. And sometimes it's difficult to get the thyroid adjusted with that. So just, I would say talk to your doctor about dosing it very low and watch your thyroid numbers pretty closely.

I would say getting them checked, at least within the first six weeks of starting it. 

Theresa: He's, really unfamiliar with the LDN but my thyroid numbers are always fine, but with Wilson's temperature syndrome, the body temperature is always low.

So this is an indication of chronic infections so it can be mixed, but very, very cautiously.

Right. Well, I appreciate your time and thank you.

I heard about it about four years ago, and so lucky to have a compounding pharmacy online. Advertising it in my area, so that got the news out. So it's wonderful that the news is getting out and more people are going to be able to be a little bit less painful.

Linda Elsegood: Okay, well, we're going to have another break, and we'll be back with some more questions later. Today's show is sponsored by the Poway Integrative Medicine centre who take a holistic approach to provide the highest level of health care—combining internal medicine with alternative therapists, including acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

If you're in the San Diego area, they'd love to see you or you for in the state of California they offer secure video conferencing appointments when clinically appropriate. Go to www.pimchealth.com or call 858 312 1672

On Facebook follow Jill Cottell, MDs page.

Linda Elsegood: Welcome back and this time, which went by Cynthia. Hello, Cynthia. What question do you have for Dr. Cottel?

Dr Jill Cottel: I have PMR for the second time. I had been using LDN since July 2015, and when it came back again this July, it was significantly less pronounced than the last time. However, I'm not on steroids yet. I'm doing a low inflammatory diet, but if things get worse, is it alright if I do go into steroids? Also, there's a possibility I might be developing giant cell arthritis because I have a very painful jaw, sort of extreme tenderness on top of the head, but no headaches yet. Last time I was probable GCA, but,I had been in touch with my rheumatologists just yesterday.

Just in case they want to do a biopsy, but I really want to know where I stand beside the LDN and steroids.

Dr Jill Cottel: That's a very good question. If you were just dealing with the PMR alone, that would make it a little bit easier and it definitely, it would be fine to combine steroids with the LDN for PMR.

I've had patients do that. And you can generally get that away if you think less steroid and come down off of it more quickly. But if there's any possibility of the temporal arteritis, you have to be more careful about that because of having your vision affected. So I'd be more vigilant about that and getting your eyes checked frequently and making sure they are watching you closely.

Cynthia: Well, I'm hoping that I haven't got the GCA and I'm really hoping, but I up to what level can I take steroids because I know that with GCA they will often a GCA, sorry, start at 25 milligrams. The steroids, is that all right with LDN?

Dr Jill Cottel: It should be fine.

Cynthia: Oh great. I mean, I'm hoping not to because last time I was on steroids for three and a half years and then I was on methotrexate as well for the last year probably, and I didn't like either of them, like all the side effects combined, so I'm hoping to keep off the steroids. I just wanted to know where I was because I'm hoping to see my rheumatologist who will obviously know nothing about LDN.

Linda Elsegood: Sure. Well, good luck. with that. Bye-bye. Okay, next we have Linda. Do you have a question?

Yes, I do. I have severe Crohn's. I've had three bowel resections, and the last one I ended up with a hospital, a bug on a ventilator for two months and almost died. So it's very important that I take my LDN all the time. I've been on it for about six years, but here's my problem.

Now that they look in my colon and basically in remission I still can't control the bowel movements and diarrhoea all the time, but it's better than it used to be. I also have multiple pain issues, Fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, Stenosis and I've had to have my ureters replaced with tubes that have to be changed out every 90 days or so. I have not been able to let go of my pain medication. I worked out a plan for myself because I couldn't go off the pain medication. I don't take any pain medication after 3:00 PM in the afternoon and when I go to bed at 10 pm I take my LDN.

Do you see a problem with that?

Dr Jill Cottel: I don't.I mean if my patients are on pain medication and they're taking it so frequently that they've always got some in their blood it can be a problem. So even if their last dose, is it three, if they've already taken, a certain amount of medication that day already, it may not be completely out of their system by bedtime. But if you're on a small enough amount that you're getting enough space out from it, you should be OK. And if not you should know already because the pain would come back, and you get some withdrawal symptoms. There is the issue of course, while your chronic narcotics, the hyperalgesia of the central nervous system, pain effects from being on them.

It's risk versus benefit and with all the different pain type syndromes you're having if it's something that you aren't able to come off of you have to just do your best.

Linda: I have tried, and it just has been impossible for me. I ended up becoming homebound and in bed, and I refused to accept that, and I fight as hard as I can, so I take the minimal dose.

The earliest possible during the day and then just do the white knuckle teeth-gritting when it gets to be there in the day so that I can have my naltrexone at night. And I think it's working because my colon is still beautiful.

I so much wanted somebody to tell me if that was an acceptable way to combine them or not. So thank you very, very much. 

Mary: I have been looking at LDN for a long time, and I haven't gotten a doctor to prescribe it for me. I had to ask a couple of doctors in the UK. We live in Sweden for three and a half years, and I went to the UK for treatment with finally identical hormones and I asked the doctor there to prescribe it, but she wouldn't, she just didn't think it made any difference. But she said she didn't believe there was any research that proved that it would help. I've gone to the seminar in Las Vegas and I thought that it would help me. I currently am not taking much pain medicine. I take Arthrotec now and then. I have Fibromyalgia,  Chronic Fatigue, and the fatigue is bothering me much more than the pain now. Do you think LDN would help me?

Dr Jill Cottel: I do. Well, based on my experience. With my patients who have Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue, for the Fibromyalgia, almost all of my patients have had some benefit, and a very few have not.

Almost everyone has had some. And then I've had patients where they've had dramatic improvements with the Fibromyalgia, and same thing with Chronic Fatigue. Most of my Chronic Fatigue patients are feeling much better. We do have a good couple studies looking at Fibromyalgia with Low Dose Naltrexone and you should be able to find someone to prescribe that for you.

Mary: Now we just moved about two weeks ago to Austin, Texas. Do you have, do you know of any doctors in this area that is familiar with it?

Linda Elsegood: We have a list, and there are some doctors around that area. If you would like to send me an email, contact@ldnresearchtrust.org, and we will get back to you with some of the doctors that we know of that prescribe.

Linda Elsegood: And we will quickly get to the next person. So thank you very much, Mary, for your call. Next caller is Robin. Hi there.

Robin: Hi there. My question regarding Chronic Fatigue. You just answered part of my question about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. But I wanted to be a little bit more specific. My son, who is 18 years old, has been suffering from CFS for about two years. He seems to be improving with, nothing, I guess He's on an antiviral that doesn't seem to be helping to me, but he's just gradually getting better and specifically, do you think that it would help his, like these setbacks and crashes that he has that we're trying to really put an end to? I mean, what specifically with CFS doesn't seem to help other than just the fatigue?

Dr Jill Cottel: I would say, probably energy improves. And also a lot of times mood improves.

And so patients, sometimes the symptoms aren't as much improved, but their ability to cope with the symptoms is better. Does he have any muscle type pain at all, or is it just the fatigue?

Robin: He really doesn't have muscle pain. He has suggested that his limbs feel heavy at times. He occasionally has a headache, but not often.

It really just seems this excessive fatigue. If he doesn't get enough sleep, it's stress and emotional stress or concentrating in school, that seems to cause these setbacks the most. And then he can't basically, get off the couch for a couple of days.

Dr Jill Cottel: I would think it'd be worth trying.

Robin: I agree. Okay. I just wanted to confirm because I hear it used more with pain and Fibromyalgia, but not strictly with Chronic Fatigue syndrome though.  Thank you very much. I appreciate your help. Bye-bye.

Linda Elsegood: Sarah on Facebook wanted to know if you'd had any success with LDN for treating Epstein-Barr.

Dr Jill Cottel: I have a patient who, she had had, illness with Epstein-Barr, and she just hadn't been able to bounce back from it.

And it had been, I'm going to say at least six months, and she started taking the LDN, and I want to say within about a month she was feeling much better and then it wasn't much longer after that she kind of felt back to normal.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And Diddy said, can LDN be taken with high doses of Manganese?

Dr Jill Cottel: I don't see any reason why not.

Linda Elsegood: Does LDN help with adrenal insufficiency?

Dr Jill Cottel: That is a good question. I don't know the answer to that. I do have patients who've come in with the diagnosis of Adrenal Fatigue, which is kind of a nebulous sort of thing, and I'm not sure anyone knows why LDN helps those patients, but it might just be the endorphins themselves helping with energy food.

Linda Elsegood: Another question. Is endorphin buildup a real thing and should people occasionally skip a dose? And if so, how often?

Dr Jill Cottel: The patients that I've had generally when they skip doses, they feel worse. And sometimes not right away. But they can usually tell the difference sometimes after four or five days off.

I think in general, probably not skipping doses. And you figure it takes a while for the endorphin levels to decline anyway. So how much difference you're making just by skipping a day or two here and there, I'm probably not making too much of a difference.

Linda Elsegood: I must admit sometimes. I'm just drifting off to sleep, and I think, I haven't taken my LDN.

Do I get up and take it and wake himself up or just miss a dose? And I sometimes miss a dose, and it doesn't make any difference. I think sleep sometimes it's better than getting up and not going back to sleep. Another question here from Kaylyn. Does LDN stop the progression of the disease?

In her case, she's got Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Dr Jill Cottel: That's a good question. I don't know that anyone knows the answer to that for sure. I think that we look at terms like remission and how people are doing clinically. So, I mean, just matter of semantics, whether you say, stopped progressing or it's in remission.

We go by how the patient is feeling clinically.

Linda Elsegood: Okay. And another one there about dosing. The benefits of splitting the dose into two over a day for CFS/ME.

Dr Jill Cottel: So again, that's a very good question. I generally discouraged my patients from doing that just because that's not the way it's classically been dosed.

And it's not the way it's been dosed in the small studies that we've had. And the mechanisms of action is to briefly block those endorphin receptors. And it has to be brief, and it has to be in and out of your system. So what the implications would be of doing that again, only 12 hours later? We don't know and Naltrexone has metabolites that stay around in the body afterword. So I would tend to discourage it. 

Linda Elsegood: okay. We've got time for one more caller.

What question would you like to ask Joe?

Joe: I would like to ask for a group member who has been trying to get an answer to this question. If Dr Jill has ever treated or know of anyone treated for a condition called a Stiff Person Syndrome, also known as a Stiff-Man Syndrome and  I'll start there, and then there's a part two.

Dr Jill Cottel: That doesn't sound familiar.

Is there anything else that goes by?

Joe:  No. Those are the only two he stated and that I know of is the stiff person or stiff-man syndrome, but is, I'm pretty sure, I believe.

Linda Elsegood: It is actually on our list of conditions that LDN can treat.

Dr Jill Cottel: Okay. I'm looking at it just in front of the computer since I'm sitting here and it says a rare neurologic disorder of unclear cause with progressive rigidity and stiffness mainly affecting the trunk muscles with spasm. So no, I don't have any personal experience.

Joe: Okay.

Linda Elsegood: I'm really going to have to stop you there.

When the hour's up, we stopped. So I'd like to thank you very, very much for taking our calls. As always, Jill, the next Wednesday we'll be joined by doctor Jim, Dr John Kim, full details are on the website.

Thank you. We would like to thank today's show sponsor, Dr. Jill Cottel and the Poway Integrative Medicine Centre.

Any questions or comments you may have, please Contact Us.  I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for joining us today. We really appreciated your company. Until next time, stay safe and keep well.

Dr David Borenstein, LDN Radio Show (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Dr David Borenstein shares his Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) experience on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Dr David Borenstein obtained his medical degree from the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel and completed his internship at Staten Island University Hospital.

During the course of his career he has attended numerous specialized training courses in order to expand the scope of his medical expertise. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, certified in Medical Acupuncture, and is a member of numerous professional societies.

He has held many prestigious clinical appointments and positions in leading medical facilities. He has been published in the European Journal of Ultrasound and has been the Chief Investigator on a research project on Spinal Cord Injuries. He has conducted medical missions in North Korea, Ghana, Cuba, and other countries.

This is a summary of Dr David Borenstein’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Dr Borenstein’s story by clicking on the video above.

Dr Melissa Coats, LDN Radio Show 14 Nov 2018 (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Linda Elsegood: Today my guest is Dr Melissa Coats from Arizona in the US. She is a naturopathic oncologist. Thank you for joining us today, Melissa. 

Melissa Coats: Thank you for having me. 

Linda Elsegood: Well, could you just give us an idea of your background, first of all, please? 

Melissa Coats: Sure. Initially growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a physician, I think, or in medicine. And when I went to school far away from home in Lynchburg, Virginia at Randolph-Macon Woman's College I focused on biology. And then after that, I didn't exactly know what part of medicine I wanted to do. So I decided to get a Masters in bioethics while I was deciding, and when I discovered bioethics, I stumbled across naturopathic medicine. Once I read the philosophy and what it was all about, I knew that was where I needed to be. Once I finished my Masters at Midwestern University, I went on to the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, which was in Tempe, Arizona. And I didn't even realize it was in my native state. And so I learned all about naturopathic medicine and went on to school there, and ever since, here I am.

Linda Elsegood: Wow. And when were you first introduced to LDN? 

Melissa Coats: I believe my first introduction was through my mentor and colleague, Dr Daniel Rubin. He had co-written an article about low dose naltrexone, I think back in 2006, for its use in pancreatic cancer. And Dr Berkson who uses it a lot at his clinic, where he does a lot of hepatitis C treatment, also was very interesting to me So I learned a lot from both of them. And from then on, I've been doing more and more research and just using it in a multitude of ways with different types of things beyond cancer. But cancer is obviously one of the bigger ones that we focus on here at our clinic.  

Linda Elsegood: Could you give us an idea of your protocols for treating cancer patients, and which cancers you've actually treated with LDN?

Melissa Coats: Probably one of the bigger ones we typically put people on it for are those who have breast and colon and pancreatic cancer. Those are some that we definitely do, but we know there's some efficacy with ovarian and neuroblastoma and glioblastoma and even squamous cell carcinomas. Pretty much because of the natural killer cell and the immune stimulation that it gives.

We've found it is a very nice adjunctive thing to add on to most treatment protocols, so we utilize it quite often, usually starting with a lower dose. Depending on the sensitivity of the patient, maybe 1.5 all the way up to 4.5 milligrams, depending on what's going on and making sure that we're not conflicting with any pain medication use, of course, if the patient's had surgery or things like that.

We also, me particularly in the clinic, like to use it for other things as well. One of my very first patients actually wasn’t an oncology patient that I utilized it in - it was a person who had undiagnosed celiac disease for 25 years, and her gastrointestinal system was just a giant mess, and she was miserable. It was one of the things that I decided to introduce to a kind of calm her autoimmune issues that were going on, including her thyroid. And it really seemed to calm her gut. And she said it was like a miracle to her, and we even tested going off of it briefly to see if that was truly what was happening. And it was definitely the low dose naltrexone that was helping calm things for her. And so that was one of my first introductions to the power of it. And from then on, I've been utilizing it in many ways since  

Linda Elsegood: What are the therapies you use alongside LDN?

Melissa Coats: Currently, here in Arizona, we have the ability to give IV nutrients, so we use IV alpha-lipoic acid alongside the LDN. Sometimes it's vitamin C, IV. We utilize other supplements, as well, to focus on different parts of what the person needs as far as support if they're during chemotherapy or radiation or other treatments who may have anything going on.

We also utilize sometimes another natural killer cell stimulator, which is mistletoe, but we only give that in a sub Q injection versus IV here in Arizona. There's often a combination of things that we utilize with LDN to help the patient get the best for their immune system and whatever other issues they're having.

...

Melissa Coats: Sometimes, most of those patients are already on LDN, so it's definitely a good part of the mix. We definitely like to make a treatment plan very individualized to each patient, and so there's often quite a multitude of things going on at once, whether it's ... LDN, IVs, a diet plan, whatever it is. We like to bring it all together for them so that they can feel their best. 

Linda Elsegood: And you mentioned a diet plan there. Of course, with cancer, sugar. Is a no, no. What kind of a diet do you suggest patients follow? 

Melissa Coats: A lot of our suggestions as far as diet are either to focus on a very anti-inflammatory or a Mediterranean style diet. The ketogenic diet is obviously big news right now. So that is definitely utilized depending on if the patient's in a good place to do that or not. If they're in a very cachectic state or their weight is very low, we may or may not utilize that, but if they're in a place where it looks like they would benefit greatly from the anti-inflammatory effect of being on the ketogenic diet, we definitely introduce that. Definitely a big part of our consults with patients is spending a lot of time on the diet because we believe food is one of the greatest medicines you can put in your body if you're utilizing it properly.  

Linda Elsegood: And what's the age range of the patients that you treat? 

Melissa Coats: We have little tiny babies all the way up to, I think one of our patients right now that we have that I also believe is onLDN is 89. So we have quite the age range going on here in our clinic. I would say the majority of my patients range in their mid-twenties to like in the seventies and eighties. So we have quite the group. 

Linda Elsegood: And you were saying that you treated the lady with celiac disease. Have you treated any other autoimmune diseases? 

Melissa Coats: Yes. Of the ones that I've seen some benefit, a few patients who have lupus who've seen some benefit; in rheumatoid arthritis we have definitely seen some help in calming some of that; a lot of Crohn's and colitis. I definitely really see a lot of benefit with LDN when you bring in GI issues that are very inflammatory and sometimes immune-mediated. So it's definitely been helpful. I also have utilized it quite often with Hashimoto's thyroiditis to kind of calm the thyroid antibodies, and they seem to note that their thyroid works more efficiently and we see better numbers on labs when they're on the LDN, and less need for medication, which is nice.

Linda Elsegood: So the patients that you know are on LDN for thyroid, do you taper up slowly? How, what is your protocol for that? 

Melissa Coats: The patients mostly have been able to start at three milligrams, and I haven't really had to taper them per se, up or down. Sometimes we just watch the numbers and kind of see how they're feeling, and I may start them at three and just have them check-in with me about how they are feeling, whether that's too much, too little? It hasn't seemed to cause any major side effects, which is why I love using it so much because most people have a great response. 

I forgot about one case that I specifically wanted to tell you about. I have two patients that have autoimmune hepatitis that has been very difficult for them to wean off their steroids. And we have been utilizing LDN probably for the last year and their numbers as far as their liver markers, their AST and ALT have definitely decreased significantly since starting the low dose naltrexone, and I have finally been able to taper to a much lower dose of their steroids, which is wonderful because they hadn’t gotten to a low dose before without the LDN. And we found that using the LDN has made them much more successful and they're very excited about that. The thyroid becomes more efficient with the use of the LDN. They definitely need less medication, which is wonderful. So I usually check thyroid labs when I'm changing things up, every four to six weeks. And so definitely I've had many patients have to reduce their dose because of the LDN, which has been great.

Linda Elsegood: So when a patient comes to see you, let's just say a cancer patient, how would you go about putting that plan together? What is the procedure you follow?

Melissa Coats: When we meet, we initially have at least an hour consultation. We have really extensive forms that they fill out ahead of time, so that I have a really good understanding of their history, and we try to request records so we’re already in the know of what's going on so that we can spend a lot of time talking with each other about goals and where they want to begin.

While we're in consult, we actually type up a protocol so that they leave with a piece of paper that says what labs they are going to get., what treatment plans and treatment options we are interested in doing, whether that's IV or starting low dose naltrexone or some supplements. And then we make sure that there's a clear understanding if we need to check-in and get a diet diary, or what changes should be made immediately.

So they leave with that protocol in their hands so that they feel like not only did we meet and get a good understanding of what's going on, but we have a plan in action that first day, which I think is very powerful in making a patient feel empowered about taking control of their health. And we also kind of keep updating that protocol each time we meet so that if a supplement doesn't work out or we need to add something, they know exactly what's going on and can keep track, which is helpful to everybody involved.

Linda Elsegood: I was speaking to Dr Berkson, and he taught me that alpha-lipoic acid is to be taken intravenously, that it wasn't as effective in tablet form. And the other day somebody was telling me that no, the tablet form works just as well as the intravenous. So I'm now confused. Has it changed? What's your take on it? Exactly. 

Melissa Coats: My understanding is with IVs, you're bypassing the GI and you're getting full absorption; whereas orally you'd have to take a lot more, and obviously the doses are different. The IV amount we go up to is about 600 milligrams, whereas orally we're giving someone up to 1200 milligrams a day. Typically we use both, so when they're not here, they're on it orally. And then when they're in an office, they don't need to take their oral dose that day because they're getting the IV version of it  But from a strengths perspective, and I'll have to check the latest studies, I guess now that you say that, my understanding from Dr Berkson and his protocol that I've been utilizing for a number of years now, that the IV seems to be pretty vital.

Linda Elsegood: That's what he told me, so I've just wanted to check that. 

Melissa Coats: We haven't changed our protocols yet as far as I know. When I can't get numbers to move from oral dosages of things, I definitely bring in the IV protocols, and that seems to make a difference. 

Linda Elsegood: And what about vitamin C taken intravenously? Is that really effective that way? 

Melissa Coats: For absorption issues and things like that? I would say yes, because, from the standpoint of orally, most people can't handle maybe roughly above six to eight grams because it causes a lot of GI distress, even if it's buffered, whereas IV we give people up to a hundred grams, which is way past what anyone could take orally. We know that that creates a different type of stress on the cells, that it can help with reducing vascular endothelial growth factor and other inflammatory markers related to cancer.

Linda Elsegood: And if you read about vitamin C and it talks about water-soluble fat-soluble and it's flushing out of your system if you take too much, or you take too much intravenously.

Melissa Coats: It’s pretty much individualized as well. Some people can't handle certain doses. There are some patients that feel great at 40 grams, and others that can take a hundred grams and feel just as great. So it kinda depends on the person. There are tests to check also whether their plasma level of vitamin C, so that's something that we have utilized in the past.

And then based on our clinical knowledge from using it for a long time. We have kind of figured out where people tend to do well. Yes, it doesn't stay in you forever. It is leaving the body, and there's a lot that's going through the kidneys and being voided out, but for the time that it is in the body and doing what it's doing to the cells.

And if you come on a fairly regular basis, you are creating an environment that is, less available for cancer to grow. So you're creating an environment that is not what they will utilize. So that's why we use it so often. We also use alpha-lipoic acid because it's a powerful antioxidant. And then some of the other nutrients that are out there too. 

Linda Elsegood: A few years ago I had an operation, and as I came to I was in quite a bit of pain, and they gave me intravenous paracetamol, and I was thinking to myself, the pain was quite bad, and I was wondering why they are giving me paracetamol? You know, that's not gonna do any good. And it worked. I was absolutely pieced. I thought, paracetamol isn't very strong, but apparently, it's stronger if it's taken intravenously, as it goes through the metabolism by the liver. It just goes right in. I was surprised at that.

So, vitamin C, minerals, and supplements. Do you have any favourite ones? I mean, obviously, it's individually tailored to the person. But on the whole, what would you say? 

Melissa Coats: We utilize a lot in the oncology world, things that basically kinda change the terrain for cancers. So one of the things that I've utilized a lot is modified citrus pectin, which targets galectin-3, and by lowering that, you allow protection of good, healthy cells and keep other tissues healthy. So, for example, with a woman with breast cancer in one breast, you want to try and protect the other breast. So that we found that this can be helpful. And if she's going to be having surgery or a biopsy, having this on board can kind of help prevent the spread of the other rogue cells. In studies, that's what's been confirmed. So it's something that we've utilized a lot. 

And I use some mushrooms, a whole bunch of different ones. Coriolis mushroom, to help your white blood cells keep your immune system healthy. So that's a big one that we use. And then things that target vascular endothelial growth factor, which is basically kind of a signal for angiogenesis or blood vessels to grow around a tumour.

And so there are numerous things that target angiogenesis. One is a magnolia extract. There are other herbs as well that do that. So obviously vitamin C. And then there's some thought that if you stimulate things like the natural killer cell function with low dose naltrexone, that you may be inhibiting some of those other pathways in a roundabout way. So that's why it's a of things. Quercetin, resveratrol; and curcumin is a huge one, which is the active constituent found in turmeric. There's a lot. And that's why we constantly are trying to throw different curveballs at the immune system to help people fight cancer. And so that's why we utilize so many different things, because if you just use one agent, obviously the immune system and the cancer is going to figure that way around it. And so you want to make sure that we help. 

Linda Elsegood: Do probiotics play a role?

Melissa Coats: Oh, yes, definitely. The GI health and having a really good balanced flora of good bugs in the body is definitely key.

When I'm not focusing on cancer, I really do believe in the gut-brain connection. If your gut is unhealthy, so will your brain be unhealthy. And so making sure that you have good flora can definitely help people's mood and their anxiety and stress responses. It's pretty amazing. So I love probiotics and what they can do. 

Linda Elsegood: I was looking at probiotics, and you start off with what I would call a reasonably priced product. So I was reading the labels - this one has that many million and this one has got different strains in it. I was just lost. I didn't know what it was I should be behind. Which was the best? Is it a case of the more money you spend, the better the product you're getting, or should you be looking deeper than just the price you're paying? 

Melissa Coats: I think it's probably a combination of both. Hopefully, the more expensive products are good. If not, then they're just gouging you. But the main thing for us is it's good to get a variety of strains. So not just acidophilus always. You want to make sure you're getting lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, and you want multiple strains of those types of bacteria depending on what you're trying to work with, with the gut. Also, we're a big fan of billions versus millions because you don't know how much is actually lost or killed off into your absorption and what your stomach acid is doing to those bugs. Depending on how they're put into a capsule, there's always some that aren't going to make it. So the more, the merrier, hoping that you'll be colonizing the gut with some good stuff. I always tell people to rotate brands, and also research the brand and make sure that however they have them, they can prove that when they get their product on the shelf, that those bugs are still alive in there if they're supposed to be, and not been heat shocked in transit and are no longer anything other than a pill filled with nothing. So it may be that that is cost-prohibitive, but normally most of the products that are pretty good are similar in price. 

I think that there's some that are really high in the billions that are intensive protocols that you may only be doing for a week or two, that may be more costly. It just kinda depends, which is why we recommend you usually see someone who has done the research versus just buying a product at the grocery store that's just been sitting on the shelf for you have no idea how long. And so it's good to kind of find that out before you spend the money and then are disappointed.

Oh, vitamin D is another one. Yes, it also depends on the person's absorption. Sometimes I've switched patients from a capsule form to a liquid form and have them hold it under their tongue because they didn't seem to be getting anything from their capsule. And that could be a reflection of the way they absorb through their GI, or if it needs to be more sublingual in their case. And usually, the dose probably needs to be higher than they thought it needed to be. Based on our labs, if someone's our range - here for example, one of the labs we use the range is 30 to 100, and we like to see people between 60 and 80. And so that may take them taking 10,000 units a day for a while, and then they may be able to ramp back, or they may have to take more than that depending on their absorption status. But you kind of play with what seems to work for them. And yeah, there's a lot of different brands on the market. 

Linda Elsegood: What about omega-3s?

Melissa Coats: Yes. The key thing with omega-3s for me is making sure that it's a very pure product, that it's not from fish that are in a farm lot being fed dog food or something horrible like that. They need to be deep-sea coldwater fish, hopefully sustainably raised. And then the capsules themselves, when you're looking at it, you want to make sure that they're fresh. So hopefully the product has some sort of date on it that tells you that those haven't been sitting and becoming rancid.

The key is to look at the EPA and DHA content. If it's fish oil it'll typically show you EPA and DHA, and you want that to add up to over a thousand milligrams within just one or two capsules versus having to take ten capsules to get there because otherwise, you're not getting the benefit of the anti-inflammatory effect, the good healthy cholesterol effect and everything else that goes along with it.

Linda Elsegood: I was talking to a nutritionist a few years ago now. And she was saying if you had an inferior product, they usually have vitamin A in them. And the more tablets you take, the more vitamin A you're taking and you can overdose on vitamin A.

Melissa Coats: Yeah, you've really got to make sure it's a pure product. That could be bad. And that will give you a nasty headache and make you not feel good at all. But the one I believe that we carry here, as far as I know, is just really focused on the omegas aspect of it.

Linda Elsegood: Yes. And what about people who are vegans? Can you take flaxseed oil to do the same?  

Melissa Coats: You could do flax or chia seeds. Also just eating healthy oils like avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil. You know, there's a lot of different ways to get in. Omega fatty acids that do not necessarily require a fish or krill.

Linda Elsegood: I was reading the other day an article on coconut oil where they were saying that previous research was incorrect and it wasn't as healthy as they made out. What is your stance on that?

Melissa Coats: I don't think it's the healthiest oil, but definitely, but I still see some benefit in using it, particularly the medium-chain triglycerides that come from coconut oil. Or we use MCT oil sometimes instead of just coconut oil. But if someone is just occasionally throwing a little bit of coconut oil into their smoothie, I haven't seen it detrimentally affect them and I've seen some good studies with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, that it helps the brain. So the MCT from coconut oil is helpful. 

I think it's also a matter of where you're getting it. If it's this big tub of coconut oil from a big box store, that may not be great versus actually getting small organic coconut oil, which might be a better option. With the ketogenic diet, they often mentioned using MCT oil does help supplement your fat content. And that's been a very pure product, and it usually doesn't have a coconut taste, but it's from coconuts. So people can use that if they don't like the coconut flavour. 

And it's nice because if you need to gain weight, it's a good way to add a hundred calories or more. Most people are not looking for that, but sometimes in the oncology world, we need to help people get more out of their meals. And because that doesn't have a taste like coconut oil, it's helpful. I don't think coconut oil is horrible, but I definitely don't recommend it to be someone's only source of fat for sure. And definitely, it is not an oil that cooks well at high heat. It will actually oxidize it and make it an unhealthy thing. So we usually recommend people use avocado oil for that. 

Linda Elsegood: Wonderful. The half an hour is up. It's gone very quickly. This was Dr Melissa coats and thank you so much. Before we go, can you tell people how they can contact you? 

Melissa Coats: Yes. You can contact us through our website at www.listenandcare.com, or you can give us a call at (480) 990-1111. And you can even have a 10-minute free consultation if you like.

Linda Elsegood: Oh wow, so we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

Melissa Coats: Thank you so much for having me.

Linda Elsegood: This show is sponsored by Dickson Chemist, experts in LDN and associated treatments in the UK. Dickson Chemist, the most cost-effective for LDN in all forms within the UK and Europe. They are maintaining safety standards far in excess of what is required. Why would you choose to get your LDN from anywhere else? Call 0800 027 6910 today to speak to the LDN experts.

Any questions or comments you may have, please Contact Us on our website at https://ldnresearchtrust.org/contact_us

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for joining us today. We really appreciate your company. Until next time, stay safe and keep well.

Dr Sajad Zalzala - 4th July 2018 (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Dr Sajad Zalzala shares his Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) experience on the LDN Radio Show with Linda Elsegood.

Dr Sajad Zalzala, commonly known as Dr Z, combines unique qualities of an experienced doctor passionate about disease prevention and longevity, and a serial entrepreneur. Sajad has been passionate about slowing down and reversing age-related diseases for 20 years. 

He decided to become a doctor after reading Ray Kurzweil’s books. He became interested in integrative and functional medicine as a medical student. He currently sits on the board of the International College of Integrative Medicine (ICIM).

For the last several years, he has run an online clinic dedicated to prescribing LDN to patients across the US and most of Canada and has treated over 1,000 patients with LDN.

This is a summary of Dr Sajad Zalzala’s interview. Please listen to the rest of Dr Z’s story by clicking on the video above.