LDN Video Interviews and Presentations

LDN Webinar 18 May 2022 (LDN; low dose naltrexone)

LDN Questions Answered Live by

Pharmacist Dr Masoud Rashidi - LDN Specialist
Dr Sato-Re
Dr Mathewson

Sponsored by Innovative Compounding Pharmacy icpfolsom.com

Jess Armine, DC, RN: Introduction to Functional Medicine Part 1 (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

Dr. Jess Armine gives an Introduction to Functional Medicine and why Nutrition is so important to Chronically ill Patients

Jess Armine, DC, RN: Introduction to Functional Medicine Part 2 (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

Dr. Jess Armine gives an Introduction to Functional Medicine and why Nutrition is so important to Chronically ill Patients

Yusuf (JP) Saleeby, MD - LDN to help Long Covid patients; March 2022 (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

A high percentage of Covid patients continue to suffer debilitating symptoms well after the initial infection. This is because of the increased inflammation and reduced autoimmunity. Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) bolsters and regulates our systems quite effectively. Dr. Saleeby observes many conventional doctors are finally recognizing LDN as a primary treatment for Covid long-haulers, as well as other autoimmune conditions. He cited the Ldnresearchtrust.org site as an invaluable source of information on LDN. He looks forward to Linda Elsegood’s 3rd LDN  Book coming out soon.

Review by Ken Bruce

How LDN is helping Long Covid patients - Dr Yusuf (JP) Saleeby (Trascript)

Linda Elsegood: Today we're joined by Dr Yusuf Saleeby, also known as JP. Thank you for joining us today.

Dr. Saleeby: Hey Linda, it's always a pleasure.

Linda Elsegood: Now, you're going to talk to us today about Covid and Covid long-haulers, so I'll hand it over to you. Thank you.

Dr. Saleeby: Sure. So you know, two years into the pandemic we're seeing still a few cases of acute Covid infections but as of today, and this is the first of March 2022, we are not seeing too many acute cases. But what we are seeing is quite a number of long haulers or long Covid and also post Covid syndrome. It's also referred to as the syndrome of post-acute Covid infection, and the sequelae involved. And we're seeing also some issues with folks who have been vaccinated, some post-vaccine injury, but essentially what's happening is we're seeing a good bit of folks who had can't shake the initial Covid infections. And we've seen cases where a person has been infected two or even three times with different variants.

But the focus in general right now, moving forward, is a large number of folks coming in with the post-Covid infection, and some still suffering from long-haulers. There's a protocol we follow. The FLCCC has a very relevant protocol that's fairly frequently updated based on this new science coming in, and peer-reviewed articles. And that's kind of what we adhere to, with a few modifications. We're a little bit more aggressive with some of the dietary supplements that we prescribe. But essentially, low-dose naltrexone, which was offered as a second or third line agent, has now, in the recent month, been moved up to a primary intervention. So along with things like ivermectin and prednisone and omega-3 fatty acids, which is essentially what's derived from fish oil, and high doses of Vitamin D. The other agent is naltrexone, as in low-dose naltrexone. They're asking folks to begin at one milligram daily and increase to four and a half milligrams in a very short period of time. They are also stating that it's best to have people on this for two to three months to see full effect. So as with some of the other interventions, like they're recommending ivermectin, weight dose dosing, which is 0.2 milligrams per kilogram body weight, until symptoms resolve. Not necessarily for 14 days or one month, but until symptoms resolve.

And the same thing can be said for the use of low-dose naltrexone in my patient base. A lot of my patients actually are on it for a number of reasons, whether they're suffering from Lyme disease or autoimmune disease. So my patients actually have a benefit of being on LDN at the therapeutic dose, whether it's three and a half to four and a half milligrams a day. So they have the benefit of that. And then if they do get Covid, their symptoms are usually quite less. We've not really had but one or two hospitalizations. The stays are usually very short, maybe two to four days, just for high flow oxygen, and then they're discharged home. To my knowledge we've only had one or two patients ventilated during this whole pandemic. So adherence to early treatment, and the implementation of naltrexone as part of that regimen, has been very successful for us. Now our attention is focusing on folks that have long haulers still - brain fog, fatigue, loss of smell and taste, are the predominant ones; hair loss - we're seeing that as part of the syndrome. But it's mostly the fatigue. And so naltrexone is becoming a big part of our protocol for them,

Linda Elsegood: And how open-minded are other physicians to prescribing LDN.

Dr. Saleeby: As you know, it's like a certain segment of the physician population, at least in the United States, I don't know how it is worldwide, but there seems to be a better embracing of the use of low-dose naltrexone than other interventions like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, because those two other agents have been politicized a bit, whereas naltrexone has not. But there are certainly other interventions that are embraced by folks that are open-minded to integrative, more holistic, and what we call functional medicine, than the standard mainstream medical doctors, although the FLCCC in truth is actually established by conventional doctors who are open to using early treatment with ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, Alinia/nitrazoxanide, along with their traditional medications like prednisone, Singulair, some antihistamines Pepcid, things like that that are used in the protocol. But what they've also introduced are things like curcumin, Nigella sativa - which is the extract of black cumin seed oil, a very potent anti-inflammatory; higher doses of Vitamin C, melatonin, probiotics, and H2 and H1 receptor blockers. H1 would be your traditional antihistamines like Benadryl or Zyrtec or Claritin, and your H2 would be things like Pepcid/famotidine.

Some of those other agents - montelukast, which is Singulair, is also prescribed for those with MCAS - that's Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, which is part of the long haulers syndrome. It's where mast cells become destabilized and release a lot of histamine, so you have things like hives and rashes that appear, and some other complications. That's why the antihistamines and the leukotriene inhibitor Singular are used. There are some that will use anti-androgen therapies. There are some studies out of Brazil that showed that that was effective. And statins. I'm not a big fan of either of those two last agents, so I don't prescribe them in protocols for my patients. There's another SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) called fluvoxamine or brand name Luvox, which has been used, but it's not very well tolerated, so that's one that we have to be super careful with, because a lot of folks don't tolerate it. They have a lot of nausea or psychiatric kind of manifestations.

But LDN obviously is a great agent to use, because number one, it is very well tolerated; number two, it's very inexpensive. And it seems to be working very well. I mean, it was moved up from second and third tier to primary tier or primary agent to use by the FLCCC. And they're heavily research oriented. In other words, they don't make a move in that direction unless it's substantiated by large observational encounters with patients, or peer-reviewed journals.

Linda Elsegood: So, the million dollar question; put you on the hot spot here. What do you think that has done for LDN? Has it leapfrogged it forward far quicker than it would have done previously? And the second part of the question is, what do you think of everything that's been happening with using LDN for the symptoms of fatigue? What's it going to do to people with chronic fatigue syndrome?

Dr. Saleeby: Right. So yeah, I certainly think that the pandemic has elevated LDN to the top of mind for a lot of clinicians, both those that have been using it and were familiar with it to some degree in the realms of integrative and functional medicine, but also to the mainstream doctors who were unaware of LDN previous to the pandemic. Now it's front and center. I mean, it's one of four or five interventions that are considered top tier to use for people recovering from long haulers or post-Covid syndrome. So I think it did leapfrog it, I mean, in the minds of many doctors. To be put top of mind, that's a fantastic thing. That's kind of a good thing that came out of this horrible pandemic, if you will.

And the second question you had was, what about its effects on chronic fatigue. Well I've been using that in chronic fatigue and autoimmune patients and people with MSIDS (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome) or CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome). Those are all different acronyms for almost the same essential issue. It's a syndrome that involves the immune system and inflammation, and we know that LDN and naltrexone in research is an anti-inflammatory from several different mechanisms. It helps suppress inflammation, and the post-Covid syndrome, and certainly the long haulers, is a problem mostly with inflammation. The virus is long gone. It's already out of our system. Usually 9 to 14 days after you first get infected, the virus has done its bad thing, and it's sort of kind of gone away, and what's left is the sequelae of that, which is lots of inflammation. And that's what actually hurts people. It destroys their lungs and other organs: liver, kidneys, things like that; and affects brain and cognitive issues, and things like that. So one of the interventions used is high doses of curcumin and black cumin seed oil. Those are potent anti-inflammatories. Even those that decide to use statins, they're using it for the anti-inflammatory nature of the statin, like atorvastatin. But then LDN comes in, which has a very safe and effective mechanism of lowering inflammation. I think that's why it's important.

Linda Elsegood: Well let's just hope that, as you say a good thing has come out of this. If we can get more doctors prescribing LDN and finding the benefits that patients have, hopefully they will prescribe it for more conditions. Mental health, autoimmune, cancer, pain, the list goes on. But I think it does make a big difference, the first time a doctor actually can see that LDN has done amazing things for a patient. It gives them the encouragement and the confidence to prescribe it for further patients.

Dr. Saleeby: Right, I think I definitely. And Linda, your website does a phenomenal job in helping me put together a PowerPoint presentation for your organization as well as for upcoming symposium I have. I've gone to your website, which is a great resource, and it lists all the different conditions that LDN is being used for, or would be useful. There’s this long list of conditions, categorized. Pulmonary, neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular. You've done a great job in enumerating all these conditions, and I think it's just a matter of time now for doctors to start embracing that, looking at the literature, looking at the peer-reviewed literature that backs up the use of this agent, a very unusual drug. It's one of my probably top five of my safe and effective drugs that I prescribe, and that's what I would grab. I tell my patients if I had to grab an agent to take with me on a deserted island, one of the top three would be naltrexone for the LDN. It's a powerful drug with a lot of uses, and it's backed up by research. That's the important thing.

Linda Elsegood: Talking about the website, we do update it monthly, so any doctor that tells us of a condition that they treated a patient for with LDN and had good results that's not on our list, we add it. We also add the latest clinical trials and peer-reviewed papers, and LDN in the news, things that have been happening. So we try and make it a one-stop, where a doctor, a researcher, a pharmacist who's looking to do a presentation, just like you were saying, that they can find the information quickly and easily. It's a never-ending job.

Dr. Saleeby: I know it is it's a great thing you offer, and I do send patients to that website in particular when we have a discussion in my office about LDN. I have some material I hand out to them, but I also direct them to the LDN Research Trust website so they can glean a lot of information. It's great resource for them.

And I understand there's a new book coming out, Linda?

Linda Elsegood: Yes, we've got the third LDN Book, which should be coming out in the fall. And we're covering different conditions. Many people have asked if it is the first book updated the third time. No, it's a series of books. So we've got Volume One and Two, now we've got Volume Three. And you put me on the spot to try and think what's in Volume Three. But it's really exciting, and you've written a chapter as well. So I think watch this space, and it will be available in a few months.

Dr. Saleeby: I mean reading Volume One and Volume Two I thought well, maybe that would be just an update, like a second edition. But it wasn't. Some novel things were discussed in Volume Two, and I'm assuming that like you say, Volume Three will be more novel stuff.

Linda Elsegood: The whole idea is to have every volume cover conditions that haven't been covered in the previous books, where we have the latest research, and we will have a section so the latest papers will be referenced at the back. I mean, we have every book, hundreds of references, and of course as time goes on, every year there are more papers coming out, which is fantastic.

The LDN Research Trust has been going over 18 years now, and initially, published papers were slow coming through. But every month there is something somewhere in the world. Somebody's done something, had something published. So it is gathering momentum

Dr. Saleeby: And Linda, I think really, with the last two years of us being in a pandemic, where a lot of focus has been on Covid 19 and what we can do for it with, let's say, off-label use of certain medications, and LDN. That's going to even push more research money towards researching LDN. I'm sure. Now that it's on the protocol,and it's like in the number one section of early interventions for long haulers, I think you'll see probably more and more papers. Actually, it should be exponential, in the number of researchers wanting to take this on and do more research, for sure.

Linda Elsegood: Fingers crossed!

Dr. Saleeby: So Linda, I've got a very interesting case that I saw in my office a few months ago, and this is actually a post-Covid vaccine injury type case. This lady, unbeknownst to her, had an underlying tick-borne infection. She actually had Lyme disease that was activated by the first dose of a Covid vaccine. I'm not going to mention which one it was, but it was a first in a series of two that she received. And within 48 hours of receiving the first dose, and then for the subsequent weekend, to two weeks thereafter, she suffered some neurological conditions that put her in a wheelchair. So this is a woman, and she was in her late 40s, and she was very ambulatory; didn't really claim any health issues. Next thing you know, within a very short period after her first vaccination, she was wheelchair-bound, couldn't walk, and had a very staggering kind of staccato that almost looked like a Parkinsonian kind of gate. It took her literally three minutes to get up out of the wheelchair and walk a few steps across the room to the doorway of my office. Now, we put her on a pretty heavy-duty protocol involving a few off-labeled drugs, but also I rapidly escalated her dose - she was never on LDN - but I placed her on low-dose naltrexone and escalated her dose pretty quickly, because I knew time is of the essence here, and I didn't want her neurological problem to progress. And during that time, it was when we discovered that she had Lyme disease as an underlying etiology, and it was just exacerbated by probably the spike proteins in the MRNA vaccine. We were able to get her rapidly up to 4.5 milligrams, which she tolerated very well. And the second time I saw her, she had transitioned from a wheelchair to a walker. On the third visit, which was a month later, she was using a cane. Now she was able to ambulate without the use of any help like a cane or even family members, but again it was extremely slow with her ambulation, and it looked kind of almost Parkinsonian in nature. Kind of like this leaning forward, kind of unsure, took her a long time to actually turn. But once she initiated the walk, she could carry on her day, and it was a little bit slow. But now I have not seen her back in about a month or two. She should have an appointment with me again soon, but I thought that was a pretty interesting case, where I think I'm pretty sure that the naltrexone had a big part to play.

Linda Elsegood: Well, thank you very much for having shared your experience with us today.

Dr. Saleeby:  Well Linda, it's always a pleasure. Have me back anytime. It's always good seeing you.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you. Any questions or comments you may have please email me, Linda, at contact@ldnresearchtrust.org. 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.

Pharmacist Michelle Moser, LDN Key to Success (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

Review: Michelle Moser has 35 years experience as a Pharmacist and is very experienced with the utilization of LDN (Low one Naltrexone). She volunteers her knowledge as an a LDN specialist with the LDNresearchtrust.org. Her 21 minute presentation covers how they supply a thorough service to their customers, with advice and council on dosing and related help for a variety of conditions. She explains how LDN can be used along with most other drugs, even opioids if the LDN is micro dosed and immediate release. All autoimmune conditions can benefit from LDN.

Review by Ken Bruce

Linda Elsegood: Welcome to the LDN Radio Show brought to you by the LDN Research Trust. I'm your host Linda Elsegood. I have an exciting lineup of guest speakers who are LDN experts in their field. We will be discussing low dose naltrexone and its many uses in autoimmune diseases, cancers, etc. Thank you for joining us.

Linda Elsegood: Today I'd like to welcome back our guest pharmacist, Michelle Moser who's also one of our LDN Specialists. Thank you for joining us today, Michelle.

Michelle Moser: Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's certainly my pleasure.

Linda Elsegood: So we're all keen and eager, and as people can see, you've put “Keys To Success” up there, so take it away.

Michelle Moser: Thank you, thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to share some information with everybody today that really goes over not only how patients can find their success, but how providers can also enhance patient outcomes. So here we go. The first thing I want wanted to address is that low dose naltrexone plays really well with other therapies. It's not necessarily medication that is used all by itself all the time, and that is a question that comes up from not only patients, but from providers as well, wanting to know, well, the patient is taking this this and this. Can I use LDN? And the answer almost always is yes, and the main reason is that even if we are using or prescribing opiates for patients with chronic pain, depending on how those opiates are being utilized throughout the day, LDN might still be an option. Very few times is it that LDN is not something you can start. It doesn't have very many drug interactions, so LDN is brilliant for a wide variety of indications. And as we know, as so many more autoimmune diagnoses are being found every year, I think now there's something like 100, 120 some, maybe even 140 autoimmune disorders, low dose naltrexone is a wonderful fit for most of those patients.

But we also have other dosing, such as very-low-dose, which is 50 to maybe 250 micrograms. And then we have ultra-low dosing, which stems from the oxytrial study where we were using only microgram dosing, one, two, three, four micrograms, alongside short-acting opiate medications to help reduce the need for those opiates and replace it with low dose naltrexone. Because we know that low dose naltrexone not only helps to intermittently block those pain receptors, but also helps to reduce not only inflammation and those pro-inflammatory cytokines, but we can also see that low dose naltrexone helps to modulate the immune system. And there's a wide variety of studies that have been published to emphasize exactly those parameters. So if you're needing those, either reach out to the LDN Research Trust or your local compounding pharmacist. Sometimes we have those available, as well some of the other things that we use in our compounding lab and compound on literally a daily basis, because low dose naltrexone is used for a lot of inflammation issues, autoimmune, chronic pain.

We can also use low dose naltrexone for some of those other nuanced areas such as traumatic brain injury PTSD, depression, and anxiety; and we've heard from a wide variety of wonderful practitioners during the LDN Research Trust conferences on those specific areas. But when we're able to use other medications in combination with LDN; I don't mean like in the same capsule or in the same liquid, I just mean side-by-side dosing; we can see that oxytocin, especially in a nasal spray, is incredibly helpful to help build that sense of connection, to help alleviate depression and grief, as well as go after some of those imposed pain areas. And oxytocin is one of those medications that is very easy to administer in a nasal spray, even in sublingual drops. But it is very sensitive to heat, so we have to be very careful about what dosage forms we're using. We don't use oral capsules with oxytocin. The stomach acid kind of wipes out its activity. So we need to find alternative forms for that.

But also if you're needing low dose naltrexone for dermatology issues then we can combine it with mast cell stabilizers like ketotin or either other anti-inflammatories, even tranexamic acid, to help decrease some of the redness, in that dermatology issue. And even the autoimmune dermatology products, we're very careful about the bases that we put low dose naltrexone in so that we can control exactly how deep we want that therapy to go. So not every base is going to work, because we really need to individualize that therapy for that condition.
Of course we use low dose naltrexone in a situation with ketamine, which is a non-opiate pain medication as well. And because ketamine works on different receptors than low dose naltrexone we don't see the withdrawal. We actually see the enhancement of that pain control. So there's a a lot of options here.

And lastly, I wanted to address synapsin, which is this wonderful combination of medications. It's a ginseng derivative along with an NAD that again helps to reduce the central inflammation in the brain. And when we use it in a nasal spray, of course that helps with the neural transmission directly to the brain.

As a pharmacist, when a patient is new to low dose naltrexone, or even comes to us because a provider would prefer to use our pharmacy, we emphasize that low dose naltrexone is not a cure-all drug. It actually doesn't really cure anything, but what it does do is it helps to trick the body to work on its own pathways, and much more effectively, and much more efficiently.

So when we set up the expectations, we want patients to know that this isn't like taking something like an aspirin or a Tylenol. It's going to take a little while for this medication to provide full benefit. And we also know that low dose naltrexone isn't for everybody. But when we start low with the dosing and slowly increase, that we can actually see patient outcomes in greater than 50, actually approaching 80 to 90 percent of the time, which as a pharmacist, I've been a pharmacist for over 35 years, I don't recall any other medication providing that high of patient outcome, and that high patient benefit. So we also let patients know that this is a therapy that we're going to start with a low dose, slowly increase over time, and when we find their happy dose, which may be 4.5 milligrams, might be less than that; in some situations we might actually split the dose and take some in the morning and some at night; again completely individualized therapies. We let them know that most respond in about 60 days, so you got to give it some time. And with that I try to emphasize that most of the time, by the time patients are finding low dose naltrexone either through their provider or through the suggestion of their pharmacists or other chat groups, that they have been years into their therapy without great outcomes, without great success. They've used maybe even a wide variety of providers, a wide variety of alternative therapies, and now they're going to give low dose naltrexone a shot. So don't expect everything to just magically go away in a week. That's not going to happen. And in some situations, even when we're dealing with the same disease state - so let's say we're talking about fibromyalgia patients - some respond very quickly, others do take about four to six months to respond. Even with Crohn's disease, we've heard from Dr Leonard Weinstock during the LDN Research Trust conferences, that most of his patients really respond somewhere around the four-month mark. So that is very important, so that we make sure that patients are compliant on their therapies, and that they understand that the pharmacy and the provider will be checking in with them to make sure that they're still doing well, and then if there are any questions, that come up, we can answer those right then and there rather than answering them after they've stopped their therapy.

One thing we've also learned over the years with low dose naltrexone is that often less is more. So increasing the dose frequency beyond twice a day is not necessarily very helpful, and certainly going above maybe even six milligrams isn't usually as effective as lower doses, especially when we're dealing with autoimmune conditions. Now if we're dealing with weight loss, then we then we move into a little bit different realm. But again that therapy is taken once or twice a day, so again it's about treating that individual and making sure that that individual is heard, is listened to, and is able to express their goals so that we can effectively meet those.

And I wanted to throw this in there too, that we had a gal who slowly increased her dose, and when she was at 3 milligrams she felt great. She got up to 3.5, she wasn't feeling as good, and she went up to 4 and she still wasn't feeling very good. So we bumped her back down to 3 and then we slowly increased with 0.1 milligram dosing, which is itty-bitty, but sometimes even that 0.1 milligram makes all the difference in the world. And her happy dose was 3.1 milligrams. So it was great, and that's where she stayed, and she's been at that dose now for a couple of years. We also let patients know that yes, the pharmacy will check in with you periodically, usually around week 3 or 4, but don't wait for us. If something comes up, please get a hold of us, please let us know how we can help you, because we'd much rather answer those questions sooner than later, or have them stop therapy altogether, and really have to start all back at square one. So when we're slowly increasing these doses, we try to make it as easy as possible for the patient to understand. So whether we're dealing with capsules or liquids, we've built these great handouts so that patients understand how to slowly increase their dose without taking literally a handful of capsules at a time. That isn't necessarily the best way to go about it, because then they have to wash it down with a lot of water, and if dosing is at bedtime, that could very much disrupt their sleep because they've got to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. So we provide these handouts, and we color code them, because we provide two different strengths in two different colored bottles, and we emphasize that as we are reading from left to right rather than using the columns top to bottom. Then we're going to be able to use a little bit of out of one bottle or the other bottle concurrently as we slowly increase that dose. But we also have liquids that we use, and this liquid starter kit includes a lot more color, mainly because we slowly associate the color with the gradation, and this is actually a twice a day dosing starter kit that we use with a liquid base, because liquids are a lot easier to manipulate and find those doses that are going to be specific to them. Not everybody uses doses that are the same in the morning or at night. Sometimes one end is higher than the other.

Also, using an oil suspension is going to give a longer dating for the patient. Their bottle is going to last longer than 30 days, and that's also very pleasing to the patient, because they're very cost conscious, as they should be, because the majority of the time these medications are out of pocket expenditures. We offer an almond oil base, an olive oil base, or an MCT oil base which is derived from coconut oil. We can splash it with a natural flavor like tangerine, lemon, mint, cinnamon; and then in some situations we might actually add a little natural sweetener like a Stevia. W at this pharmacy really steer away from artificial sweeteners because we find that sometimes that actually increases inflammation, and we're also really careful about the oils that we are using. These are not cosmetic or traditional food-grade, these are bases that are backed by the United States Pharmacopoeia with a national monograph behind those.

We also are really careful about the fillers that we put in our capsules, and we work again with that individual to ensure that we're using a filler that is going to best meet their needs. All of the capsules are immediately released. We do not use any extended-release product, because that does slow down the absorption. A lot of times there's absorption issues to begin with, and certainly if we do extend the release of the naltrexone, we are actually bypassing and negating the science behind how naltrexone actually works at that receptor site. Most of the time we're using a microcrystalline cellulose, but we do have other fillers as well, so again we let them know we try to make this as easy as possible. But if it is at all confusing when the patient goes over their medication, we ask that they call the pharmacy. Let's go over those questions right away to make sure that they are getting the best information for the greatest success possible

So with our patient follow-up programs, we identify those individuals who have recently received their medications, and we kind of look at where they're at in their in their dosing schedule. We give them a call or we send them a text, “Hey we'd like to check in with you. We want to make sure everything is going well”. And we also realize that not all patients are available 9 to 5 when the pharmacy is open. Sometimes we need to schedule conversations outside of business hours, and so we make sure that that is available to a patient so that all of their needs are being met. We check in with them at least once during their first month, but we always reiterate to the patient if something comes up, get a hold of us, and this is how. We have an email option, we have a texting option, and we have a phone call option as well.

We also let them know that as dosing adjustments are being made. sometimes side effects might crop up. and so we let them know exactly what those are. Sometimes it is vivid dreams, but often when we have vivid dreams we know LDN is working, because it's helping us get into that REM sleep cycle. But if those vivid dreams become disturbing or change our sleep patterns, then we want to move the dosing schedule. We also let them know that if there's a little bit of a headache, how to alleviate that, and how long that those side effects might persist, and when they should expect those to go away. And if they're having issues with perhaps constipation, we explain that as well, because sometimes even these very small side effects can allow a patient or cause a patient to back off of their therapy and abruptly stop.

Answering the questions as they come up again are keys to success. This is how we allow our patients to communicate so that we are acknowledging what is going on with them, and they feel heard and understood. Anytime that we can alleviate side effects only allows for a better health program and for greater success, and this is when really their prescriber or their provider becomes the hero in all of this, because they suggested a therapy that is finally working for them, maybe even after years or decades of them searching for a really good way to feel better, perhaps even feel normal.

When we enhance compliance, of course we see better outcomes. When a patient is heard, when they are allowed the time to explain what's going on with them, they take ownership of their own care, and in our experience at our pharmacy, we find that when a patient takes ownership over their care, they're more likely to then be fully engaged and follow other processes or programs that may be in place by the provider. Often that leads to less phone calls to the provider office, less insignificant or issues that could be dealt with over a simple phone call, maybe even less visits to the emergency room mental health, which is always a concern, and especially in the last couple of years with stress and anxiety and depression, we see that even using low dose naltrexone can be beneficial in helping some of those areas where patients may not have been using low dose naltrexone as a primary concern, but they realize that oh my gosh, these other symptoms have disappeared too. And that's always a great benefit. We see increased patient compliance, and always better patient outcomes.

But truly, because low dose naltrexone is such a low-risk, low-side-effect, it's a low dose and honestly, it's a very low cost medication. That safety margin is much better than most commercially available prescription medications. The minimal drug interactions make it a prime candidate for the use of low dose naltrexone in the majority of health concerns and diagnoses, and quite honestly, we have over 30 years of research behind low dose naltrexone. So if you're looking for great science in using a medication that is beneficial for many many people not just in the short term but over decades. This is where we really say, “Why not try low dose naltrexone. It's a fabulous way to really get after some of those chronic issues that maybe will enhance a lifestyle, and be able to allow somebody to cross things off of their bucket list.

So here we are. I want to thank Linda for the opportunity to chat with everyone today and certainly, if there's any questions that I can help with, please let me know. This is my personal email, and these are questions, and my cell, as well as my store phone number. So I'm happy to help. Thanks so much Linda.

Linda Elsegood: Thank you! Any questions or comments you may have, please email me, Linda, at linda@ldnrt.org 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.

Chris "Harry" Harrison, PharmD - LDN Specialist (LDN, low dose naltrexone) from LDN Research Trust on Vimeo.

Chris is the Pharmacist in charge at Flourish Integrative Pharmacy in Oklahoma City. He has been with Flourish for 10 years and began working in retail pharmacy when he was 17 years old. It was through fantastic pharmacist mentors while in high school that he realized pharmacy was how he wanted to serve others. Chris received his Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. Boomer Sooner!! One of the favorite aspects of his job is getting to actually spend time with patients. He appreciates those relationships and it makes being a pharmacist really fun. When not working Chris enjoys traveling with his wife and kids, attempting to play the guitar/drums, cooking, fishing, hiking, and spending time outdoors.

Dr Sajad Zalzala, LDN Radio Show February 2022 (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

Dr. Sajad Zalzala is conducting very interesting trials on his patients utilizing Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). He is collecting data on the various conditions LDN is helpful for, and what various dosages can be best in each case. His main area of interest is aging and longevity, and he feels LDN can be a big player in dealing with the many autoimmune conditions that shorten our life span. He is measuring the success of LDN on each condition and the expected duration to see results. He is excited with his results to date and will publish his findings in the future.

Review by Ken Bruce

Monika - US: Relapsing Polychondritis (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

An LDN Research Trust Radio show with Linda Elsegood and Monika from the US talks about her experience of LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone for Relapsing Polychondritis which is a rare condition.

Monica - US: Relapsing Polychondritis (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

An LDN Research Trust Radio show with Linda Elsegood and Monika from the US she talks about her experience of LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone for Relapsing Polychondritis with is a rare condition.

Drew Gray, PharmD - LDN Specialist (LDN, low dose naltrexone)

Drew Gray has worked in Maine pharmacies for over 17 years. He began his career in retail pharmacy at age 19 and has since worked in several pharmaceutical fields including: long term care, hospital, and specialty pharmacy.  He is now a co-owner Coastal Pharmacy and Wellness in Portland, ME and oversees their compounding laboratory.

He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2009. Upon graduation, he moved back to his home state of Maine, where he thoroughly enjoys the Maine way of life. “Providing honest and friendly patient care has been the mainstay of my pharmacy career. There’s nothing more rewarding than establishing a relationship with a patient and being able to have a positive impact on their health and life”.

In addition to his work, Drew enjoys sailing, paddleboard racing, night photography, and working in his woodshop.