Recently I wrote an article entitled “Low Dose Naltrexone and Thyroid Autoimmunity [1]”. In the article I discussed how more and more medical doctors are prescribing low dose naltrexone (LDN) for autoimmune conditions such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. I also discussed some of the risks associated with this medication.
While in most cases the benefits of LDN outweigh the risks, it’s still not something I usually recommend initially to my patients. And the main reason for this is because it’s not addressing the cause of the problem, and quite frankly, most people don’t need to take it. However, there are some cases when I will recommend LDN to my patients. One of these situations is when someone has severe symptoms that aren’t being managed through conventional or natural treatment methods. Let’s look at a few situations when LDN might be a good option:
Scenario #1: Someone with hyperthyroidism or Graves’ Disease who isn’t able to effectively manage their symptoms [2] with herbs such as bugleweed and motherwort, and isn’t able to take antithyroid medication due to side effects they experience.
Scenario #2: Someone with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who is still very symptomatic despite taking thyroid hormone [3] medication and following a natural treatment approach.
Of course there are other situations when LDN might be worth giving a try, but these are two common scenarios. In any case, besides not doing anything to address the cause of the problem, another downside of LDN is that it doesn’t work in everyone who takes it. I personally have seen mixed results for those patients with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who have taken LDN. I’ve seen some autoimmune thyroid patients significantly lower their thyroid antibodies when taking LDN, but there are also people who took LDN and didn’t show any improvement.
When LDN doesn’t work there can be a few different reasons why this is the case. One reason is due to low or depressed vitamin D [4] levels. Another reason can be due to having a Candida [5] overgrowth. Both of these are common problems, and ideally should be addressed before someone takes LDN. However, there are some people who have taken LDN and didn’t receive good results, even with healthy vitamin D levels, and without an overgrowth of Candida.
The main purpose of this blog post is get the feedback of others with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who took LDN. If you took LDN and if it benefited you please let me know! If you took LDN and didn’t notice any positive changes please let me know! And if you took LDN and had any negative side effects please let me know! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with others.