Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)?

luckypenny · 02-26-2009, 07:04 PM

I don't generally post on the unexplained board, but I guess that is what I am now. My husband and I are using Creighton Model and NaProtechnology. I had a follow up with my doc. yesterday after doing a diagnostic cycle. Basically all of my blood test results were in the normal range, and I ovulated (I did cycle monitoring - the follicle was a good size, approx. 20mm and collapsed properly), so we are unexplained. The doc. gave me a prescription for progesterone (I have physical sypmtoms of low progesterone, even though my blood tests were actually pretty good). She also suggested that I could try Low Dose Naltrexone. She said they have success with this drug when the diagnosis is unexplained, but that the women tends to be stressed (I fit this description -I just generally don't deal well with stress and tend to percieve stress in situations that others might not. Infertility certainly isn't helping). She also said that in cases when there are immune factor issues they will sometimes prescribe this drug and the patient will continue to take it for the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Has anyone heard of this drug for fertility? Has anyone used it to get pregnant? Has anyone continued use during pregnancy?

lw962 · 03-17-2009, 04:58 PM

hi luckypenny- this is so interesting. what dosage would your doc be prescribing? at doses less that 5 mg, it can stimulate naturally killer cells which you certainly dont wanna do. many women fighting "unexplained" infertility tend to have elevated natural killer cells. it is effective in suppressing the immune system at higher doses.
this drug is used to treat alcohol and drug dependance at very high doses and autoimmune disorders and HIV/AIDS at lower doses.
i have confirmed immune issues and will ask my doc about this drug. we are still trying to devise a protocol for my next iui. have you discussed the use of medrol or prednisone too?

luckypenny · 03-18-2009, 12:06 PM

Hey lw, thanks for the reply. It is interesting that NaProTechnology and Dr. Hilgers have used the low dose naltrexone with success in patients that have immune issues, even though it actually boosts immune function. I wrote a bit more about it and the literature related specifically to using it for fertility problems in this post: http://www3.fertilethoughts.com/foru...ose+naltrexone.
If you get a chance to ask your RE I would definitely be interested in what they have to say. I know the LDN really doesn’t have a common use for fertility issues.

The dose I am on is 4.5mg (started at 1.5mg, increased to 3mg after a week and increased to 4.5mg last week). So far I haven’t really noticed anything. I do find that every time I start a new dose, if I wake up in the night I have trouble falling asleep. It seems like just as I am getting used to the new dose, I up it again. But I am at the full dose now.

I started the LDN and progesterone suppositories around the same time during my last cycle (the doc. prescribed the progesterone to be taken after I ovulate for 10 days each cycle. Even though my progesterone test results were okay, she felt that the pre-menstrual spotting/brown-black bleeding/tail end brown bleeding I experience indicates there is a problem with my progesterone). I just started my period on Saturday (we weren’t ttc last cycle) and my period is so different from before I started the progesterone and LDN. Absolutely no spotting, my period started in full force, and so far no brown/black bleeding.

Thanks for your reply – lots of baby dust!

02-26-2009, 07:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
luckypenny 100-199 post 3 of hearts Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada (2 hrs north of Toronto) Posts: 113	Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)? I don't generally post on the unexplained board, but I guess that is what I am now. My husband and I are using Creighton Model and NaProtechnology. I had a follow up with my doc. yesterday after doing a diagnostic cycle. Basically all of my blood test results were in the normal range, and I ovulated (I did cycle monitoring - the follicle was a good size, approx. 20mm and collapsed properly), so we are unexplained. The doc. gave me a prescription for progesterone (I have physical sypmtoms of low progesterone, even though my blood tests were actually pretty good). She also suggested that I could try Low Dose Naltrexone. She said they have success with this drug when the diagnosis is unexplained, but that the women tends to be stressed (I fit this description -I just generally don't deal well with stress and tend to percieve stress in situations that others might not. Infertility certainly isn't helping). She also said that in cases when there are immune factor issues they will sometimes prescribe this drug and the patient will continue to take it for the first 16 weeks of pregnancy. Has anyone heard of this drug for fertility? Has anyone used it to get pregnant? Has anyone continued use during pregnancy?

VISIT OUR SISTER SITES:
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar	eHarmony Advice Dating Advice	Project Wedding Wedding Songs	Weddingbee Wedding Blog

Currently Active Chat Room Users: 0 \| Scheduled Chat Room Events
	Users in Chat Rooms: No one's chatting right now!

03-17-2009, 04:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
lw962 1000-4999 post queen of hearts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 3,776	hi luckypenny- this is so interesting. what dosage would your doc be prescribing? at doses less that 5 mg, it can stimulate naturally killer cells which you certainly dont wanna do. many women fighting "unexplained" infertility tend to have elevated natural killer cells. it is effective in suppressing the immune system at higher doses. this drug is used to treat alcohol and drug dependance at very high doses and autoimmune disorders and HIV/AIDS at lower doses. i have confirmed immune issues and will ask my doc about this drug. we are still trying to devise a protocol for my next iui. have you discussed the use of medrol or prednisone too?

03-18-2009, 12:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
luckypenny 100-199 post 3 of hearts Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada (2 hrs north of Toronto) Posts: 113	Hey lw, thanks for the reply. It is interesting that NaProTechnology and Dr. Hilgers have used the low dose naltrexone with success in patients that have immune issues, even though it actually boosts immune function. I wrote a bit more about it and the literature related specifically to using it for fertility problems in this post: http://www3.fertilethoughts.com/foru...ose+naltrexone. If you get a chance to ask your RE I would definitely be interested in what they have to say. I know the LDN really doesn’t have a common use for fertility issues. The dose I am on is 4.5mg (started at 1.5mg, increased to 3mg after a week and increased to 4.5mg last week). So far I haven’t really noticed anything. I do find that every time I start a new dose, if I wake up in the night I have trouble falling asleep. It seems like just as I am getting used to the new dose, I up it again. But I am at the full dose now. I started the LDN and progesterone suppositories around the same time during my last cycle (the doc. prescribed the progesterone to be taken after I ovulate for 10 days each cycle. Even though my progesterone test results were okay, she felt that the pre-menstrual spotting/brown-black bleeding/tail end brown bleeding I experience indicates there is a problem with my progesterone). I just started my period on Saturday (we weren’t ttc last cycle) and my period is so different from before I started the progesterone and LDN. Absolutely no spotting, my period started in full force, and so far no brown/black bleeding. Thanks for your reply – lots of baby dust!