Chronic illnesses such as Symptoms of Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and most autoimmune diseases have, traditionally, been very difficult to treat by conventional doctors. With their arsenal being limited to drugs such as pain relievers, antidepressants and immune suppressants- millions of people seem to find only limited relief from these traditional therapies.
But recently, a successful drug treatment that is actually an old drug rediscovered is offering hope for those with these difficult to treat problems. Naltrexone was discovered many years ago and is used primarily for helping relieve the symptoms of drug dependency at a dose of approximately 50 milligrams per day. But in the past few decade it has begun to be widely used by alternative practitioners- even though it is a pharmaceutical!
Ironically, even though it IS a drug, alternative practitioners are using it when conventional doctors aren’t.
An accidental discovery led Harvard researcher Dr. Bernard Bihari to realize that it significantly helped the AIDS patients that he was treating. Interestingly, he used only 1.5 to 5 milligrams per day, a TENTH of the normal dosage. At these low dosages, it been touted to benefit symptoms of a wide variety of chronic illnesses including multiple sclerosis, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome and most autoimmune diseases. Now Fibromyalgia sufferers are able to put themselves on this growing list of those that may benefit from Low Dose Naltrexone therapy.
The latest study from Stanford University showed “promising” results with the use of Low Dose Naltrexone Therapy, also called ‘LDN’ by it’s proponents. While it was a small study, the researchers were encouraged that the majority of the participants benefited from the drug with decreased pain, fatigue and sleep problems.
Researchers aren’t quite sure what makes Low Dose Naltrexone therapy work, but it seems to generally improve the immune system in patients who are using it. This is the reason that it seems to miraculously work in such a wide variety of illnesses that seemingly have nothing to do with each other.
This actually supports what alternative practitioners have been saying all along- chronic illnesses are caused by hidden infections that are improved when the immune system is improved. And in the case of Autoimmune Diseases, this supports the thesis that autoimmune diseases are caused from an immune system that is Underactive and not OVERACTIVE as traditional medicine claims.
The findings with Naltrexone have actually led to renewed research on Autoimmune Disease that may lead to new drug research that will help people to Improve their immune systems rather than Suppress the immune system as current drugs use.
Ironically, the drug is already here in the form of Low Dose Naltrexone!!
Unfortunately, naltrexone is a generic drug whose patent is not now owned by any pharmaceutical company. Therefore, while some double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials are being done, they are few and far between due to the lack of funding for a drug that is unlikely to make anyone much money from its sale.
So, while conventional doctors are still not using Low Dose Naltrexone therapy, the hope is that more studies will be done that continue to show that the Fibromyalgia Causeand other immune system problems is a POOR immune system and not an UNDERACTIVE immune system as doctors claim. But right now, the drug IS available for those whose are able to find doctors able to prescribe it, and is offering hope and help for millions who have been unable to get relief from other, more conventional therapies.
If you are suffering from Early Symptoms of Fibromyalgia or any other hard to treat chronic illnesses and have not had relief of your symptoms, I have a program that has benefited hundreds of chronic illness sufferers. You can Contact Me Directly and get a free 15 minute consultation to find out how my program can benefit you.
Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com
Tags: alternative treatment for fibromyalgia, fibro, fibromyalgia treatment, low dose naltrexone, naltrexone
