Dr. Westin Childs Podcast: Thyroid | Weight Loss | Hormones

LDN, which stands for low dose naltrexone, can be used to treat various treatments including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. But what is LDN? How does it work? And how do you dose it? We are going to talk about all of these today. LDN is a medication used to treat alcohol addiction but is sometimes used off-label to treat autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. LDN works by blocking opioid receptors. When used at lower doses, it causes a temporary blockage of the receptors which results in a paradoxical increase in endorphins. These endorphins can then help to reduce inflammation and may help reduce pain and balance the immune system. The standard dose of Naltrexone for alcohol addiction is 50mg but when used in off-label for treating autoimmune diseases, the dose is much less. Standard dosing is somewhere between 1.5mg and 4.5mg per day but can go as low as 0.5mg all the way up to 13.5mg. Typically, LDN is very well tolerated and has few side effects. As many as 50% of people notice an improv