I got Covid earlier this year in January, this was the second time. Several weeks after recovery I started feeling extremely fatigued. If you’ve never experienced fatigue it’s hard to understand. I would sleep for 10 hours and wake up feeling like I never slept so I had to take naps. I had no energy and no desire to do things I like. I could literally lay down anywhere and sleep I was so fatigued. I started seeing my GP doctor and trying different meds over several months.

He changed BP meds, tried vitamin b, mega doses of C and numerous other natural supplements. He did every blood test he could and nothing turned up. He tried two different meds on me that should have perked me up (Sunosi was one) and they did nothing. He ruled out lung and heart issues. He suggested I go to an endocrinologist since he was out of ideas and I did. After a two month wait to get into an endo, I brought seven years of blood work and he said I’ve got long Covid and there’s nothing I can do, for most people it wears off after 6 months.

So, I read an article of long Covid studies and the use of LDN (low dose naltrexone). I went to my GP and asked if he would try it and he agreed. So far 3 mg per day has worked- I’ve been on it for a couple weeks now.

So, if you’ve got long covid symptoms ask your dr to try LDN. Just wanted to pass it on in case others here are going through similar things. I’m sure someone else here is having the same issue and I’m so relieved to be better that I wanted to share.

How do you think it works?

What did the doctor tell you?

This is a very off-label use, so I’m curious.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
How do you think it works?

What did the doctor tell you?

This is a very off-label use, so I’m curious.

I wish I knew, I can point you to one study going on now. I’m getting ready to do a follow up visit, I’ll see what he tells me.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05430152

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35179184/

I'm glad you posted your experience as I just saw this at the FLCCC site.

"Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN):LDN has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and neuromodulating properties. Begin with 1 mg/day and increase to 4.5 mg/day, as required. May take 2 to 3 months to see full effect."

Good info! I hope it helps some people out.

How expensive is it?

Cautionary tale…


Someone very dear to me was in a bad auto crash. Got taken to the ER and they could not get any pain medication on board to be effective. Instead they had to dose with benzodiazepines to at least calm her down (think Valium).

I watched a 4 mg morphine IV push (135# female) do absolutely nothing to her blood pressure, heart rate or pain. Should’ve been pretty flipping doped, but unphazed.

Hard to work on a patient in the ER like resetting bones and what not when they can still feel everything.

A day later we figured out what the issue was; Off label use of naltrexone. (Iirc, it blocks your mu receptors in the brain… These are for dopamine and pain mgt.)

Likewise, if you’re taking any opiates whatsoever, you must stop them well in advance of taking this drug. Otherwise it will put you into immediate precipitate withdrawls upon taking it.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I would sleep for 10 hours and wake up feeling like I never slept so I had to take naps. I had no energy and no desire to do things I like. I could literally lay down anywhere and sleep I was so fatigued.

That part right there described me perfectly when I had a 99% blocked heart artery. Heart doc did a heart cath finding that blockage and put in a stent.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
(Iirc, it blocks your mu receptors in the brain… These are for dopamine and pain mgt.)

Likewise, if you’re taking any opiates whatsoever, you must stop them well in advance of taking this drug. Otherwise it will put you into immediate precipitate withdrawls upon taking it.

That's exactly what it does. It's used to help people stop using opiates. Because alcohol uses the same receptors in the brain, it's used for alcohol addiction as well. You can use and become impaired, but you don't get the high off it. It's often given as a 380mg (337 mg of naltrexone per gram of microspheres) injection just before someone leaves inpatient rehab.

The dose you're taking is a quarter of that, but I don't know how much or how little is required for a particular individual to have the dopamine agonist effect, and likely enough, neither would a person taking it unless they were somehow testing opioids on themselves.

Hopefully his PCP told him that. I have not taken any opiates in over ten years, so if you are not in a bad accident you should be ok.

I don't take any opiates and it's only 3 milligrams. My wife, brother and friend use LDN for rheumatoid arthritis.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Hopefully his PCP told him that. I have not taken any opiates in over ten years, so if you are not in a bad accident you should be ok.

Perhaps the docs aren’t so careful when prescribing to non-addicts in an off-label manner to advise of the opioid agonists issues.

First rule of pharmacology: if it is strong enough to help, it is strong enough to hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I don't take any opiates and it's only 3 milligrams. My wife, brother and friend use LDN for rheumatoid arthritis.

Not sure the dosage really matters when you’re talking about lock and key style receptors being filled with a higher affinity molecule displacing all else.

This is how carbon monoxide kills you on the hemoglobin molecule. Hemoglobin has a much higher affinity for CO versus 02.

But if you were informed and aware of the possibilities, then you are forearmed against some of the consequences.

Wouldn't say I had long Covid in 2021, but I was coughing stuff up in the morning a month after not being sick anymore. Annoying.

I came across this, and had an old nebulizer in the house. Worked for me. I used the horse paste for the Ivermectin. Apple flavor. Delicious. The Livon Labs C wasn't cheap, but it beats going to a Doc in my mind.

http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v17n24.shtml

quote:

Perhaps the docs aren’t so careful when prescribing to non-addicts in an off-label manner to advise of the opioid agonists issues.

^^^^^^^
You have a point. They can be pretty casual about prescribing SSRIs and the like.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I don't take any opiates and it's only 3 milligrams. My wife, brother and friend use LDN for rheumatoid arthritis.

Not sure the dosage really matters when you’re talking about lock and key style receptors being filled with a higher affinity molecule displacing all else.

This is how carbon monoxide kills you on the hemoglobin molecule. Hemoglobin has a much higher affinity for CO versus 02.

But if you were informed and aware of the possibilities, then you are forearmed against some of the consequences.

I appreciate your info, I need to look deeper into that aspect. I know Naltrexone in high doses is used to treat both drug addiction and for weight loss. I was unaware of what you stated and I had not heard or read that anywhere. I was under the impression that low doses were safe and never knew of those side affects. Right ow not being exhausted is the better choice but you provided some vital info for me to look into.

I pass along the following for what it is worth. My wife was a long covid before there was such a thing, early 2020 before we had any testing at all for covid. It lasted for months. We thought she had parkinsons at 43 years old. She had constant mental problems with recall and brain fog. We ended up giving blood one day and by the next morning she was almost cured. I think we had to wait 4 weeks to give again, she did it again and her symptoms were gone.

When explaining this to our doctor, he summized that my wife's body was just unable to process the virus and kill it off and that by physically reducing the virus in the body it gave her the ability to process the virus normally.

If you are a long covid, I 100% would give blood if you can. I see no harm in it and the benefits to my wife were immediate and complete.

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:
I pass along the following for what it is worth. My wife was a long covid before there was such a thing, early 2020 before we had any testing at all for covid. It lasted for months. We thought she had parkinsons at 43 years old. She had constant mental problems with recall and brain fog. We ended up giving blood one day and by the next morning she was almost cured. I think we had to wait 4 weeks to give again, she did it again and her symptoms were gone.

When explaining this to our doctor, he summized that my wife's body was just unable to process the virus and kill it off and that by physically reducing the virus in the body it gave her the ability to process the virus normally.

If you are a long covid, I 100% would give blood if you can. I see no harm in it and the benefits to my wife were immediate and complete.

Wow. That's interesting. Who knew bloodletting has a basis in truth.

^^^