Since the mid-1980's, low dose naltrexone (LDN) has consistently demonstrated a markedly beneficial effect in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

This hit me as something to research....I have found a couple people here on DS that take it....anyone have more info???

http://lowdosenaltrexone.org/ldn_and_hiv.htm


Low-dose naltrexone holds great promise for the millions of people worldwide with
autoimmune diseases or central nervous system disorders or who face a deadly cancer.
LDN provides the first low-cost, easy to administer, and side-effect-free
therapy for HIV/AIDS.
In 1985, Bernard Bihari, MD, a physician with a clinical practice in New York City,
discovered the effects of a much smaller dose of naltrexone (approximately 3mg once a day)
on the body's immune system. He found that this low dose, taken at bedtime, was able to
enhance a patient's response to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
[Note: Subsequently, the optimal adult dosage of LDN has been found to be 4.5mg.]
The brief blockade of opioid receptors between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that is caused by taking
LDN at bedtime each night is believed to produce a prolonged up-regulation of vital
elements of the immune system by causing an increase in endorphin and enkephalin
production. Normal volunteers who have taken LDN in this fashion have been found
to have much higher levels of beta-endorphins circulating in their blood in the following days.
Bihari says that his patients with HIV/AIDS who regularly took
LDN before the availability of HAART were generally spared any
deterioration of their important helper T cells (CD4+).
In general, in people with diseases that are partially or largely triggered by a deficiency
of endorphins (including cancer and autoimmune diseases), or are accelerated by a
deficiency of endorphins (such as HIV/AIDS), restoration of the body's normal production
of endorphins is the major therapeutic action of LDN.
HIV/AIDS. As of September 2003, Dr. Bihari had been treating 350 AIDS
patients using LDN in conjunction with accepted AIDS therapies. Over the prior
7 years over 85% of these patients showed no detectable levels of the HIV virus
a much higher success rate than most current AIDS treatments, and with no
significant side effects. It is also worth noting that many HIV/AIDS patients have
been living symptom-free for years taking only LDN with no other medications.
The usual adult dosage is 4.5mg taken once daily at night. Because of the rhythms of the
body's production of master hormones, LDN is best taken between 9pm and 3am.
Most patients take it at bedtime. People who have multiple sclerosis that has led to
muscle spasms are advised to use only 3mg daily and to maintain that dosage.
Rarely, the naltrexone may need to be purchased as a solution
in distilled water with 1mg per ml dispensed with a 5ml medicine dropper.
If LDN is used in a liquid form, it is important to keep it refrigerated.
The therapeutic dosage range for LDN is from 1.75mg to 4.5mg every night.
Dosages below this range are likely to have no effect at all, and dosages
above this range are likely to block endorphins for too long a period of time
and interfere with its effectiveness.
HIV/AIDS.
As an AIDS drug, LDN leads to far fewer side effects than the standard
"AIDS cocktail." When used in conjunction with HAART therapies, LDN can boost
T-cell populations, prevent disfiguring lipodystrophy, and lower rates of treatment failure.
Additional Information
Bernard Bihari, MD, is the discoverer of the major clinical effects of low dose naltrexone.
A private practitioner in Manhattan, he retired in March 2007. Dr. Bihari is a
Board-certified specialist in Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Bihari's curriculum vitae.
David Gluck, MD, is the editor of this website, ldninfo.org. He is a Board-certified
specialist in both Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Gluck has served as
medical director for JCPenney and MetLife, and is now semi-retired, living and working in New York City.
Ian S. Zagon, PhD, has spent over two decades in doing basic research concerning endorphins.
He is Professor of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Dept.
of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, H-109, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033; office phone:
(717) 531-6409; email: isz1@psu.edu; website.