My Dr has never heard of ldn???

So I had a GI appointment today and I asked her if she was familiar with ldn and if she prescribes it. She said "What's that?" and I said "low dose naltrexone". She said she sometimes prescribes it for liver patients with severe itching but not for UC. I found it odd that she acted like this was the first she's heard of it. And I don't think it's used for itching. Maybe she was mistaking it for another drug? What kind of dr usually prescribes ldn?

I have been in a flare since 8/8/11. I am also a type 1 diabetic. She prescribed hydrocortisone enemas about 3 weeks ago. I was supposed to take those in the morning and rowasa enemas at night (along with Apriso). The hydrocortisone enemas raised my blood sugars to 400-500s so I only took them for 5 days. Today my dr said that that the hydrocortisone enemas shouldn't have had a systemic effect (but my blood sugars are usually very well controlled) and she prescribed oral entocort. I found this very strange seeing as how the enemas affected my sugars so badly. Why would she prescribe oral steroids??? And if they raise my blood sugars that high then I wouldn't be able to abruptly stop the oral entocort. I would have to be weaned, right? This is so frustrating because I don't want to cause organ damage while trying to get back into remission. Sometimes I feel that I am just prolonging the inevitable (getting on immunosuppressants) but I don't want cancer either. lol

Hey Sierra,

LDN isn't really considered a mainstream medication. It seems like it's more likely prescribed by an openminded GI, an alternative doctor or a GP with experience in using the medication. It's kind of difficult to find a doctor who is willing to prescribe it for you. There is a list that is available if you speak with the woman who runs this website:
http://crystalangel6267.webs.com/

It's inexpensive but it's usually not covered by insurance. It's a medication that is used for treating addiction as far as I know but it has so many off label uses.

My GI wouldn't prescribe it for me either and I haven't had any time or energy to seek out a doctor who would. I may do this in the future but right now I am doign well on 6mp so I haven't been thinking about trying anything new at this point. Perhaps in the future. When I asked my GI, I even forwarded her som elinks to pages with info that showed positive evidence in the use of LDN for UC, she said there was no data showing it effective and pretty much said no way!

As for Entocort, I am not so familiar with this drug, nor am I familiar with diabetes. All I know about entocort is that it has less side effects than prednisone. I have only been on prednisone, which gave me horrible side effects. I can't see ever risking those side effects again.

What are you currently taking to treat your flare up? Apriso and steroid enemas? What dose of Apriso?

If you email that woman Crystal, she will provide you with a local list of doctors who will prescribe it. I don't think it's common for GIs to feel comfortable prescribing it. I've seen a few people here get it from their GI when they were completely out of mainstream options. I know my GI wouldn't give it to me regardless.

Have you tried anything other than Apriso? Apriso is lower dose. I take 3600mg oral meslamine, some take 4800+ daily. If the inflammation is in the rectum, you may do better with Colazal.

I was diagnosed with pancolitis in Nov 2010. Apriso worked wonders for the first flare but nothing seems to be working this time.

I would try a different 5ASA if I were in your shoes. Apriso is very effective for many but it is a lower dose and you may do better on something else. It's worth a try in my opinion. If you could get back on track with 5ASAs, that would be ideal. Do you have Canasa suppositories? I use enemas at night and suppositories in the morning when I am flaring.