I was skeptical about treating Hashimoto’s with low-dose naltrexone (LDN) initially, but I’ve become a real supporter of LDN as an adjunctive tool in taming the thyroid autoimmunity in addition to thyroid medication when needed. Here’s my take on it:
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is one of the most common causes of underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) due to dysfunction of the immune system leading to chronic inflammation, irritation, and sometimes destruction of the thyroid gland. What triggers some of this autoimmunity is not 100% understood, but some known triggers are environmental such as: too much fluoride ingestion, brominated drinks (those that have color in them), stray x-rays that spray up to the thyroid, selenium or iodine depletion, petrochemicals, herbicides and pesticides, energy depletion or excessive electromagnetic frequency exposures, herpesviruses or hepatitis C, and anti-cancer or MS drugs.
We are also discovering that some patients’ thyroid blood tests are normal, but they experience the same Hashimoto’s hypothyroid symptoms. These patients have a deficiency in mitochondrial energy (within each cell) that is required to transport these active T3 into cellular tissues. This is more of a peripheral hypothyroidism. Standard thyroid blood levels are not usually indicative of thyroid function due to impaired cellular thyroid transport. Plus, there is an added complication in which an enzyme called deiodinase type 3 found in cellular tissues may be converting T4 into the inactive form of reverse T3. Therefore, robust full panels of thyroid levels and antibodies need to be run, in the very least, the first time a patient presents to the office. This way we can determine which type of thyroid condition the patient has. Thyroid hormones are important because they regulate metabolism, cardiovascular health, digestive function, muscle control, brain development, mood, and bone maintenance. I’ve described it as the “mother” gland that helps manage most other endocrine glands in the body as the master controller. Therefore, it is crucial to have sufficient levels of active T3 in all systems in our body to maintain optimal homeostasis.
Low-dose naltrexone is a medication that is formulated through compounding pharmacists and spins off naltrexone. Naltrexone in its full-strength is a medication that is used to block opioid receptors and to prevent opioid intoxication. It also blocks it in such a way that cravings and urges to use opioids and alcohol. As LDN is known to modulate the immune system by acting on endorphin receptors (opioid receptors) which play a vital role in immune function, it can possibly subdue the immune reaction and slow down destruction of thyroid cells. To quote other authors; “By decreasing inflammatory cytokine concentration, reducing interleukin activity, and lowering IFN-a and TGF-a (inflammatory markers), it is thought that LDN could improve thyroid function both in the pituitary and out in the periphery cells. These physiological mechanisms have been shown to further improve T4 conversion into active T3. ” Now we are discovering that LDN has been shown to inhibit cells that cause the autoimmunity process. Thyroperoxidase (TPO) is an enzyme involved in thyroid hormone synthesis for T3 and T4. Anti-TPO antibodies are those that I measure often when I manage a Hashimoto’s patient. I am collecting many patients who can track the trending down of these anti-TPO antibodies while on LDN. Presumptively, if the antibodies go down there is less attack on the thyroid gland, and it can stabilize or heal. In many scenarios I may have been using the LDN for the chronic pain or anti-cancer benefits and happened to watch the thyroid numbers improve as a secondary benefit. More and more thyroid patients are reading and understanding about LDN and want to use it specifically for this purpose. LDN and vitamin D3 seem to be the best chemical approaches currently to manage the thyroid autoimmunity. Red and infrared light have been discussed in the past as an energetic approach in addition to chemistry to assist in quieting the autoimmune response to the thyroid gland.
Many integrative and functional medicine physicians understand the benefit of LDN to the Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patient. You may certainly benefit from this approach, which is also quite inexpensive.
