Crystal's MS,Transverse Myelitis and LDN Website
Helping Others and Finding A Cure!!!!!!!
Gazorpa
The owner of Gazorpa.com has asked me to take over her information from her website because she is too busy doing other things to keep up with the website so I am adding a page of her stuff to my website.
Autoimmune Diseases and Cancer Treatment with Low Dose Naltrexone
Low-dose Naltrexone (abbreviated LDN) holds great promise for the millions of people worldwide with autoimmune diseases or central nervous system disorders or who face a deadly cancer. It is the first low-cost, easy to administer, and side-effect-free therapy for HIV / AIDS. Naltrexone was approved by the FDA in 1984 in a 50 mg. dose for the purpose of helping heroin and opium addicts. It acts by blocking the by blocking opioid receptors, and thus the effect of such drugs. Naltrexone also blocks the reception of the naturally produced opioids (yes, your body makes opioids!) in the brain and adrenal glands: beta-endorphin and metenkephalin. Many body tissues have receptors for these endorphins and enkephalins, including virtually every cell of the immune system.
History
In 1985 Bernard Bihari, M.D., a New York City physician, discovered the effects of a much smaller dose of Naltrexone (approximately 3 mg. daily) on the body's immune system. He found that this low dose, taken at bedtime, enhanced a patient's response to infection by HIV. Subsequently, the optimal adult dosage of LDN has been found to be 4.5 mg. In the mid-1990's, Dr. Bihari found that patients with cancer such as lymphoma or pancreatic cancer also benefited from LDN, in some cases dramatically. Also, people with autoimmune diseases (such as lupus) often showed prompt control of disease activity while taking LDN.
Mechanism of Action
LDN boosts the immune system by its action on the naturally produced endorphins (internal opioids). As stated in the
By taking a bedtime dose of LDN the brief blockade of opioid receptors between
Bihari says that his patients with HIV / AIDS who regularly took LDN EVEN before the availability of HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment) were generally spared deterioration of their important helper T cells. In human cancer research by Zagon inhibition of a number of different human tumors in laboratory studies by using endorphins and low dose Naltrexone has been demonstrated. It appears increased endorphin and enkephalin levels, induced by LDN, work directly on the tumors' opioid receptors — and, perhaps, induce cancer cell death (apoptosis). It is also believed they act to increase natural killer cells and other healthy immune defenses against cancer. In diseases 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. By blocking the opioid receptors, there is a rebound overproduction of these endorphins.
Diseases Which Are Treated with LDN
Bernard Bihari, MD, as well as other physicians and researchers, have described beneficial effects of LDN on a variety of diseases, as follows.
Cancers
Bladder, breast, carcinoid, colon and rectal, glioblastoma, liver, non-small cell lung, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoma (Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's), malignant melanoma, multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, ovarian, pancreas, prostate, renal cell, throat, uterine
As 2004, Dr. Bihari reported having treated over 300 patients who had a cancer that had failed to respond to standard treatments. Of that group, some 50%, after four to six months treatment with LDN, began to demonstrate a halt in cancer growth and, of those, over one-third have shown objective signs of tumor shrinkage.
Autoimmune Diseases
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's), Alzheimer's, autism, Behcet's disease, celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, CREST, Crohn's disease, emphysema, COPD, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, pemphigoid, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosis, transverse myelitis, ulcerative colitis, Wegener's granulomatosis
Within the group of patients with autoimmune diseases, none have failed to respond to LDN and all have experienced a halt in progression of their illness. In many there is a marked remission in signs and symptoms of the disease. Among some 400 MS patients in Dr. Bihari's practice. Less than 1% of these patients have ever experienced a fresh attack of MS while they maintained their regular LDN nightly therapy.
HIV/AIDS
As of September 2003, Dr. Bihari had treated 350 AIDS patients using LDN in conjunction with accepted AIDS therapies. In the previous seven 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. Many HIV / AIDS patients have been living symptom-free for years taking only LDN with no other medications.
Central Nervous System Disorders
Anecdotal reports continue to be received concerning beneficial effects of LDN on the course of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease), and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS). Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless has found a very positive effect of LDN, in appropriately reduced dosage and applied as a transdermal cream, in children with autism.
Considerations
Some pharmacies have been supplying a slow-release form of Naltrexone. Pharmacies should be instructed NOT to provide LDN in an "SR" or slow-release or timed-release form. Unless the low dose of Naltrexone is in an unaltered form, which permits it to reach a prompt "spike" in the blood stream, its therapeutic effects may be inhibited. The use of calcium carbonate as a filler will interfere with absorption of the LDN capsule. Therefore, it is suggested that calcium carbonate filler not be employed in compounding LDN capsules. Either Avicel, lactose (if lactose intolerance is not a problem), or sucrose fillers as useful fast-release fillers can be used. The usual adult dosage is 4.5 mg. taken once daily at night. Because of the rhythms of the body's production of master hormones, LDN is best taken between
Side Effects
Occasionally, during the first week's use of LDN, patients may complain of some difficulty sleeping. This rarely persists after the first week. Should it do so, dosage can be reduced from 4.5 mg. to 3 mg. nightly. Otherwise, LDN has virtually no side effects.
Cautionary Warnings
Because LDN blocks opioid receptors throughout the body for three or four hours, people using medicine that is an opioid agonist, i.e. narcotic medication — such as Ultram (Tramadol), morphine, Percocet, Duragesic patch or codeine-containing medication — should not take LDN until such medicine is completely out of one's system. Patients who have become dependant on daily use of narcotic-containing pain medication may require 10 days to 2 weeks of slowly weaning off of such drugs entirely (while first substituting full doses of non-narcotic pain medications) before being able to begin LDN safely. LDN should probably not be taken during pregnancy until research into that question is completed. Full-dose Naltrexone (50 mg.) carries a cautionary warning against its use in those with liver disease. This warning was placed because of adverse liver effects that were found in experiments involving 300 mg. daily. The 50 mg. dose does not apparently produce impairment of liver function nor, of course, do the much smaller 3 mg. and 4.5 mg. doses. People who have received organ transplants and who therefore are taking immuno-suppressive medication on a permanent basis are cautioned against the use of LDN because it may act to counter the effect of those medications.
FDA approval
The job of the FDA is to evaluate the safety of drugs and if found safe to certify them as safe. After that doctors are free to use a certified drug for the approved indication, or for an "off-label use." Physicians understand that appropriate off-label use of an already FDA-approved medication such as Naltrexone is perfectly ethical and legal. Because Naltrexone itself has already passed animal toxicity studies, one could expect that once testing is able to begin, LDN could complete its clinical trials in humans and receive FDA approval for one or more uses within two to four years.
Consult Your Doctor
This website is not intended as a substitute for professional medical help or advice. A physician should always be consulted for any medical condition.
Additional Information
Bernard Bihari, MD, is the discoverer of the major clinical effects of low dose Naltrexone. A private practitioner in
Frequently-Asked Questions about Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as a
Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis
What is Low Dose Naltrexone?
Naltrexone is short for Naltrexone Hydrochloride (C20H23NO4-HCl), an opiate antagonist. Naltrexone was approved by the FDA (at a 50mg dosage) in 1984 for opiate addiction, and again in 1995 for alcohol abuse. At a much lower dose (1.75-4.5mg), it has been gaining popularity as a treatment for symptoms of auto-immune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis. Low Dose Naltrexone is administered orally, usually in capsule form.
What MS symptoms does LDN help?
Primarily neuromuscular spasm, fatigue, and urinary problems, although patients have also reported improvements of other symptoms. In addition, patients who start LDN while in the middle of an acute relapse often show rapid resolution of the attack.
Does LDN halt progression of MS?
Evidence suggests that LDN can significantly reduce the chances of either a relapse or progression for many MS patients.
How does LDN work?
It is believed that LDN briefly obstructs the effects of brain endorphins (the brain's natural painkillers). Sensing an endorphin deficit, the pituitary signals for increased production of endorphins, which re-balances the immune system, thus reducing the activity of the MS. The effect lasts around 18 hours.
But how can this work? Isn’t MS is caused by an overactive immune system?
Although there is a long-held theory that MS might be caused by an overactive immune system, this theory has never been proven. Recent clinical studies indicate that this theory might not be true at all. The October 2004 issue of The Archives of Neurology reports a clinical study which found that intravenous immunoglobulin therapy applied after the first signs of MS significantly reduced the probability of developing clinically definite multiple sclerosis. Patients receiving this immune-system boosting therapy also suffered fewer brain lesions. [Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment Following the First Demyelinating Event Suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis; a Randomized Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial; Arch. Neurol. Oct. 2004; 61:1515-1520.]
How fast does LDN work?
Although some patients have no symptom changes, around two-thirds of MS patients report some symptom improvement within the first few days. Other patients report improvement over the course of several weeks or even months.
What dosage and frequency are usually prescribed?
The usual adult dosage of LDN for the treatment of MS is 1.5-4.5mg taken orally once daily at bedtime, because of the natural rhythms of the body's hormone production, LDN is best taken between
How is LDN prepared?
LDN is usually prepared by a compounding pharmacist, who makes capsules by either grinding up 50mg Naltrexone tablets, or using Naltrexone powder purchased from a primary manufacturer. (The most popular Naltrexone tablet is the 50mg "ReVia" Naltrexone tablet, usually prescribed for treatment of drug and alcohol addictions.)
LDN may also be prepared in a solution of distilled water, with 1mg per ml dispensed with a 5ml medicine dropper. If LDN is used in a liquid form, it is recommended that it be refrigerated.
Are there any side effects?
All sources indicate that LDN has virtually no side effects. Some patients report vivid dreams, and occasionally, during the first week of use, patients may complain of difficulty sleeping. (Reports indicate that sleep disturbance is rare, occurring in less than 2% of users.) If this persists after the first week, dosage can be reduced from 4.5mg to 3mg.
Full-dose Naltrexone (50mg 3 x days) carries a cautionary warning for patients with liver disease. (This warning was placed because adverse liver effects were noted in early experiments involving 300mg daily, given for alcohol abuse.) The 50mg dose does not apparently produce impairment of liver function nor, of course, does the much smaller 3mg - 4.5mg dose. LDN is virtually non-toxic, simple to administer, and, compared with other MS drug therapy, very inexpensive – usually costs less than $40 per month.
What about cautionary warnings?
Because LDN blocks opioid receptors throughout the body for three or four hours, people using narcotic medication such as Ultram, Morphine, Percocet, Tramadol, Duragesic patch or codeine should not take LDN until such medicine is completely out of the system. Steroids would counteract the effects of LDN, and so should not be combined.
LDN should not be used by people already receiving interferon (Betaseron, Avonex, or Rebif), because LDN stimulates the immune system and interferon suppresses it, the two therapies are incompatible. The combination of these therapies does not cause any adverse reactions, but it is believed that they cancel out each other’s effectiveness.
What does it feel like to be on LDN?
At both high and low dosages, patients taking Naltrexone usually say they are largely unaware of being on medication. Naltrexone usually has no psychological effects and patients (at both high and low dosages) don't feel either "high" or "down" while they are on Naltrexone. It is not addicting.
Why LDN isn’t routinely prescribed for MS?
Many physicians simply have not yet learned about the positive effects of LDN on MS symptoms, because Naltrexone is a generic medication, there are no commercial marketing campaigns to increase awareness of LDN in the medical community. Other doctors may be hesitant to prescribe LDN because it hasn’t yet been approved as an MS treatment by the FDA but a prescription can be written Off Label as a lot of Dr’s do with other medications.
Why hasn’t LDN been approved by the FDA for MS?
Naltrexone (in the higher 50mg dosage) was approved by the FDA in 1984 for opiate abuse therapy, and again in 1995 for alcohol addiction. Its safety and efficacy have been proven in clinical trials. In the much lower dosage of 3 or 4.5mg, Naltrexone has not yet been submitted for FDA approval. Federal regulations prevent the FDA from approving LDN as an MS therapy until it undergoes specific clinical trials for MS.
Why hasn’t LDN gone through a clinical trial as an MS therapy?
Clinical trials are usually initiated and funded by pharmaceutical companies, and these companies are not interested in promoting or marketing LDN.
Why aren’t pharmaceutical companies interested in exploring the
possibility of LDN as an MS therapy?
Naltrexone was developed so long ago; it is now a generic drug, manufactured by many different companies. Since no single company owns exclusive manufacturing rights, Naltrexone can be manufactured and sold very inexpensively by any pharmaceutical company.
This means that LDN can't make anyone any money. Pharmaceutical companies are not eager to fund clinical trials for a drug that will make them no profit. Also, if LDN were FDA-approved and became a preferred treatment for MS, the pharmaceutical companies who make the expensive CRAB drugs could lose millions of dollars.
Are there any plans for a clinical trial for LDN as an MS therapy?
In May 2007, the MindBrain Consortium, the Department of Psychiatry of
In March 2007, the
In December 2006, a study of LDN in MS was begun in
In August 2004, the LDN Research Trust (www.ldnresearchtrust.org) was created in
Since LDN has also shown promise as a therapy for other autoimmune disorders, there has research activity in that area. In September 2007, the Institutional Review Board in
Has LDN as an MS therapy been reported in any of the major medical journals?
Most medical journals are not interested in reviewing a drug therapy that has not yet had a clinical trial. However, the peer-reviewed medical journal Medical Hypothesis recently published an article about the LDN’s success as an MS therapy.
(For full text, see: ldners.org/Articles/LDN_Medical_Hypotheses.pdf)
Can a doctor legally prescribe LDN?
YES!! While it is illegal for a pharmaceutical company to market or promote a drug for a use other than that approved by the FDA, it is NOT illegal for a physician to prescribe an FDA-approved drug for a non-FDA-approved use. This is called an “off-label” prescription, and physicians do it all the time. (Neurontin, for example, was approved by the FDA in 1993 for the treatment of epilepsy; yet it is routinely prescribed off-label for the treatment of MS.) All physicians understand that the responsible off-label use of an FDA-approved medication such as Naltrexone is perfectly ethical and legal.
Who first thought of using Low Dose Naltrexone for MS?
Initial research on LDN was conducted by Ian S. Zagon, Ph.D., Professor of Neural and Behavioral Sciences at
Does anyone profit from the promotion and sale of LDN?
NO!! Some people are initially suspicious of LDN, thinking that it might be an internet "snake-oil" scheme, but no one markets or sells LDN for profit. Naltrexone is an inexpensive, generic medication, manufactured by a number of large pharmaceutical corporations. Low-Dose Naltrexone is compounded at individual compounding pharmacies, and is not marketed by anyone.
How many MS patients are taking LDN for Multiple Sclerosis?
No one is sure of the exact number, but it is known that thousands of MS patients worldwide are now using LDN, and the number is increasing. Without the financial support of the pharmaceutical industry, the growing reputation of LDN has been driven solely by positive reports from MS patients.
Are MS patients getting positive results from LDN?
A review of the anecdotal evidence shows that most MS patients taking LDN have experienced considerable improvement, often within days or weeks of beginning the treatment.
The first annual LDN Conference was held on
The Second Annual LDN Conference was held on Friday, April 7, 2006 in the Lister Hill Center Auditorium of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Bethesda, Maryland.
The Third Annual LDN Conference was held
For more information about the conference, visit: http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/events.htm
Pharmaceutical Information about Low Dose Naltrexone
The protocol is 1.5 to 4.5mg at bedtime. It must NOT be a timed-release preparation and should be given at bedtime. Up until recently, Dr. Bihari had routinely used 3 mg, reducing it down to as low as 1.5 mg in the rare patient who experienced a mild sleep disturbance. (Many patients report improved sleeping.) However, recently, he has noted that some patients who did not respond to 3mg did respond to 4.5mg and has begun to use this dose more frequently. No more than 4.5mg must be used. Occasionally, lower doses are necessary.
The usual, commercial oral preparation of Naltrexone is 50 mg; so, the 1.5 to 4.5 mg dose must be made up by a compounding pharmacy. A month’s supply should run about $30. Although there are no known significant side effects to the treatment, in about 1 out of 50 patients, the patient will experience a sleep disturbance. In this case, Dr. Bihari recommends that the pharmacy make up a 100-ml. solution containing Naltrexone in distilled water at a concentration of 1 mg/ml. The patient is told to take 1 to 1 ½ ml. at bedtime—possibly working up to 2 ml. or 2 mg.
--- Michael B. Schachter, M.D., CNS, F.A.C.A.
For further information about LDN, visit this site:
Several of these pharmacies do a significant mail-order LDN business. However, most Compounding Pharmacies now have experience with LDN, because LDN is becoming an increasingly effective part of the treatment of AIDS, cancer and various other immune disorders.
LDN Compounding Pharmacies - http://crystalangel6267.webs.com/compoundingpharmacies.htm
Patient Guide: How To Talk to Your Doctor about LDN
Before you visit your doctor…
1. Practice saying “Low Dose Naltrexone” out loud. This might sound silly, but it can be a tongue twister, and you don’t want to stumble over your words when you say it to your doctor.
2. Locate a compounding pharmacy. Don’t know how to find one? Go to
3. Get a nice new manila folder.
4. Click here for the LDN FAQs -- Frequently-Asked Questions about LDN -- print out this file and put it in the manila folder. This has been assembled many different sources. It is streamlined and factual, without too much medical terminology. (Some doctors don’t like patients who use medical jargon.) Claims of LDN’s effectiveness
are deliberately cautious and unemotional. Your doctor doesn’t want to hear the words “miracle drug.”
5. Familiarize yourself with everything in the FAQ's. You don't want to be a know-it-all, but you should be ready to answer your doctor’s questions, or at least know where to find the answers.
Don’t include any other material in the Folder. These pages are just enough for a busy doctor to absorb during a short appointment. Most doctors will recoil from a big stack of paper.
During the Visit with Your Doctor...
1. Play it cool. Don’t say that you think LDN is a miracle drug. Don’t volunteer a lot of information at first. Let your doctor be the smart one. Nod a lot.
2. Without telling lies or hiding symptoms, try to appear as healthy as possible. Don't complain about your symptoms. A doctor is more likely to prescribe an “experimental” drug if he thinks your health is not in immediate jeopardy.
3. Keep in mind that many doctors are simply unaware of Low Dose Naltrexone. Some doctors might think you are asking for Novantrone, another MS therapy. If your doctor dismisses you outright, make sure he isn't confusing the two.
4. Present the material in the Doctor’s Folder a little bit at a time. How should you do that? Keep reading…
Talking to Your Doctor...
All doctors are different, so I can’t guarantee that my approach will work with your doctor, but perhaps my story will help you figure out the best way to approach your doctor.
I created the Doctor's Folder. I included everything I imagined the doctor would want to know.
Your doctor and the internet…
How does your doctor feel about patients who do medical research on the internet? Some doctors think it’s great. Others are infuriated by it. If your doctor disapproves of it, tread very softly. If your doctor says something like “All those people are crazies,” don’t get defensive. Just shrug and say something like, “Yeah, that’s for sure, there really are some lunatics out there… but I did find some interesting stuff, and
I wanted your opinion about it.”
Avoid using the word “internet.” Use the words “information” and “research” instead. If your doctor asks you a question you can’t answer, just say, “I don’t know, but I can find out for you.”
Addressing your doctor’s objections ...
If your doctor objects to LDN don’t panic. Ask (in a friendly, curious way) what his objections are. Here’s what he might say:
“It’s too experimental.” Or, “It’s not FDA approved.”
You can point out that Naltrexone (at the higher 50mg dose) has had FDA approval for a long time, and guide your doctor to the Q&A section that discusses FDA approval.
“You’re already on [Avonex, Betaseron, Rebif, or another drug]. LDN might conflict.”
Your doctor might be right about this one. Most of the standard MS drugs (with the exception of Copaxone), are immunosuppressant and thus tend to counteract the beneficial effects of LDN. Depending on your general health, if you ask your neurologist to take you off the standard MS drugs to try LDN, you might be facing an uphill battle. Don’t give up. It just means that you have more homework to do. Tell
your doctor you will look into it and find out for sure.
“I just don’t know enough about it.”
Some doctors are uncomfortable admitting they don’t know something, especially to a patient. This might be a good time to back off, give your doctor the folder, and ask her to look it over at her convenience. Suggest this in a way that indicates that you’re not trying to prove your case, you value your doctor’s opinion, and you’re willing to wait.
How can I obtain LDN and what will it cost?
> LDN can be prescribed by your doctor, and should be prepared by a reliable compounding pharmacy.
Naltrexone is a prescription drug, so your physician would have to give you a prescription after deciding that LDN appears appropriate for you.
Naltrexone in the large 50mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone.
LDN prescriptions are now being filled by hundreds of local pharmacies, as well as by some mail-order pharmacies, around the
Compounding Pharmacy List - http://crystalangel6267.webs.com/compoundingpharmacies.htm
IMPORTANT: Make sure to specify that you Do NOT want LDN in a Slow-Release Form.
IMPORTANT: Make sure to fill your Rx at a compounding pharmacy that has a reputation for consistent reliability in the quality of the LDN it delivers.
I keep an LDN List of Prescribing LDN Dr’s in the US and Overseas so if your Dr won’t prescribe LDN to you and/or you can’t find one in your area that will then email me at CrystalAngel6267@aol.com or angelindisguise67@yahoo.com and let me know where you live and I will email you what I have in your area and if I have none in your area I also keep a list of LDN Prescribing Dr’s that will do Phone Consults by phone.
Also if your Dr is willing and you get their permission to be added to my Dr List then email me all of their information. (Name, Address, Phone #, Fax #, Email Address and Website if they have one)
In Closing...
Let me know how it goes for you…I welcome any advice or suggestions to improve the contents of this site. You can send your comments to
Good luck!!!!
LDN FILLERS
If your Low Dose Naltrexone comes from a compounding pharmacy and arrives as a liquid, then you’re getting pure Naltrexone powder dissolved in distilled water. This is probably the “purest” way to ingest Naltrexone. You don’t need to worry about fillers.
BUT -- If you get your LDN in any other form, you're swallowing filler.
A “filler” is an inert, inactive ingredient that accompanies every
dose of Naltrexone you take.
If you make your own LDN --
If you make LDN by crushing ReVia (pronounced REV-yah) or another commercially manufactured 50mg Naltrexone tablet, you're still ingesting filler, because each tablet is comprised of about 16% Naltrexone and 84% filler.
What kind of filler is in your tablet? This depends on the manufacturer. Here are the main manufacturers:
Barr Labs – Barr manufactures naltrexone under the brand name ReVia for the
phone representative.]
Prescription Products Guide.]
Mallinckrodt – makes a 50mg naltrexone pill called Depade. This tablet contains 50mg naltrexone, plus these inactive ingredients (filler): crospovidone, hydropropyl methylcellulose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polysorbate 80, silicone dioxide, titanium dioxide, yellow iron oxide, and red iron oxide. [Information from Mallinckrodt website.]
[Historical Note: The original ReVia was made by DuPont. The inactive ingredients were: lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, crospovidone, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate, and pale yellow Opadry (colouring). In 2001,
If your LDN is made by a compounding pharmacy –
Ask your pharmacist how it is made.
1. Some compounders make LDN by crushing commercially manufactured 50mg tablets and putting the powder into capsules, because the amount of powder that goes into each capsule is not enough to fill the capsule, most pharmacies add additional filler. If this is how you get your LDN, you can find out which commercially manufactured tablet is being used and what kind of additional filler is being added.
2. Other compounders don’t crush 50mg tablets; instead, they use pure naltrexone powder (purchased in bulk from pharmaceutical companies), which they mix with filler. From these pharmacists, you can learn what kind of filler you are taking.
Here are some of the most common fillers used by compounding pharmacists:
LACTOSE: Lactose is a naturally-occurring simple carbohydrate, or sugar, found only in the milk of mammals. For this reason, it is also commonly referred to as “milk sugar.”
Lactose has long been used as a soluble filler in the manufacture of orally administered pharmaceuticals. It is safe, stable, inexpensive, and has a fast dissolution rate. Pharmaceutical-grade lactose powder is highly pure, and specifically produced to meet government standards of safety and purity.
Lactose is easily tolerated by most patients. However, if you are lactose-intolerant (that is, if milk products give you nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, bloating, or flatulence), you might want to try another filler.
Note: Dr Bihari asks his patients to use lactose, unless they have an adverse reaction… not because he believes lactose is better than other fillers, but because he began his study of LDN with lactose, and he wants his records to be consistent.
ACIDOPHILOUS – (pronounced Ah-SID-uh-FILL-us) – is lactic bacteria, or one-celled micro-organisms, used by the body to promote immunity and proper nutrition. Sold over the counter as a nutritional supplement and digestive aid, Acidophilus is sometimes used as a treatment for diarrhea and constipation. It is commercially available as powder, tablets, capsules or liquid.
Lactose-intolerant patients sometimes switch to Acidophilus filler in their LDN capsules.
AVICEL – a brand name for microcrystalline cellulose. Avicel has been used safely and effectively for 35 years in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Virtually inert, it is not absorbed into the system, and will not interfere or interact with other nutrients, vitamins or minerals. Avicel is made of wood which has been purified and powdered into extremely tiny particles -- between 0.000039 and 0.0001560 of an inch of pure fiber, with the consistency of a very fine face powder.
Avicel is the filler used by Skip’s Pharmacy in
CALCIUM CARBONATE – a mineral that occurs naturally in limestone, marble and coral. Crushed to a fine, flavorless, odorless powder, it is a natural food additive, and the most common ingredient in calcium supplements and antacids.
Calcium is absorbed by the small intestine and is used by the body to build bone tissue. Calcium supplements are generally well tolerated, but in some patients may cause constipation, bloating, gas and flatulence.
People with kidney stones, hypocalcaemia, sarcoidosis, hyperparathyroidism, hypervitaminosis D or cancer should not take calcium carbonate.
People taking calcium supplements are usually advised to take them with food.
There has been some concern among LDN users that calcium carbonate is occasionally packed too tight in the capsule, which can cause a slow-release reaction, rather than the desired fast-release.
Any questions about filler should be referred to your doctor or your pharmacist.
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