In patients with fibromyalgia and other refractory chronic pain conditions, low-dose Naltrexone may offer meaningful pain alleviation.

A 14-year, enterprise-wide retrospective analysis sought to determine whether fibromyalgia patients considered low-dose Naltrexone (LDN) to be helpful in alleviating pain symptoms and to identify the factors linked to either benefit perception or LDN cessation.

An examination of all outpatient LDN prescriptions for any type of pain indication was done. The final analysis comprised 115 subjects in total. Overall, 86% of patients were female, with a mean age of 48 ± 16 years, and 61% of the prescriptions were for pain associated with fibromyalgia. The final oral LDN dosage per day ranged from 0.8 to 9.0 mg, with 4.5 mg one time a day being the most common dose.

While taking LDN, improvement in pain symptoms was reported in 65% of volunteers out of the people who reported follow-up data. As found, 11% (n=11) of individuals reported experiencing adverse effects, and 36% had stopped using LDN by the time of the most recent follow-up. Sixty percent of individuals took concurrent analgesics and were not related to discontinuation or perceived benefit of LDN, incorporating concurrent opioids.

LDN is safe and may be advantageous for people having chronic pain disorders. This study did not recognize predictors of treatment success or discontinuation. Additional research in a prospective, controlled, and well-powered randomized study is required.