NALTREXONE CONCERNS - stop or stay the course?

[Guest guest]

I am new to this list and have suffered 20+ years from chronic

candidiasis (now under control) and various allergies. I have been on

LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) @ 3mg/day for 9 mos. to try and restore my

imbalanced cellular immunity (deficient NK cell activity and CD8

count).

Since my last immune test (which was just prior to starting LDN), I

have had increases of 51% on my Total T-cells, 57% on my CD4s, and

46% on my CD8s, however, my NK cell activity is still below normal

range. I have not been in these ranges for at least 2 years. It is

impossible for me to attribute these significant gains just to LDN

since I added many other supplements during this time as well. My

liver enzymes are normal despite having been on it 9 mos.

Nonetheless, an advocate against its use from another forum suggested

for me to drop it for the following reasons (scary findings):

" Naltrexone will not inhibit herpes or viruses, it is used for people

on drugs or have alcohol problems. If you have a side effect problem

you can not sue for off label use. If for some reason you take too

much Naltreone it will damage your liver. "

" It is very likely that in a trial taken in 1986, those with advanced

HIV that took Naltrexone advanced to AIDS. It may have activated

herpes and increased HIV viral replication. And this created

questionable or negative results in the trial that was given at the

time everyone was looking for a drug or herb that could deal with

HIV. PWA's were dying in large numbers and would try anything. And

were trying everything. "

" At baseline, naltrexone treatment resulted in higher cortisol levels

and lower levels of craving than placebo treatment......Naltrexone

also resulted in higher levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and

cortisol than placebo treatment, and levels of cortisol were

negatively correlated with intensity of alcohol craving. "

" Your using naltrexone based on someone saying this will increase

your T-cells......this has not been proved in a trial. If you want to

get an increase in your T-cells, find a supplement that proves in

trial that it does this...don't just guess at things because of

heresay. "

The cons of using it in his above posts based on the premise that it

can raise cortisol levels which can immunosuppressive and lower my

CD8s. However, again, both my CD4's and 8s went up (my 4s faster than

my 8s) since the last test which was prior to starting therapy.

For those of you who've done more research or/and have used it longer

than I, what do you think I should do? I hate to stop something that

could put my immune imbalances back in check but at the same time

don't want to cause new ones or have it backfire on me.