One of our customers has been using LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) with good results for her multiple sclerosis. She and her husband have decided they are going to try to get pregnant and she called to ask if it is okay to use LDN now, and when she actually conceives.
Naltrexone Hydrochloride is officially listed as a Category C drug for pregnancy. These drugs have not been shown to be harmful to fetuses. If the pregnant patient will benefit from a Category C drug, it is generally continued through the pregnancy, although most obstetricians would prefer a Category B drug if it will give equivalently good results. This applies to all strengths from the standard 50mg tablets down to the tiny doses found in LDN. While the risk is probably very low, I don’t know anyone who would actually recommend that a person take it while trying to get pregnant or while pregnant. If anything should happen to the baby or mother, there’s no way to completely rule out the naltrexone as a contributor to the problem.
This begs a question of what to do if a person discovers she’s pregnant while she’s already been taking LDN – or any questionable drug for that matter.
The first step would be to contact the doctor immediately and plan to stop using the drug is advised to do so. Then, realize that the risk is so low as to almost be non-existent. That means that the mother and father should not worry about it. Plan on having a happy, healthy baby and everything will work out the best way possible.