Low Dose Naltrexone in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia.
BACKGROUND
ConclusionFibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment.


OBJECTIVE
A significant number of fibromyalgia patients do not respond adequately to the current drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for fibromyalgia treatment including pregabalin, milnacipran, duloxetine. Thus, there is still a need for adjunctive therapies.


METHOD
Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. It is hypothesized that low dose naltrexone causes transient blockade of opioid receptors centrally resulting in a rebound of endorphin function which may attenuate pain in fibromyalgia.


RESULTS
Two small prospective pilot studies have previously shown that treatment with low dose naltrexone may be an effective, safe, and inexpensive treatment for fibromyalgia.


CONCLUSION
This prospective study lends further support to the preliminary body of evidence that naltrexone is a well tolerated and likely effective treatment option in the community setting. Further large prospective controlled trials are still needed.
['Metyas|Samy|S|', 'Chen|Christina L|CL|', 'Yeter|Karen|K|', 'Solyman|John|J|', 'Arkfeld|Daniel G|DG|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D005260:Female D005356:Fibromyalgia D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009271:Naltrexone D009292:Narcotic Antagonists D016896:Treatment Outcome
low dose naltrexone Fibromyalgia fatigue endorphin function CAMs treatment.