A note up front: Oana doesn't currently prescribe Low Dose Naltrexone. This section is here because LDN comes up frequently in PCOS conversations and women deserve a clear, honest answer about what it is and what the research shows.
Naltrexone is a medication originally developed to treat opioid and alcohol addiction. It's FDA-approved at doses of 50 mg or higher for those uses, and also at higher doses (combined with bupropion) for weight management under the brand name Contrave.
Low Dose Naltrexone refers to naltrexone used at much lower doses — typically 0.5 mg to 4.5 mg a day, well below the FDA-approved range. At these lower doses, the medication appears to work through different mechanisms than at addiction-treatment doses. It's currently being researched for a range of conditions where inflammation and immune regulation are involved, including PCOS, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain syndromes, and some mood disorders.
For PCOS specifically, the research is early but interesting. Small studies have looked at whether LDN may help with PCOS-related inflammation, insulin sensitivity, and mood symptoms. The evidence isn't yet strong enough for LDN to become a standard PCOS treatment, and clinicians who prescribe it for PCOS are using it off-label.
LDN is prescription-only and not available over the counter. If you're considering it, you'd typically discuss it with a clinician who has experience prescribing it — often through a compounding pharmacy, since LDN doses are below the standard manufactured strengths.