Does Low-Dose Naltrexone help with fatigue after COVID?

It did not ease fatigue more than a pill without medicine over four months in a Canadian study of 160 adults. The Sick Times reported these findings from a paper awaiting expert review. The study tested Low-Dose Naltrexone, a medicine used in small doses. It included adults who developed myalgic encephalomyelitis after COVID, an illness that causes lasting exhaustion. People took either the medicine or a placebo, a pill without medicine, once daily. The medicine dose started at 1 milligram. It rose to 4.5 milligrams if people could tolerate it. Researchers used the Fatigue Severity Scale, a questionnaire about fatigue, as their main measure. Fatigue improved at a similar rate in both groups. Feeling better over time did not show an added benefit from the medicine. The report did not give exact changes in questionnaire scores. The authors said this differed from earlier studies without a comparison group. It also contrasted with broad support from patients and people prescribing it. Some people with Long COVID and the illness questioned the study’s design. Their concerns included the starting dose and how quickly doses increased. They also questioned the study’s size and four-month length. Those concerns raise questions, but do not change the reported result. For members tracking Chronic Fatigue, this makes consistent records especially useful. Notes about symptom scores, dose, and dates can help ground community comparisons. They can show what changed without proving what caused it. Different experiences deserve space alongside the study’s finding. What changes, if any, have you recorded in your fatigue scores while using this medicine?