Long COVID crashes lasting over a week, now somewhat better with low-dose naltrexone
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Moderate (mostly housebound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- Not stated
- Last post
- Oct 2026
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
LDN has helped reduce the length of my pem crashes from a week plus to about a day if I rest adequately.
In context ↗ - At worst: Moderate
Instead of spending a week+ completely wiped out, now it's basically one day.
In context ↗ - Now: Somewhat better
Still a long way to go, but crashes are much shorter (like one day instead of over a week), which is huge for me.
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
My second (and most recent) covid infection was much more unpleasant than the first in terms of symptoms
Read from 7 of their posts and comments; links to the 6 this page draws on
Summary
An adult with long COVID took low-dose naltrexone for several months at 5 mg with no benefit, then increased to 6 mg and called the difference night and day: post-exertional crashes fell from over a week to about a day. The effect took seven or eight months. Chronic pain was unaffected, and LDN did nothing for their scalp inflammation; methotrexate helped that for a while but harmed their liver.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax · Not said
I haven't had any issues and have tried Pfizer, modern, and novavax at this point iirc.
In context ↗ - LDN · Helped
LDN has helped reduce the length of my pem crashes from a week plus to about a day if I rest adequately.
In context ↗ - clobetasol solution · Not said
I've been using combinations of clobetasol solution, ketoconazole shampoo (2%), calcipiotrene solution, and triamcinalone cream on and off for the past several years with mixed success.
In context ↗ - methotrexate · Helped
What did help for a while was methotrexate, but that was not good for my liver and I had to stop taking it.
In context ↗
Their path
They say too little about how ill they were at each step to draw it on the severity scale, so the steps are listed as they describe them. Dates are when they posted.
| When | What happened | After |
|---|---|---|
| — | long COVID, with post-exertional crashes lasting over a weekInstead of spending a week+ completely wiped outIn context ↗ | |
| 2026-09-20 | increase to 6 mg LDN brought clear benefitThe difference is night and day, which really surprised me.In context ↗ | Low-dose naltrexone |
| 2026-09-27 | crashes shortened to about one daycrashes are much shorter (like one day instead of over a week), which is huge for meIn context ↗ | Low-dose naltrexone |
| 2026-10-17 | still improved but limited; scalp inflammation flaringStill a long way to goIn context ↗ |
Adverse events
- Methotrexate“What did help for a while was methotrexate, but that was not good for my liver and I had to stop taking it.” In context ↗ Liver or kidney problems
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Post-exertional malaise
LDN has helped reduce the length of my pem crashes from a week plus to about a day if I rest adequately.
In context ↗ - Pain & fibromyalgia
I was hoping it would help my chronic pain somewhat, but no dice on that front yet.
In context ↗
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