The Dose Nobody Manufactures: Why Low Dose Naltrexone Has to Be Compounded
Your doctor wrote 4.5 mg. Nobody manufactures 4.5 mg.
If you've been prescribed low dose naltrexone, or LDN, you may have already found this out the hard way. You take the prescription to a pharmacy and get told they can't fill it. Here's why, and what we do about it.
One Strength on the Shelf
Plain naltrexone tablets are made in one strength: 50 mg. Every single-ingredient naltrexone tablet in the FDA's drug listings is 50 mg, and the label for that tablet covers alcohol dependence and blocking the effects of opioids.
The LDN we prepare is 4.5 mg. That's less than a tenth of a 50 mg tablet. You can't split a pill into eleven even pieces and call it a dose.
Strength | How you get it | |
Naltrexone tablets | 50 mg | Manufactured |
Low dose naltrexone (LDN) | 4.5 mg | Compounded by a pharmacy |
So It Has to Be Compounded
Compounding means a pharmacist makes the medication at the strength the prescriber wrote. For LDN, that's a 4.5 mg capsule. If you want the longer version of how compounding works, we wrote it up here: What Is a Compounding Pharmacy?
One thing I want to be clear about: compounded LDN is not FDA approved. Whether it's right for you is a decision for you and your prescriber. My job is to make it to the strength on the prescription and price it fairly.
What It Costs Here
At Forest Park Pharmacy, compounded LDN 4.5 mg is $79 for 30, and that includes the doctor visit. That price is posted on our LDN page, before you ever call us.
No insurance card.
No prior authorization.
No waiting to find out what you owe.
How to Get It
No prescription yet? We can connect you with a prescriber, and that visit is in the $79.
Already have one? Bring it to us, or have your doctor send it directly.
Already filling it somewhere else? Transfer it.
We ship compounded prescriptions to Texas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, New Mexico, North Carolina and Washington.
Questions People Ask
Why can't my pharmacy fill a 4.5 mg naltrexone prescription? Because nobody manufactures that strength. Plain naltrexone tablets only come in 50 mg, so 4.5 mg has to be compounded.
Is LDN FDA approved? No. Compounded LDN is not FDA approved.
Do I need a prescription? Yes. LDN is a prescription medication. If you don't have one yet, we can connect you with a prescriber, and that visit is included in the $79.
Do I need insurance? No. We're cash only, so there's no insurance and no prior authorization.
Why We Can Beat Their Price
Forest Park Pharmacy doesn't take insurance and has no PBM contracts. Every drug is priced at our actual acquisition cost plus a transparent fee, and our compounded prices are posted.
We compete on price.
Head to forestparkpharmacy.com to look at our price checker and transfer today to save. See ya.
