LDI is a form of immune desensitization that works by restoring the tolerance for toxins or other foreign substances that induce an immune response in the body (antigens). This can be done for literally thousands of antigens at once to help your immune system better tolerate certain therapies.
How Does LDI Work?
LDI’s effect is accomplished by combining beta glucuronidase, an enzyme that stops allergy reactions by restoring tolerance in the T cells of the immune system, with the specific antigens (toxin or other foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies) your provider feels are relevant to your particular medical issues. The tolerance is actively learned by your immune system, and helps make your other treatments easier to tolerate, as well as potentially directly improving your condition.
The antigens are highly diluted. The strength of the dose is determined by a number and the letter “C”. The “C” represents a 1:100 dilution, and the number before indicates how many times the 1:100 dilution was made. Mixing 1 unit volume of antigen (10 ul) with 99 unit volumes of water (990 ul) = 1:100 dilution, or 1C. In serial dilution, further dilutions are made using the previous one. Substances that are diluted this way still have an impact on the immune system without the negative effects the undiluted antigen would have. Your practitioner will decide what level of dilution is best for you.
LDI works by helping the immune system restore proper balance, reducing unnecessary inflammation caused by foreign invaders. This allows your body to fight the pathogens it has been struggling with more effectively. When infected with a number of different infections, the body’s immune system is usually able to kill the majority of the pathogens, but a small number of pathogens are sometimes able to evade the immune system. This small amount of remaining pathogens continue to stimulate inflammatory responses that can lead to chronic illness, including chronic Lyme disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, and a wide variety of autoimmune diseases.
Using LDI helps your body to be able to fight, or better tolerate those few pathogens that have so far been evading the immune system. As long as our body can balance out the effects of certain pathogens, we can form a truce with them, while still maintaining health.
What Conditions Can LDI Help?
Disease conditions that can be treated with LDI include:
- Allergies of all types
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue
- Lyme disease
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Autoimmune arthritis
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Endometriosis
- Sarcoidosis
- Autism
- Myositis
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Some forms of psoriasis
- and many others
What Does LDI Treatement Involve?
There is nothing you will need to do to prepare for your LDI injection appointment. You do need to check in with your Medical Assistant one week after both the LDI injection and the LDI sublingual treatments.
LDI can be administered in two different ways:
- By an intradermal (into the deeper layers of the skin) injection in your forearm.
- By sublingual (under the tongue) dosing.
Each has particular benefits. Discuss with your practitioner which is best for you.
If your practitioner feels an injection is preferred for your treatment, you will need to make an appointment and come into our office every time you receive a new LDI treatment dose. Injections release the dose slowly over time. You will be given a shallow injection in your forearm, much like a TB injection. The injection will make a small red, raised wheal (a slight lump under the skin) from the antigen, and your Technician will measure the wheal and record it. Once you leave you will want to take note of any reactions you have, and keep a list to report back to your Medical Assistant (MA) through the Patient Portal within a week.
For some patients, there can be a temporary flare of symptoms following their LDI treatment, especially after the first one to three treatments. This is a good sign that the therapy will work well as you progress in treatments. Be sure to let your MA know if this is the case for you.
If your practitioner feels a sublingual dose is preferred for your treatment, we can mail these to you. Sublingual dosing releases the dose quickly into your bloodstream. The syringe that comes to you for administration will not have a needle. There will be a very small amount of liquid in the end of the syringe.
You take the red cap off the end of the syringe and pull the plunger completely out of the syringe. Place the needleless syringe under your tongue and suck the antigen into your mouth, much like with a straw. Once the antigen has been administered, you want to hold it under your tongue for 30 seconds, and then swallow. For the next week you should take notes of any reactions you have, and report back to your Medical Assistant (MA) through the Patient Portal. For some patients, there can be a temporary flare of symptoms following their LDI treatment, especially after the first one to three treatments. This is a good sign that the therapy will work well as you progress in treatments. Be sure to let your MA know if this is the case for you.
Bio LDI is a special form of sublingual LDI, made from patient specimens (urine, blood, nasal secretions, etc.). We will give or send you a container to collect the specimen. Individual instruction about how to do this will be sent to you specifically. We process each patient’s individual specimen and create their own individual vials of 1C-15C. Bio LDI is NOT EVER injected as it is not a sterile solution. Bio LDI is usually used in 1C – 15C dosing. Instructions for taking it are the same as for other Sublingual LDI doses.
How Often Will I Need a Treatment?
The starting dose will be determined based on how sensitive you are, because it can be different for everyone, even using the same antigens for the same disease. You will need to check in with your Medical Assistant through the Patient Portal as to how you’ve responded one week after the dose. Usually there are 7 weeks in between doses. If your symptoms flared, the next dose must be diluted, or may need to be given further apart.
How badly you flared, and how long you flared are critically important to determining your next dose. A flare is still good news – it means the therapy will work for you, just at a weaker dose. It can take several doses (six-plus months) to find the right dose.
Report if you get better, how much better and for how long you felt good. If nothing happens you will need a stronger dose next time, or you may need to have it delivered by the intradermal route in the office. If the strongest dose for a given disease still don’t relieve symptoms this means LDI treatment is not for you. Your GMA practitioner can discuss other treatments options at this time.
Is LDI Safe?
The LDI antigens are extremely diluted, often to the point where it would be impossible to identify the antigen, and are sterilized, making them safe to use. The strength of the dose is determined by a number and the letter “C”. The “C” represents a 1:100 dilution, and the number before indicates how many times the 1:100 dilution was made. Since patients are being treated with such a small amount, there has never been a life-threatening reaction to them. Adverse responses to LDI are uncommon and usually involve a mild to moderate exacerbation of existing sensitivity symptoms. You may, however, have a reaction to the site if you are getting your LDI injected in your arm. A patient getting an LDI injection could experience redness, swelling, and itching at the site of their injection. These are not dangerous and resolve in several days.
