Immunity & Inflammation

Immunity and inflammation care in Houston, taken seriously

Autoimmune conditions, chronic inflammation, post-viral syndromes, and complex inflammatory illness make up some of the most under-served categories in conventional medicine. Patients with fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, long COVID, and similar conditions often spend years cycling through specialists, accumulating diagnoses faster than they accumulate treatments that actually help. Standard care manages flares but rarely addresses the underlying immune dysregulation.

The Tide offers a complementary approach — not a replacement for rheumatology, gastroenterology, or other specialty care when needed, but a clinical layer focused specifically on immune modulation and chronic inflammation through medications and peptides that conventional practices often don’t prescribe. We coordinate with your existing specialists when relevant. We work alongside your existing care, not against it.

Who immune and inflammation care is for

You may be an appropriate candidate if:

• You have a diagnosed autoimmune condition (Hashimoto’s, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, IBD, MS, psoriasis, etc.) and want to explore evidence-based complementary therapy alongside your specialty care
• You have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome / ME-CFS, or chronic pain that hasn’t responded adequately to standard treatment
• You are dealing with long COVID or post-viral syndrome symptoms that have persisted for months
• You have chronic gut inflammation, IBS, or unexplained inflammatory markers
• You are interested in Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and want a physician who will prescribe and monitor it knowledgeably
• You have unexplained chronic symptoms — fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, recurrent infections — where inflammation appears to play a role

You may not be the right fit if you have severe acute autoimmune disease that needs urgent specialist management, if you are looking for primary management of a complex condition that requires rheumatology or gastroenterology coordination, or if you are seeking experimental therapies without legitimate evidence base. We will tell you honestly when our service is best as a complement to specialty care versus when it could be your primary intervention.

How we approach immune and inflammation care at The Tide

Comprehensive baseline workup. Standard panels plus targeted markers: hsCRP, ESR, ANA and other autoimmune markers when relevant, full thyroid panel including antibodies (TPO, Tg), comprehensive metabolic panel, complete blood count, fasting insulin, vitamin D, B12, ferritin, and inflammatory cytokine markers when clinically appropriate. For long COVID and post-viral concerns, we add markers relevant to those specific syndromes.

Physician consultation. Forty-five minutes to discuss your full clinical picture: existing diagnoses, current treatments, symptom patterns, what has and hasn’t worked, your specialists’ opinions, and what realistic options look like. Patients with complex chronic illness often have lengthy histories and specific concerns. We listen to all of it.

Coordination with existing care. If you have a rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, or other specialist, we coordinate. We will not interfere with appropriate specialty management. We add complementary tools and communicate with your team when relevant.

Treatment options across multiple categories:

• Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) — Compounded naltrexone in low doses (typically 1.5 to 4.5 mg nightly) that paradoxically upregulates endogenous endorphins and modulates microglial inflammation. Used for fibromyalgia, Hashimoto’s, IBD, MS, chronic fatigue syndrome, long COVID, complex regional pain syndrome, and other inflammatory conditions. The mechanism, evidence, and clinical use are detailed in our Resources article.
• Thymosin alpha-1 — Peptide that modulates T-cell function and immune balance. Used for chronic viral infections, immune dysregulation, and selected autoimmune scenarios.
• KPV — Tripeptide derived from alpha-MSH with significant anti-inflammatory effects, particularly relevant for gut inflammation and skin inflammation.
• BPC-157 — Gut barrier support, inflammatory bowel disease adjunct, and broader inflammation modulation.
• GHK-Cu — Tissue support and inflammation modulation in selected scenarios.
• Targeted nutritional and lifestyle interventions — Vitamin D optimization, omega-3 sufficiency, sleep, stress management, and dietary patterns that meaningfully affect inflammatory load.

Structured monitoring. Follow-up at 6 to 8 weeks to assess response, then every 3 months for stable patients. We track patient-reported symptoms, inflammatory markers, and condition-specific outcomes. We adjust dosing and protocols based on what we observe.

Long COVID specifically

Long COVID has become one of the largest under-served patient populations in modern medicine. Most patients have spent months or years cycling through specialists who acknowledge the condition exists but have limited tools for treating it. Reasonable evidence supports a role for LDN in the post-viral syndrome population — the mechanism (microglial inflammation modulation) aligns with what is being learned about long COVID pathophysiology, and accumulating clinical experience supports meaningful benefit in a subset of patients.

We approach long COVID as legitimate medical territory. We will not pretend any single intervention reliably resolves it. We can offer LDN, peptide adjuncts, and supportive care while working with your other providers on the broader management picture.

What to expect

Outcomes vary substantially. LDN typically requires 6 to 12 weeks at a stable dose before patients see meaningful benefit; some patients respond earlier, some later, and some not at all. We discuss realistic expectations during consultation. Peptide protocols (thymosin alpha-1, KPV, BPC-157) follow their own timelines.

We are honest about the limitations. These therapies do not cure autoimmune disease. They may meaningfully reduce symptom burden, improve quality of life, and reduce dependence on more aggressive medications in some patients. They may produce no benefit in other patients. We monitor carefully and adjust based on actual response, not on hope.

What we don’t do

We do not replace appropriate specialty care for complex autoimmune disease. We do not promise cures. We do not pretend the evidence base for these therapies is more robust than it actually is — much of it is supported by mechanism, accumulating clinical experience, and small trials rather than large RCTs. We do not push high-frequency or aggressive protocols beyond what evidence supports. We do not work with research-only compounds.

Cost and what is included

Immune and inflammation care is a cash-pay service in most cases. Pricing covers consultation, comprehensive lab review, ongoing physician oversight, and follow-up monitoring. Medication costs are separate. LDN is dispensed through licensed compounding pharmacies and is generally affordable (under $50/month at most pharmacies). Peptide medications carry their own pricing depending on the compound and protocol.

Why The Tide is different

Most Houston-area clinics offering LDN are functional medicine practices where it sits alongside many other interventions, often without rigorous monitoring or specialist coordination. The Tide treats LDN and immune-modulating therapy as serious clinical work. We coordinate with your specialists. We monitor labs. We adjust protocols based on response. Our clinic at 6909 Grand Boulevard is adjacent to the Texas Medical Center, with proximity to the major Houston specialty practices that complex chronic illness patients often see.

If you have searched for “LDN Houston,” “low dose naltrexone Houston,” “autoimmune clinic Houston,” “long COVID clinic Houston,” “fibromyalgia clinic Houston,” or “Hashimoto’s clinic Houston,” and you want a clinic that takes complex chronic illness seriously, this is the right place to start.

Frequently asked questions

What is Low Dose Naltrexone?

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist FDA-approved at 50 mg for opioid use disorder and alcohol dependence. At low doses (1.5 to 4.5 mg) it has different effects: partial blockade of opioid receptors that paradoxically upregulates endogenous endorphin production and modulates microglial inflammation in the central nervous system. This off-label use has accumulating evidence for fibromyalgia, autoimmune conditions, IBD, complex regional pain syndrome, and post-viral syndromes including long COVID. We discuss the mechanism, evidence, and realistic expectations in detail during consultation. Our Resources article on LDN goes deeper.

Will LDN replace my current medications?

Probably not, and we do not recommend stopping any prescribed medication without coordination with your specialist. LDN is most often used alongside existing treatment — for example, alongside levothyroxine in Hashimoto’s, alongside DMARDs in rheumatoid arthritis, alongside biologics in IBD. Some patients eventually reduce other medications under their specialist’s guidance after sustained improvement on LDN, but that decision belongs to the prescribing specialist, not to us.

How long until I know if LDN is working?

Most patients who respond do so within 6 to 12 weeks at a stable therapeutic dose. We typically start at 1.5 mg nightly and titrate based on tolerance and response. Patients who see no benefit by week 12 at a therapeutic dose are unlikely to benefit from extended trials. We are honest about this rather than continuing therapy indefinitely without response.

Are there side effects?

The most common side effects are vivid dreams or sleep disruption in the first 1 to 2 weeks of starting therapy — these typically resolve as the body adjusts. Some patients experience mild GI upset or headache initially. Slower titration, taking the dose earlier in the evening, or temporary dose reduction usually addresses these. Severe side effects are rare. LDN cannot be combined with opioid pain medications since it would block their effect.

Can I do this if I have multiple sclerosis?

LDN has been used in MS for over two decades with reasonable evidence for symptom benefit and disease modification. We coordinate with your neurologist if you have MS. We do not replace disease-modifying therapy without your neurologist’s involvement. For some MS patients, LDN is added alongside their existing DMT; for others, neurologists are increasingly comfortable considering it as part of broader management. The decision involves your neurology team.

What about long COVID specifically?

Long COVID is a heterogeneous condition with multiple proposed mechanisms. LDN has reasonable theoretical basis (modulation of microglial inflammation aligns with what is being learned about post-viral neuroinflammation) and accumulating clinical experience suggests benefit for a meaningful subset of patients. We are honest that the evidence is still developing and that not every long COVID patient will respond. For long COVID patients with significant symptoms, we typically suggest a structured 12-week trial with careful symptom tracking.

Do you treat conditions other than autoimmune disease?

Yes. The therapies we offer have applications across multiple inflammatory conditions: fibromyalgia and chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome / ME-CFS, long COVID and post-viral syndromes, chronic gut inflammation, complex regional pain syndrome, persistent low-grade systemic inflammation. Many of these conditions are not technically “autoimmune” but share inflammatory mechanisms that may respond to similar interventions.

What is the first step?

Book a consultation. We will review your full clinical picture, discuss what you have tried, and decide together whether our approach fits your situation. We will not prescribe in the first visit. Prescription decisions follow your baseline labs and a clinical decision. The consultation itself is the start of an evaluation, not the prescription.