My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 6/16/11)

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

can someone provide a link with instructions on how one is to measure to Vitamin C tolerance?

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I'm confused a little. I thought Ray was taking the JOH regimen including in addition to this Vitamin C treatment. So he's only been doing the mega Vitamin C? Wow - that would be easy enough.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

At the risk of sounding stupid, I always measured my tolerance to vitamin C in the bathroom. As soon as I started having even close to diarrhea , I knew my system was saturated & I'd lower my dosage a little. The problem always passed (no pun intended) quickly & I knew how much C I could take without problems.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Great news Ray. I've been waiting to see if it helped you. I've been to the vitamincfoundation site many times reading about all the benefits of vit c. I'm was thinking of trying the lyposomal vit c but if you've had these results with the regular stuff, maybe I'll just do that instead. Hope your new found health continues.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Ray,

I've reread your updates and want clarification. You did the High dose vit C WITH JOH regimen? or did you stop the JOH and go with straight vit C?

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I'm definitely going to read up on the vitamin C info, as well as Ray's . . . but with Ray feeling better I can't help but wonder is it the vitamin C . . . OR could he just be going into remission?
Jacquie

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I have just started the Vitamin C along with Acyclovir and JOH regime. I take a heaped teaspoon with Lysine. Had a few issues with tummy upsets but no diarrhoea. Still testing the waters. Wonder whether being acidic, should it be eaten with food? My symptoms include tinnitus, ear fullness, imbalance and nausea, and hearing loss, diagnosed September 2009. I started with JOH and felt much better - less fullness, more airflow through ears, tinnitus 24/7 but intensity fluctuates, hearing loss the same even though I find it really weird that when I pinch my nose and gently blow air through I can get my hearing back and then it either closes over or slowly returns to the previous hearing level. The major benefit has been very few days of nausea and imbalance. When I added Acyclovir ... lots of crackling noises in my ear but no real added benefit so far on top of JOH regime. Now have added Vitamin C and it seems my body is detoxing a bit ... a few pimples, a bit of tummy upset but no real diarrhoea ... but maybe that is a good thing. Being new to all this I am throwing everything at it to see what makes a difference. I had a relapse of nausea and imbalance symptoms last week which brought back exactly how badly I was feeling before I started the JOH regime. I think my body was trying to overcome the beginnings of a virus but it hasn't amounted to anything so far.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I am interested in knowing exactly how much everyone is taking - I appreciate that everyone is different, but I'd like to get a general idea. I take 1000mg tablets morning and evening on the JoH regime and have just bought some powdered Vitamin C which is 2500mg per half-teaspoon. I have been taking a 2500mg dose without any ill-effects but am wondering if I should take this more than once a day. Thoughts?

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I am (and have been for over 30 years) an advocate of taking much more Vitamin C than the RDA. It is inexpensive, water soluble (so you pee off what you don't use), and, other than some gastrointestinal distress reported by some users at high doses and some ambiguous reports about kidney stones in a minuscule number of users, it appears pretty harmless.

The concept of taking megadoses of C (and other vitamins for that matter) is nothing new--orthomolecular therapy, the treatment term for megadosing, was used on the 60s and 70s to treat schizophrenia. Just like so many things, this approach has its proponents and its detractors. To put the debate in perspective though, even most of the detractors only said megadosing was a waste or ineffective--again, no compelling reason to not try it.

A couple of words of caution, however. First, don't stop taking your vitamin C abruptly, even if you are only taking 1000 mg per day. Also, remember it is important to eat a diet rich in vitamin C. Bioavailability is important and there is some indication we are better off getting our C from not only supplements but also from diet. If you are taking the lemon bioflavonoids John of Ohio recommends, there is some evidence they enhance the action of vitamin C. Additionally, if you have a history of kidney problems or know you have impaired kidney function, ask your urologist or nephrologist how much you should take.

Most significantly, please keep the following in mind. Vitamin C performs a multiplicity of functions. Google it and you can find a plethora of info about it. If you read enough about it, you will see that it may be involved in many of the processes related to hypothesized causes and symptoms of inner ear disorders. It has an antioxidant, it may play a role in blood pressure regulation, prostaglandin synthesis (google this and MM for some interesting research), immune function, mineral absorption, cholesterol metabolism, diabetes, fatigue, stress, respiratory infections, serotonin, etc. ad infinitum almost.

In other words, Vitamin C plays such a significant role in so many bodily processes, it would be difficult to determine exactly if and how it affects your MM symptoms. If your MM is related to problems with circulation, is the C helping the capillary action of the inner ear? Is the C helping your immune system and thereby making your body less likely to turn on itself? Is C playing a role in the allergic response? Is it simply the antioxidant property of vitamin C that is helping? My list of questions could be 5 times that long but the bottom line is it doesn’t matter, because nobody on this board, and nobody with an MD and/or Ph.D. in clinical nutrition can authoritatively state they are 100% certain how or if it is working in each particular case. It may be as simple as this: vitamin C usually makes you pee more and this diuretic effect could help your symptoms (but lets not ever accept that because that would be endorsing what the vast majority of neurotologists suggest; i.e., we should try to reduce edema since it very well may play a role in our symptoms)

To summarize a verbose response on my part: I strongly endorse the notion of taking much more vitamin C than the RDA. I do this primarily for reasons not related to MM. I can see (after reading about “C” for 40 years) how it may have some beneficial impact on both the causes and symptoms of MM. This site purports to be a place for information and support. More significantly, I think it is a place for hope for many people who come. When we hear of anything relatively innocuous that may help, we are inclined to grab hold of it. This is a good thing. Pop those pills and eat those C rich foods. Good luck and I hope it brings some relief.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I am taking 3.5g X 2 per day with no ill effects, i am considering to up the dosage to 4.5g X 2

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Thanks Sirlanc, that's very interesting to hear.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

thanks Evil Santa--I'm all for the vitamin C idea even if one doesn't feel the virus is the prime culprit (and just about all of us have dormant or active virus zipping around in our systems)--like Linus Pauling used to say, "it can't hurt"--(he is also one of many who admonished that one should not abrubtly stop taking C)

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Papajoe, the health store owner (who is also a pharmacist) that I deal with said I would know if I had herpes. I haven't had a cold sore in years. Would my ENT know from various tests he's performed on me or would I have to go for blood tests?

That said . . . if I don't have the herpes virus, does that mean (probably) that John of Ohio's regimen wouldn't help?

Thanks.

Jacquie

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Jacquie,

If you have EVER had a cold sore, then you have the HSP1 virus. It lies dormant in nerve cells and may not reactivate again for years, but once you have it, it's always there lurking.

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

I am interested in trying the Vitamin C loading. I read information on the titration, but even after reading I was left with questions.
1. When beginning titration, should one start with a lower level of C and slowly build up to your maximum amount?
2. Is there a good number of milligrams to start with?
3. During titration and afterwards, should Vitamin C be spread throughout the day, or taken all at once?
I would love some help with these questions. Thanks!

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Jacquie,

First, you can't be sure you don't have any herpes viruses anywhere in your body just because you have never had a cold sore. There are many herpes viruses that do not cause sores or other external lesions. And many just sit around in nerves for decades waiting to pop. Blood tests for herpes infections can be helpful, but they can't always definitively make certain that you don't have any of these.

The hydrops-clearing and inflammation reducing features of the regimen can be very helpful, even if you don't have a virus. The only way to know if the regimen will help is to try it.

Keep us posted.

--John of Ohio

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Andrew Weil MD, A well known health guru has been promoting very high levels of C for years. He even said that patients under going surgery should have it administered in an IV drip to prevent infection. Scott in Miami

 

Re: My MegaVitamin C as Anti-Viral "Experiment" (updated 4/5/10)

Jacquie, there are many different kinds of herpes viruses.

Most of us are aware of herpes simplex, and we think of that as herpes, but there are other kinds that are totally different.

If you ever had chicken pox or shingles, that is herpes zoster. After you've recovered from the chicken pox, the virus never leaves your body, but goes dormant, and hides in one of the spinal nerves.

Stress can reactivate it, but instead of getting a second bout of chicken pox, you get shingles, which is kind of like getting chicken pox all along the length of whatever nerve your particular virus decided to hide in, with the addition of a lot of SEVERE pain, both in the lesions and in the nerve itself. The nerve pain feels rather like a pinched nerve, except instead of being inflamed at one point, the ENTIRE nerve is inflamed.

It's very, very, very nasty. Typical cases run their course in 10-14 days, but it can last 6 weeks or longer.

Some experts feel that the chicken pox vaccine is responsible for a huge upsurge of shingles. The thinking is that when adults are re-exposed to chicken pox in children, their immune system "remembers," and makes enough antibodies to keep their own virus dormant. But with children being vaccinated, not only are fewer adults re-exposed, but boosters are often needed as the children grown older, with the waning of the vaccine-induced immunity.

There are other kinds of herpes, too, but I'm only a (reluctant) semi-expert on herpes zoster, as I had a 6-week case of shingles when I was in my 20's.