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C- Vitamin & dose , complications
MAINTENANCE DOSES
Maintenance doses are established by the patient taking bowel tolerance doses 6 times a day for at least a week. He observes if there is any unexpected benefit such as clearing of sinuses, decrease in allergies, increase in energy, etc. Should any chronic problem be benefitted, then the dose is decreased to the minimum amount producing the effect. Otherwise a dose such as 4 to 10 grams a day divided in 3 to 4 doses is recommended.
In addition, the patient is told to increase the dose on stressful days. If a patient well tolerates ascorbic acid dissolved in water, then after a short period of time his taste will begin to regulate the dosages. Most patients can easily sense their ascorbate needs.
Patients who take ascorbate in large amounts over a long period of time should probably suppliment with vitamin A and a multiple mineral preparation. The "Fortified Formulation for Nutritional Insurance" of Roger Williams (29) is recommended as a base.
COMPLICATIONS
It is my experience that ascorbic acid probably prevents most kidney stones. I have had a few patients who had had kidney stones before starting bowel tolerance doses who have subsequently had no more difficulty with them. Acute and chronic urinary tract infections are often eliminated; this fact may remove one of the causes of kidney stones. Six patients have had mild pain on urination; five of these patients were over fifty and none had stones.
Three out of thousands had a light rash which cleared with subsequent doses. It was difficult to evaluate the cause of this because of concomitant infections. Several patients had discoloration of the skin under jewelry of certain metals. A few patients complaining of small sores in the mouth with the taking of small doses of ascorbate had them clear with bowel tolerance doses.
Patients with hidden peptic ulcers may have pain, but some are benefitted. Mineral ascorbates can be used for maintenance doses in these cases. Two patients who had mild epigastric discomfort with maintenance doses of ascorbic acid who after being given ascorbate by vein for several days were then able to tolerate the acid orally.
It is my experience that high maintenance doses reduce the incidence of gouty arthritis. I have not seen difficulties with giving large amounts of ascorbic acid to patients with gout. Almost all my patients have been Caucasian, so I have no comment on the report that ascorbate can cause certain blood problems in certain non-white groups (30).
There has been no clinical evidence as Herbert and Jacob (31) suspected that ascorbic acid destroys vitamin B12.
If maintenance doses of ascorbic acid in solution are used over very long periods of time I would rinse the teeth after each dose. I would not brush my teeth with calcium ascorbate.
There is a certain dependency on ascorbic acid that a patient acquires over a long period of time when he takes large maintenance doses. Apparently, certain metabolic reactions are facilitated by large amounts of ascorbate and if the substance is suddenly withdrawn, certain problems result such as a cold, return of allergy, fatigue, etc. Mostly, these problems are a return of problems the patient had before taking the ascorbic acid. Patients have by this time become so adjusted to feeling better that they refuse to go without ascorbic acid. Patients do not seem to acquire this dependency in the short time they take doses to bowel tolerance to treat an acute disease. Maintenance doses of 4 grams per day do not seem to create a noticeable dependency. The majority of patients who take over 10-15 grams of ascorbic acid per day probably have certain metabolic needs for ascorbate which exceed the universal human species need. Patients with chronic allergies often take large maintenance doses.
The major problem feared by patients benefiting from these large maintenance doses of ascorbic acid is that they may be forced into a position where their body is deprived of ascorbate during a period of great stress such as emergency hospitalization. Physicians should recognize the consequences of suddenly withdrawing ascorbate under these circumstances and be prepared to meet these increased metabolic needs for ascorbate in even an unconscious patient. These consequences of ascorbate depletion which may include shock, heart attack, phlebitis, pneumonia, allergic reactions, increased susceptibility to infection, etc., may be averted only by ascorbate. Patients unable to take large oral doses should be given intravenous ascorbate. All hospitals should have supplies of large amounts of ascorbate for intravenous use to meet this need. The millions of people taking ascorbic acid makes this an urgent priority. Patients should carry warnings of these needs in a card prominently displayed in their wallets or have a Medic Alert type bracelet engraved with this warning.
CONCLUSION
The method of titrating a patient's dosage of ascorbic acid between the relief of most symptoms and bowel tolerance has been described. Either this titration method or large intravenous doses are absolutely necessary to obtain excellent results. Studies of lesser amounts are almost useless. The oral method cannot by its very nature be investigated by double blind studies because no placebo will mimic this bowel tolerance phenomenon. The method produces such spectacular effects in all patients capable of tolerating these doses, especially in the cases of acute self-limiting viral diseases, as to be undeniable. A placebo could not possibly work so reliably, even in infants and children, and have such a profound effect on critically ill patients. Belfield (32) has had similar results in veterinary medicine curing distemper and kennel fever in dogs with intravenous ascorbate. Although dogs produce their own ascorbate, they do not produce enough to neutralize the toxicity of these diseases. This effect in animals could hardly be a placebo.
It would be possible to conduct a double blind study on intravenous ascorbate; however, doses would have to be determined by someone experienced with this method.
Part of the difficulty many have with understanding ascorbate is that claims for its benefits seem too many. Most of these clinical results merely indicate that large doses of ascorbate augment the healing abilities of the body already known to be dependent upon minimal doses of ascorbate.
I anticipate that other essential nutrients will be found being utilized at unsuspectedly rapid rates in disease states. Compli- cations caused by failures in systems dependent upon those nutrients will be found. The magnitude of supplimentations necessary to avert those complications will seem extraordinary by standards accepted today.
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