FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, August 9, 2020

My Personal Story of Mega-dosing Vitamin C

by Allen Cohen

(OMNS August 9, 2020) I am 78 years old, and have been taking 30,000 mg/day of vitamin C for over 40 years. And I do not get sick!

As a child and up until my mid-30s I had to deal with many food allergies, such as dairy, nuts, strawberries, chocolate, and many others, which made going out with friends to restaurants sometimes an ordeal. The allergies would cause eczema or often asthma, and greatly affected my life.

In my mid 30s I read a series of articles on Dr. Linus Pauling, and his two Nobel Prices, with particular emphasis on vitamin C. I decided to try it. I started with 1,000 mg twice per day, and each week, I would increase it by 1,000 mg, so that at the end of about 5 weeks, I was taking 5,000 mg, twice per day. [1-3] After doing that for a couple of months, one of my friends' wives made a strawberry pie, and suggested I try it. I resisted out of fear of an asthma attack and/or severe eczema rash. However, I decided to try the pie, and much to my surprise nothing bad occurred. I was amazed, and at first did not even make the connection to vitamin C, which I was now taking at 10,000 mg per day. After a couple of days, I decided to purchase some fresh strawberries, and have them with a glass of fresh whole milk. Again, nothing bad occurred. On the next day, I tried a handful of nuts, and again, no asthma, no eczema rash, no problems. I ran to the library, and sought out a book by Dr. Pauling on vitamin-C, and read it cover to cover. [4] Nothing else in my life had changed, except I was now taking 10,000 mg/day of vitamin C, at the rate of 5,000 mg with my breakfast, and 5,000 mg with my dinner.

I have continued with this protocol ever since, and I no longer suffer from any food allergies!

Editors' note: Individual need for vitamin C varies considerably. Each person must determine their own optimal intake level. Bowel tolerance (loose stool) indicates that too much C is being taken at one time. [1]

A woman with ileitis

Some months later I was introduced to a woman in her mid-30s who was suffering from ileitis, and was taking sulfa-based antibiotics at the rate of 6-8 tablets per day. Her skin actually had a slightly yellow/green tinge to it, and you could smell the sulfa. She was living on a diet that was 100 % fiber free, so no fresh vegetables and no fresh fruits. She had constant diarrhea, stomach cramps, and generally felt sick. She was told that in due course she would have to have her lower bowel partially or completely removed, her rectum sealed, and would live with a colostomy bag, for the rest of her life. Needless to say, she was terrified.

I suggested she take plain yogurt 6-8 ounces twice per day, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and take vitamin C 1,000 mg twice per day with meals, and increase it by 1,000 mg each week, so that in approximately 5 weeks, she would be taking 5,000 mg twice per day. After about 3 months she began reducing the sulfa antibiotics and by the time 6 months went by she was eating normally, no longer taking antibiotics, taking a total of 10,000 mg vitamin C every day. Her internist called me and asked me to come into his office, to explain what I had suggested, as she no longer showed any signs or symptoms of ileitis. I told him what I had suggested, and how well it obviously had worked. He told me he was going to send in this story to JAMA and that I would probably hear from them directly. I never did.

Shared success

Over the course of more than 40 years, I have received referrals from friends and family who knew about my success using mega doses of vitamin C and passed the information via word of mouth to associates who were having intestinal disorders of all types. [5] I would receive calls by phone and the people would introduce themselves and explain that they were friends or family members of those who knew how well I did with vitamin C and had simply passed the word. It's amazing how sometimes word of mouth gets passed around. So I continued to suggest to friends and family to use the same treatment. In all cases it worked, and they no longer suffer from these conditions.

I often do volunteer work at local senior citizens rehabilitation centers, where there are many sick patients. Accordingly, I have increased my vitamin C to 30,000 mg per day (10,000 mg, three times per day). I do not have diarrhea nor suffer from any side effects of a mega dose of vitamin C. I do not become ill.

What I did when sickness was coming on

About 3 months ago I attended a medical lecture on osteoarthritis in the elderly. There was someone there seated near me, who was coughing during the lecture, but frankly I did not think much about it. Some days later, I awoke in the morning with a low grade temperature, sneezing and coughing and felt that I had picked up an upper respiratory infection. I was not tested, nor did I go to the doctors or the hospital to be tested.

I took 10,000 mg of plain vitamin C (ascorbic acid), 5 times during the day. Yes, I swallowed 50,000 mg of vitamin C during the day from about 6 AM until about 10 PM that night. I awoke the next morning, feeling great, with no symptoms of an infection!

I can tell you many stories about people who take a minimum of 10,000 mg of vitamin C every day on my recommendation, and who all have told me that they are feeling great, and like myself, do not get ill and are not at all worried about their health in this coronavirus pandemic! [3,6-8]

Pharmaceutical medicine does not like vitamin C. After all, vitamin C works, is not expensive, and has no side effects. But vitamin C has changed my life, and the life of everyone I know who will take the time to listen and to have an open mind on this subject.

My vitamin and mineral protocol to prevent infection

For optimal health and to prevent infection by viruses, I recommend taking a multivitamin, along with additional vitamin C, vitamin D (5000 IU/d) [8-10], vitamin E (400 IU, mixed tocopherols) [11], magnesium (400 mg/d in malate, citrate, or chloride form) [12], and zinc (20 mg/d). To find your correct dose of vitamin C, learn about "bowel tolerance" -- the daily dose just below the amount that causes a laxative effect. [1-7] Many people find that when they're not sick, a dose of 3000 mg - 10,000 mg/day taken all at once will cause a laxative effect, but they can tolerate the same daily dose of vitamin C when taken in divided doses. However, when an infection starts, much higher doses [1-7] can prevent it from taking hold. Of course I recommend healthy eating, and daily exercise, and not smoking or drinking alcohol to excess. You may want to discuss doses of vitamins and minerals with your doctor. You might indeed be doing your physician a favor.

Conclusion

So this is my story of my experience with vitamin C over four decades. Vitamin C in megadoses works wonders. I tell everyone, if you take only one vitamin, be sure to take vitamin C at a minimum of 10,000 mg/day.

References

1. Cathcart RF (1981) Vitamin C, titrating to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and acute induced scurvy. Medical Hypotheses, 7:1359-1376. http://doctoryourself.com/titration.html

2. Cathcart RF (1993) The third face of vitamin C. J Orthomolecular Med, 7:4;197-200. http://www.doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html

3. Rasmussen MPF (2020) Vitamin C Evidence for Treating Complications of COVID-19 and other Viral Infections. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n25.shtml

4. Pauling L (1976) Vitamin C, the Common Cold, and the Flu. WH Freeman & Co. ISBN-13: 978-0716703617.

5. Saul AW. Colitis, diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and other GI problems including ulcers. http://www.doctoryourself.com/colitis.html

6. Holford P (2020) Vitamin C for the Prevention and Treatment of Coronavirus. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n36.shtml

7. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service Editorial Review Board (2020) Rationale for Vitamin C Treatment of COVID-19 and Other Viruses. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n21.shtml

8. Downing D (2020) How we can fix this pandemic in a month. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n34.shtml

9. Grant WB (2020) The role of vitamin D in reducing risk of COVID-19: a brief survey of the literature. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n33.shtml

10. Saul AW (2003) Vitamin D: Deficiency, Diversity and Dosage. J Orthomolecular Med 18:3-4; 194-204. http://www.doctoryourself.com/dvitamin.htm

11. Saul AW. (2003) Vitamin E: a cure in search of recognition. J Orthomolecular Med 18:3-4; 205-212. http://www.doctoryourself.com/evitamin.htm

12. Dean C (2017) The Magnesium Miracle (2nd Ed.) Ballantine Books. ISBN-13: 978-0399594441.

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Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
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Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief
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