In any case, our objective for Cforyourself is to provide information (the rest of the site) and a forum for individuals to share their experiences with specific diseases and Vitamin C. Your participation is encouraged. Please be assured that your identity will be kept as confidential as you wish. To share your experiences please click the “Go To Form” button below or just send us an e-mail from any of the e-mail links at the bottom of every page
Submitted by: Tom Jeanne
Date: November 16, 2006
On Sunday, I started noticing a few symptoms of a cold. Increased my vitamin C intake somewhat but definitely not enough. I have been taking 3-4 grams consistently every day as a baseline dose when not sick.
On Monday it was clear that I indeed had cold virus inside of me, but I was able to keep it from worsening with 1+ gram every hour. Sniffling and very sneezy at times (times when my body ascorbate levels dropped, I suspect!) but I felt well enough to carry on as normal through my busy school schedule. Tuesday was about the same, no real improvement but no worsening. I tried to take a gram every half hour although I’m sure I came up short of that in the end. Still, I must have taken well over 20 grams both days.
Today, Wednesday, my nose is 90% clear and I’m basically well. More strong evidence for me that ascorbic acid is a godsend. I’ve probably taken at least 15 grams today. A two-day cold is a HUGE improvement over the usual 10-14 day cold I remember getting. This also strongly reinforces the need for true megadosing upon the first hints of a cold. With the onset of this cold, I did not notice any stuffed-up head feeling, sore throat, or sub-scorbutic feeling in my gums as I usually do. I just had slight runny nose and sneezing, maybe just a little stuffy head. As a result, I wasn’t diligent in increasing my C dose. Next time I will try to jump directly to 1-2g every 30 minutes upon first signs of a cold.
Last night I did have about 45 minutes of abdominal pain followed by diarrhea. It was definitely due to overdosing (in an entirely non-life-threatening sense of the word!) on C that evening. When I came home, I took several glasses of powdered ascorbate, probably 8-12 grams in each glass. (The rest of the day I was taking plain ascorbic acid tablets.) At that point the cold was on the retreat already and I simply exceeded bowel tolerance before I had a chance to realize it. It was moderate pain and I actually felt like vomiting a few times, but never got that close to actually vomiting. After using the bathroom, the pain subsided steadily and I was able to get a very good night’s sleep, as usual. The upset stomach was a huge improvement over the drawn out colds I used to get, and it was merely the result of my own sloppiness with the dosing.
Tom demonstrates to himself and the rest of us just how important dose is, but quantity and frequency. Thanks for your letter. Rusty
Submitted by: Chris
Date: April 25, 2001
Just like to say I have been on 3-5 grams per day since early 98 and have not gotten a cold since. I was the typical “always getting sick” kind of person who had 3-4 colds each winter. I also take a super B, A, multi, 1000iu E daily. I feel better and am much healthier than when I was 18 (I am 30 now). I gave up soda’s and excess sugar and now do not have the peaks and valleys of false energy. Not to mention that my wounds heal faster, nails grow faster, on and on and on.
I honestly think that the majority of illnesses of ALL kinds are due to lack of proper amounts of C, along with other diet deficiencies. I try to talk to people and reson why to take 3+ grams per day and they just let me finish talking and go back to their poor health regimen. I can only smile when they are constantly compaining about this ailment or that which could have been averted.Imagine the financial collapse of this country if everyone ingested the proper amounts of nutrients. We would need 1/10 of the current amount of doctors!!
From: Beni Kaffe
Date: April 20, 2000
E mail: bkaffe@atl.co.il
First date using C: 4/98
How much C: 6000 mg per day
I began taking vitamin C two year ago, and took 500mg a day. Even on this amount I felt in short time that several pains connected to the spine and bones went away. Than I read in your site on the Stone theory and on the experience of Dr. Klenner and Dr. Cathcart and Linus Pauling and I decided to raise the amount to 6 grams a day.
Then I got a severe influenza, so I began taking 20,30 and 50 grams of C a day, and in 9 day I got well. Only after the 50 gram’s day did I feel that the illness was overcome, and that was indeed close to the bowel tolerance. Of course I went to a doctor but he told me I had some virus and gave me some lozenges for my sour throat.
I feel that the mega-doses at first helped my body to fight the illness, and when I at last had the courage to take the necessary amounts, cured me completely. I stayed in bed only half a day, while others I know stayed a week or two, and my overall feeling was quite well, except the sore throat and running nose.
Submitted by: Christiaan de Wet
E-mail: cdwet@hotmail.com
Date: January 5, 2000
About 2 years ago I fell into a ritual of having a constant cold. Not too bad, but just that irritating one. It will normally hit after I had a strenuous exercising session or energy drain of some sort. My dad recommended Vitamin C. From then on, no problems anymore. I haven’t had a cold or flu for almost 18 months now, although people around me went down with it. I am currently in Britain where the worst flu virus hit for some years…. and I’m still ok. Whenever I get that bone-ache, miserable feeling, I increase my Vitamin C dosage to 1000mg per hour and keep it there for two to three days. The first day after increasing the dosage I feel fit again. Then after the two/three days I reduce the dosage again to 1000mg per day, every day. This seems to keep me flu and cold free!
Submitted by: Sandra Hall
Date: November 23, 1999
My 20-year-old daughter came down with a terrible case of the flu 4 days before I began to feel tired and run-down with heaviness in my chest. I took 2000 mg of C right away and felt much better the following day. I rested and took it easy and continued to take 1000 mg twice a day. Today, I feel I am still fighting this virus, but I can function and go to work, unlike my daughter who has missed almost 1.5 weeks of work now. After finding this website, I will increase my dosage to 3000 mg/day.
Submitted by: Maria Bock
Date: October 13, 1999
I have suffered with colds, sore throats and flu all my life. Every year I get the flu which lasts at least 2 weeks. Then I get 3 or 4 colds also. I have been taking a super multi-vitamin for several years and believed I was “covered”. Last year I experienced a very bad cold for two weeks beginning August and each month right through to January. So for 6 months I had 6 colds/flu lasting 2 weeks each!!!!! I was very sick on Christmas and had 19 people for dinner. Finally I had had enough, I began taking 6 grams of vitamin c at the first sign of cold symptoms in January, by that afternoon, there was a complete reversal of symptoms. I felt as though the cold stopped dead in it’s tracks. I have not been sick since then (8 months no illnesses!) until a few weeks ago. I began getting all the symptoms of a flu type illness-tiredness scratchy throat ,sneezing, swollen glands and fever. I immediately began taking 10grams of c ————It was miraculous– the symptoms began reversing that same day. Within 1 day I was well. This has NEVER happened to me before. It always felt like my body could not fight an illness and I would always get a full -blown one. Since then I take 8 to 10 grams of timed release c daily. I am a believer!!
Submitted by: Rich Manning
Date: July 12, 1999
FYI – a few days leading to the particular Friday in March 1998, I was feeling run down, tired and achy. Friday evening around 9:30 PM I noticed itchy burning eyes, runny nose with the associated sneezing. By Saturday night I was in the grips of an upper respiratory cold. I had a raspy, painful irritation in my windpipe, having to endure the pain when I would clear my throat etc. Before going to bed, I tried something that flashed across my mind (related to an article I read in a popular readers magazine several years ago). I decided to let a couple of 500mg vitamin C tablets dissolve in a whiskey jigger half full of water. After stirring the dissolved material, I drew a small quantity of the material into an eyedropper. I placed the eyedropper into each nostril snuffing the material up my nasal tract.
While there was some ‘burning’ sensation where the material contacted those areas where I felt the ‘itchiness’ in my nasal tract, it was of short duration and certainly not what I would characterize as ‘painful’.
I repeated this treatment twice Sunday and by Monday evening I felt as though I had shunted around two weeks of cold suffering for I felt like that first day when you really feel like your ‘over your cold’. There was definite slowing and reversing of the cold onset after the first several hours of the initial treatment. My wife and I have been using this remedy regularly (when a cold or virus rarely appears) since that first experience.
From: Edward Ayers
Date: 8/2/99
Subject: Colds & Flu
Excerpted from his letter explaining his considerable experience with vitamin C:
I’ve had many experiences in the use of C (ascorbic acid.) Over several years, I read nearly all of the research papers on C, including those of Dr. Fred Klenner’s that were in print. I accepted what I read and began taking 4 g of C daily.
Having formerly gotten an average of three (3) colds yearly, I figured out how to avoid coming down with any cold, period. I would usually get a cold by awakening with a sore throat, which would get progressively worse, ending with a full lung, then sinus infection. So, at the first awareness of throat soreness, I would jump up and take at least two grams of C. If the symptoms didn’t reverse, I would continue to take an extra gram every half hour until they did. That was in 1977. Since that time, I have increased my daily dose of C to 6 or 7 grams (timed release) and have not had a cold infection longer than one day. I am 67 years old.
In addition, I have overcome flu infections all three times that I had a high fever during those 22 years. Once, when I was finishing a backpack trip in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains., and had to hike out nine (9) miles next day, I felt that I had a high fever and was feeling worse by the minute. My two buddies agreed that I felt hot. I crawled into my sleeping bag and took 5 g of C. Every time I awakened I took another 5 g of C. By about 3 AM I felt sure that my T-cells had overcome and took 2 g of C. Awakening at about 7 AM, I was fine, and returned to my normal dose of 4 g a day (at that time) and packed out the nine miles with energy to spare.
A Case of the Flu
From: Rusty
Date: February, 7, 1999
I am including my detailed experience this past week with the flu to show how difficult it is to judge just how much C to take. If you try taking vitamin C to cure a cold, maybe my account will help guide you. It is difficult to take just as much as you can while still avoiding diahrrea. I hope this account helps.
Wednesday night (2/3/99) when I was going to bed, I started to have a deep cough. Not too severe, but enough to make me aware that I may be getting sick.
Thursday, I went to work and did fine all day, making sure that I took an extra 1000 mg C tablet every hour or so. Last night my throat was very tight and I woke up all through the night. I took a 1000 mg tablet every time I got up and every time I didn’t feel any better or any worse. I was up again at 3:20 a.m. and since this extra C wasn’t causing any distress, I decided that I was really going to try to take more. Anyway, I was home, so any inconvenience would be minimized. I took the following:
Friday
3000 mg then (3:20 a.m.)
1000 mg at 4:00 a.m.
2000 mg at 4:15 a.m.
1000 mg at 4:50 a.m.
3000 mg at 5:20 a.m.
3000 mg at 6:00 a.m. and
2000 mg at 6:45 a.m.
By this time I had diarrhea, so I backed off. The tightness in my throat had subsided considerably by 4:00 a.m. and by 6:45 I was feeling pretty well, except very tired. My point is that an extra 1000 mg per hour may have been helping me keep from getting worse, but it wasn’t until I started to really try to take absolutely as much as possible did I get amazing results. As you can see above, I took 15,000 mg in less than 3 1/2 hours! I am writing this at 4:00 p.m. and I am feeling whipped, but not sick. When this is done I will go lie down for a while (I called in sick today to take it easy).
Well, unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story. I started feeling better Friday morning after taking huge amounts of C as listed above. After the 2000 mg at 6:45, when I was feeling better and diarrhea had set in, I backed off to about 1000 mg per hour for the rest of the day. That seemed like a lot to me. Well, big mistake! I did lie done at about 5:00 Friday afternoon like I said I would., but I started to get the tightness in my throat again. I mixed a bottle of C and started taking 2000-3000 mg 2-3 times an hour. Again, I slept better Friday night getting two periods of about three hours solid. And every time I awoke I took more. Which brings us to
Saturday.
By morning I was feeling pretty well, but tired. I was going to continue to take 2000-3000 mg every hour if I could tolerate it. And I did tolerate it easily. I went out and ran a couple errands, but kept it to a minimum. After dinner, I went back to bed with C by my side. My night went about the same as last night. Sleeping for some good periods, but getting up and taking a couple grams of C 4 or 5 times.
I slept in until 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning. I made breakfast, checked my e-mail and went back to bed. I have been taking 6 grams every two hours today and I feel about 80%. I am writing this at 4:30 p.m. I expect that since I have felt better today, that continuing as I have, I’ll go to work tomorrow. I have been able to avoid any severe symptoms. I haven’t felt really badly during the whole time. I have felt tired and I have found it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. All in all the vitamin C has helped me avoid what would have been a much longer and much more uncomfortable sickness. Even I am surprised at just how much vitamin C my body could utilize to fight off this infection.
Submitted by: Leanne Burke
Date: August 20, 1997
Before I started taking Vitamin C, I would get a cold that would last. After a while I would get drug down and loose my energy. Within a couple weeks, I’d have strep. This happened at least once every year, sometimes twice.
Since I have been taking C, I have felt the glands under my jaw start to swell on three or four occasions. With Rusty’s prodding (you can imagine), I would always increase my C intake to 1000mg/hour or more!
I haven’t had strep ONCE since.
Submitted by: John Waterhorse
Date: January 5, 1999
After reading your article I felt that I should share my experiences with you:
I am 39, a writer and horse breeder and live in extreme Northern Vermont year-round. I have suffered from winter colds and bouts of pneumonia almost yearly. Two years ago I began taking 1000 mgs of Vitamin C daily and had no colds during that winter. The following year I did not take C at all and spent a large portion of the winter ill, including three months with pneumonia.
This year I began my Vitamin C dosages of 1000 daily (and more if I feel something coming on). I have not had one cold yet even though my entire household and those around me have had bad flu’s and colds. (I would not expect such good results from only 1000mg/day, but that just goes to show you how different we all are, Rusty)
Submitted by: Tim Amsden
Date: 3/17/98
I had chronic sinus infection, ear infections and two or three colds a year, not to mention flu, etc. In the middle 80’S I accidentally took 2000mg of C one night and my nose was clear. Since then my average doseage has been 5000MG (per day, ed.). No more infections, colds, or the flu. I try to spread the word, but the world is full of skeptics. Since reading your stuff, I will not be afraid to increase doseages.I take the cheapest brand, and I wonder about what keeps those pills together. Maybe you could find out and tell everyone.
Keep up the good work and thank you!