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
Click on the subject to go directly to that letter.
Bladder Infections
From: Carla Lawrence
Date: 1/15/03
I have been plagued with bladder infections since childhood. It got so bad that at one point I was on antibiotics for 3 full months. I read that Vitamin C can help ease a bladder infection so I tried it. The relief was quicker than even antibiotics could provide. Usually, I have to suffer for several hours or even over-night before I can get in to see the doctor- only to have to give a urine specimen (which isn’t fun) I took 1 1000 mg dose of Vitamin C each day for a few days and I had instant relief! Why don’t doctors tell you about natural remedies that work so well instead of stuffing you with antibiotics! Not to mention the pain and discomfort one has to suffer EVERY time an infection occurs-when there is a perfect cure right in the medicine cabinet.
(Why are we not surprised!, Rusty)
Canker Sores
Canker sores are those small white, very annoying infectious eruptions some of us get in our mouths. They can be very painful and make eating and even talking very unpleasant. If you look in any popular medical books or even nutritional and home remedy books, you will find that there is nothing you can do about these sores except wait a painful week or two for them to go away (thankfully they leave no scarring). Even Prevention’s Food & Nutrition devotes several paragraphs to canker sores basically saying there isn’t much you can do.
Well, since these sores are an infection and I am prone to getting them, I thought I’d try to see if C would help.
When I start to feel a little bump, hopefully before it has gotten painful, I place a 500mg chewable C table in my mouth against the sore and let it dissolve on its own. It can tingle. It works like a charm! The sore does not get worse. Once I’ve done this a couple times over a day or two, the sore is gone.
Try it.
Cold Sores
From: Joseph G. Primeau
Date: 4/11/98
Subject: Cold Sores
I’m a male 62 years old and recently retired from a stressful job. All my life and as far back as I can remember, I was plagued with lip sores. These events would come and go and I never knew what to do about them. I consulted many physicians about the problem but they appeared uninterested and underplayed the problem. Some of my acquaintances would relate some success with a cream/ointment but they all appear to have to suffer 7 to 10 days with these lip sores (cold sores). I attempted a hair dryer to dry them out and anything else that was on the market. They still lasted some 7 to 10 days regardless of the treatment.
Some 2 to 3 years ago, a coworker said that he used VITAMIN C to avoid colds and flue symptoms. Since I never missed “catching” the bug during that time of the year (Sept Oct Nov) I started using extra Vitamin C. (I have been taking Multiple Vitamin for the past 15 years) I started with 500mg and took these faithfully during the “high season”. When I feel a cold sore coming-on, I take 2 500mg for as long as I can feel the tingling sensation on my lip. The feeling is “what a relief” I can eliminate the long duration with the bleeding and scab by simply taking vitamin C. My miracle pill.
(Isn’t it something that so many doctors can be so indifferent to pain, suffering and disability when it isn’t theirs, Rusty)
Herpes
From: Melvin
Date: 3/22/99
Subject: Genital Herpes
I have been taking Vitamin C for 3 years. After reading Dr. Paulings Books of the benefits of C I started using it. Particularly I was interested in the suppressive effects that C had on genital herpes. Since I have been taking C (14 grams daily) my herpes outbreaks have been nonexistent. I also have not been bothered by my allergies as I was before. I Have complete confidence in the safety and effectiveness of Vitamin C. I have not suffered any side effects at all. I would strongly recommend its use for sufferers of genital herpes due to its suppressive effects of this virus. Take as much as you bowels will comfortably tolerate for optimum good health.
Rusty, thanks for your web site. I love any information that I can get about this great Vitamin.
(I wonder? Could Melvin’s herpes be cured? Rusty)
Mononucleosis
From: Nancy in Vermont
Date: 1/16/99
Your web site is very, very good. I had severe fatigue for about 10 years. No doctor could find the reason. I had a Lyme titer done (unrelated to the fatigue), the doctor saw on my blood work that I had mono in my past. Apparently I was not treated properly for the “mono” and never recovered all that well. I can remember being given penicillin for “swollen lymph glands” when I was a teenager. My fatigue started after this sickness. I later learned this is not the way to treat mono; that mono is pretty rough on the body and one should be resting for up to 1 month.
After finding out I had mono in my past I started educating myself. Vitamin C became a daily dose along with other nutrients. My white blood cell count rose back to normal. My fatigue disappeared. I had also been given antidepressants for about 5 years due to this ‘depression/fatigue’. Asendin, Prozac, and 1 or 2 others I can’t remember. Antidepressants were a joke. I won’t go into what it did to my brain and body. It is interesting how persistent fatigue can be seen as depression. It is incredibly sad how easily they prescribed those drugs to me and how I went along with it. I was not suffering from psychological disorders I was just incredibly tired. There are a lot of lost years there! I also noted that vitamin C is very mood elevating. Much better I must say than Prozac!
(Unfortunately, this kind of mistreatment from the conventional medicine community is all to common. It galls me that mistreatment is rampant and yet the profession is so generally arrogant and unwilling to consider another, much more benign approach. Rusty)
Peptic Ulcer
From: Rusty
Date: July 19, 2006
My wife has had a peptic ulcer for years. She had many treatments for it and the accompanying pain when she lived in Ukraine. When she moved here to the United States, her doctor had her tested for the presence of the bacterium called Helicobacter Pylori, or H. Pylori, which has been shown to be linked to peptic ulcers. Sure enough she tested positive.
Of course, I wanted her to take large amounts of vitamin C since it only made good sense to me that a bacterial infection should respond to high-dose C. She has been very skeptical of vitamin C as I recommend it and declined. The doctor prescribed a standard antibiotic regimen that consisted of cards of pills in a box half the size of a shoebox! She was to take a card (about eight pills, not the card!) a day for two weeks. Not a friend of pills, this didn’t last through the first morning. She agreed to try the C.
I mixed sodium ascorbate powder in a small water bottle for her to sip on during the day. Over the first week, I upped the amount of C from about 3 or 4 grams to 10. She has been taking 10 grams a day for about a month WITH NO PAIN WHATSOEVER! The vitamin C has eliminated the symptoms. Has it cured her ulcer? I don’t know, but I would expect that it has or is in the process of doing so.
From: Sharon
Date: July 20, 2006
Thank you for the good information. I am surprised that the wife of that man with the H Pylori infection agreed to take the C. That is really something! So many persons have the bacteria! I had it, and I take C, 2,000mg (of vitamin C) everyday, but I also used Green Tea, and cabbage, (which probably has C in it) to help fight it. I read recently that C is very beneficial to the bones! My daughter had a very serious surgery recently on her talus bone. She refused to take any C that I recommended. All of my three children are very recalcitrant when it comes to my health information. My husband knows that he feels so much better when we both take our C and in addition to that a handful of other essential vitamins. I am so happy for that. My husband is 66 and still climbs up ladders and does heavy construction work with no problem. We just go to bed early after a hard day’s work.
Sincerely yours,
Sharon
After receiving Sharon’s letter, I asked her:
You say you “had” an H. Pylori infection. How long ago? How do you know it is gone? Did its departure coincide with you vitamin C intake?
Her reply was:
I have none of the symptoms left that I suffered with so much. I had it about a year ago, and suffered for at least a couple of years, off and on. I used C and Green Tea and cabbage, almost daily. I ate Cole slaw almost every day, that kills the bacteria, and also Broccoli and Broccoli sprouts kill the bacteria. Naturally garlic also kills the bacteria, as it is a broad spectrum antibiotic. H Pylori is very resistant, and is hard to kill. But with patience, I did it. I used the Internet to get information, and a good friend found something in a magazine that listed foods that kill the bacteria. I thought that I should use all those foods if it is so hard to kill. Green Tea is excellent for health. Have you seen the web site named The World’s Healthiest Foods ? I have twenty-five pages that I printed out on Green Tea, from that site. White Tea is even more potent, and is the very same tea leaves, just picked sooner.
Sharon
Sick Building Syndrome AKA Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
From: brenda hanson
Date: 11/20/97
Email: bhanson@net.big-river.sk.ca
Subject: Vitamin C and Sick Building Syndrome
I was diagnosed with sick building syndrome in 1991. I was told that there was no treatment and that I would eventually get so sick that I would be unable to leave my home. My husband and I spent over $30,000 redoing our home and I just got progressively sicker. I read everything about health that I could get. The inks made me sick so I would read outside or by a draft that could blow the odour away from me. I was very ill. One day I was in a health food store trying to buy organic foods and barely able to tolerate the odours in the store, when the Linus Pauling book, How To Live Longer and Feel Better, was right in my face on a revolving book display. I bought it and it saved my life. Following his formula, page 8, I began to take the vitamins that would cure me of sick building syndrome – and a long-standing egg allergy. In addition to the regular vitamins he recommends for sick people, I added 40,000 mgs. of vitamin C. I stayed on that level for about six and a half months before I got better enough to get the loose stool associated with too much vitamin C! Then, in a week, I had to reduce the amount to 10,000 mgs. I have kept taking this amount, down to 6,000 when I am leading an orderly life and up to 10,000 when really busy or under stress such as fighting a cold or too much work.
There is a cure for sick building syndrome, environmental disease, and chemical sensitivity. I had it really badly and am now healthier than many others who were not diagnosed with this condition. This summer, a van full of kids and two moms went off to a sporting event, drove through chemical spray blowing across the road from the farmer’s field as it was being treated. I was driving and was the only one that did not get sick from the experience. I did not get a headache, stomachache, nausea or a wave of weakness that I had previously had to endure from chemical
sprays or even perfume! All the others in the van ended up with one of the symptoms at least. I am cured. Anyone who wishes to contact me to ask questions, please contact me. If you are a doctor, I would be willing to put you in touch with my doctor so that you could help any of your patients.
Contact me by writing to: B Hanson, Box 667, Big River, Saskatchewan, Canada S0J 0E0
OR email- bhanson@net.big-river.sk.ca
From: Barbara Selke
Date: 1/30/99
Email: bselke@yahoo.com
Subject: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
I am chemically sensitive (MCS), a condition which has slowed my metabolism resulting in high acid ph conditions. Too much acid in my system brings on relapses. My immunologist and I stumbled across a treatment I was using to combat recurring urinary tract infections that turned out to prevent most of the relapses in my case. Before eating I take 1000mg of C with rosehips. I have a strict pH diet and take the other supplements he recommends to maintain the health I’ve regain but that C makes a big big difference in time and energy wasted in a relapse.
Also, at the onset of a relapse (fever, chills and/ or headache in my case) I take 1000 mg every hour (4-5) until I get a handle on it. My down time then is usually one day. I should point out that three years ago my bouts were so bad I once was paralyzed for several minutes and I slept 14+ hours a day for over a year. Not even a nap nowadays.
I’m almost ready to take on the world–I’m looking for a nonprofit organization to sponsor my collecting and sharing free information on MCS. Any help out there?
From: Jane McCloskey
Date: 2/3/99
Subject: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
I am one of those who was helped by megadoses of vitamin C. Sherry Rogers in
My experience tells me and confirms what Sherry Rogers says that each of us is biochemically unique, and what is good for one may not be good for another, and that we change so that what is good one month may not be good the next. This theory undermines the whole concept of controlled studies which try to find a single medication which helps a large majority of people. Sorry. One person may need calcium, another magnesium, another B1 and so on. However, C is a vitamin that seems to help a good percentage of people. Some people can also neutralize a reaction with the over the counter AlkaSelzer Gold. I never tried it.
Feel good everyone. Jane
A Clearer Face with Vitamin C
From: Deborah Crowley
Date: 3/10/98
Subject: Topical C for the Face
Just a few years ago I started hearing about the effect vitamin C had on the skin when applied topically. That’s all I needed to hear. If absorbed into the skin, and it delivered only Half its potential when taken orally…. Whoa! I was already applying vitamin E (from a capsule) and saw the changes it made.(helps my skin to retain moisture) As a facial builder/instructor I am hypercritical of the condition of my skin. I assure you, the slightest change would not go unnoticed.
I have also heard (but very little) about Selenium being beneficial to the skin. don’t remember what was said (don’t care, can’t hurt) just thought I’d get a jump on it, whatever it is!
What changes I’ve noticed from vitamin C mixture…. Facial pores are finer. My coloring was very good to begin with, but there is some form of change, hard to describe (skin looks richer). It was like putting nutrients on my lawn and watching the grass turn greener (how’s that for a laymen’s term?) I also use this mixture as a body lotion.
Cosmetic companies are selling vitamin C lotions at outrageous prices (they know what they’ve got). By making my own, I know exactly what I’m getting, at a tremendous savings.
Liquid vitamin C. TWINLAB (haven’t tried other brands) no sugar, no preservatives. Mix with Selenium, (highest mcg you can find). Pour vitamin C into a small bottle, add 3 tablets of Selenium, allow to dissolve. Keep large bottle of vitamin C in refrigerator. You’ll run out of mixture in small bottle before it turns bad (refill). When you use this you’ll notice the solution is a little gritty. Let dry and wisp off.
My routine…I use E at night, and C with Selenium in the morning.
Answer: Thanks for sharing your vitamin C formula. I would like to recommend that you experiment with using a NaPCA solution, perhaps as an addition to your current formula. NaPCA is the substance our bodies cells use to retain moisture. I have seen it available in plastic bottles in some health food stores.
Extremely Dry Skin
From: D. Gysler
Date: 10/6/98
I’m a 46 year old female, twin to a male, both of us life long suffers of extreme dry skin. After many years of Doctors, very expensive creams salves, and home remedies, we decided to just accept the fact that we would always suffer from this condition, and learn to live with this painful, and sometimes embarrassing situation.
Just very recently I went to a message therapist, and she strongly recommended large doses of vitamin C, starting at 500mg and slowly increasing to 2000mg, well I’m now up to 1500mg, and can’t believe the difference in the condition of my skin, it doesn’t constantly flake, feels smooth looks shinny and healthy and it’s almost an overnight change. The relief is life changing. I haven’t shared this with my brother yet, as I’m still not sure when or if the other shoe will fall, meaning, what will the side affects or the down side to this will be. I would be appreciate any comments or suggestions you can give me.
At one point in my early 20’s I actually bathed in vegetable cooking oil to get some relief from this terrible condition. No one has ever mentioned Vitamin C to me before,(Doctors, Druggists, friends), and the cost over the years for every cure, lotions, creams etc. has been huge. I often say that if I had the money back that I’ve spent on creams etc. I’d be a very rich women today.