Vitamin C & Cortisol

[[Du...]]

I wouldnt think 500mg is anything to serious to be honest so if it does help control your cortisol at that level I would keep taking it. Dr Lam uses vitamin C megadosing to heal the adrenals, so it does have direct benefit to the adrenal glands (they are 85percent vit C or something close to that anyway!). Dr Wilson also uses around 500mg daily on his adrenal restoration programme.

 

Just go for a buffered fat soluble one to it absorbs gently and a good brand (unfortunately expensive) so it has high potency

[[Wi...]]

Mine is chewable and seems to work pretty well

[[Di...]]

I'm going to be continuing to take Vitamin C as well. I've also done some reading and can't see any negatives at all, but lots of positives. I guess if you look hard enough, and you also want to find negatives, you will find it about everything though. However, if you are going to take massive doses of anything (and I would regard 8000mg IV strength a fairly massive dose) there are bound to be negatives. 

 

I just hope this isn't putting people off at least giving such an important vitamin a try. I've heard of seriphos, but I really can't see the point in taking yet another expensive supplement if Vitamin C is working.

[[su...]]

Hi dubjam and all,

 

Yes, I'm inclined to agree re all the suppliments.

I think in the early days, vit D helped, but the benzo iI was put on around a similar time, kind of broke what might have sorted things at that point.

I agree with WWWI in that it's pretty unlikely to cause trouble in normal dose levels, and many on these forums have reported good things.

The only thing to keep in mind, IMHO, is that whenever ou make yourself feel better with a drug or supplament, you are sort of correcting part of the problem, which may make the body decide it doesn't have to.

Weather this would slow down recovery is kind of an unanswerable question, but worth keeping in mind.

I tend toward the opposite approach, which is why the ginkgo experiments intrest me, and whatever else one can get that will actually cause things to get worse thus forcing the body to correct and regulate towards normality again.

Still, we probably should all take 500mg of vit C anyway just for good health!

 

[[Di...]]

I think the big difference though is that the majority of us don't take in enough Vitamin C anyway. Unlike a lot of other animals, we aren't able to make our own, so we rely on what we can get from outside sources ie food and supplements. Seeing as the majority of us don't eat anywhere near enough uncooked and freshly harvested fruit and vegetables, taking Vitamin C supplements is very important for everyone. The dose required will be an individual decision.

 

To be honest I don't see where the problem would be in stopping the Vitamin C because we probably shouldn't be stopping it anyway, and taking it is "correcting" the problem. If we were all eating enough of the naturally obtained Vitamin C, that would also be correcting the problem, but we don't, so we have to rely on supplements. I will probably be reducing my dose when my benzo withdrawal is completed, and my body's stress levels are reduced, but I don't intend stopping it totally.

[[...]]

I've taken high doses of vitamin c in the past on several occasions and never had problems stopping it. I usually tapered it over a few days but not all the time. This time I'll taper it over a longer period of time but remain on a lower dose for an extended  time.

Bart

[[su...]]

yes, having some all the time is probably a good idea. I would imagine it might even assist in the healing process its self too.

 

[[Di...]]

Back when I was just a teenager (over 35 years ago) I got a really bad dose of glandular fever. It was going around a lot of my friends at the time. Most of them didn't get it as bad as I did (I ended up in hospital), but their symptoms lingered on a lot longer than mine and reoccurred regularly for a number of years afterwards.

 

The difference with me is that my doctor recommended that for a couple of weeks after I recovered I should take massive doses of Vitamin C, which I did. I have no idea how much I was taking each day because I was basically chewing tablets all day long, but it worked. I was fully recovered shortly afterwards, and I never suffered any relapse, unlike most of my friends.

 

Maybe it's a coincidence, but I have always suspected that the Vitamin C did the trick.

 

[[su...]]

Yes, there have been a number of people who have touted vit-C as being a cure for all kinds of things, I think massive doses were said to be good for cancer healing as well.

I would think as long as you drink enough water to flush your body, there should not be much danger in it apart from perhaps un predictable mental symptoms, but from what most say, it seems to help generally!

 

[[he...]]

I am feeling so much better since taking 3,000 mg Vitamin C....1,000 mg when I wake up early in the morning and 2,000 before bed.  I am so grateful to have found out about it. Thank you Bart and Pam!

[[lk...]]

This is very interesting!!!!!!!!!!!! I have total horrible insomnia. It was so so during most of my taper. Of course lots of bad days and such. Lately I feel completely exhausted and cannot get to sleep until after 1am...then up at 3 then back up at 6 with the tidbit of anxiety. Haven't had the morning anxiety until the last month or so for a very long time. I will definitely try this!!

 

What should I start at with dosing? I am currently not taking any supplements. Just my tidbit of xanax at bed. Should I start with 500mg just at bed? I don't need daytime anxiety relief. I am good to go on that.

 

Thanks for posting this Pam!!!

 

Lisa

[[...]]

Hi 1kk

I would start out with 500mg and go up as needed up to a maximum of around 3 grams per dose before considering it a failure.

Good luck.

Bart

[[lk...]]

Thanks Bart!

 

Should I just take that at night before bed???

 

Lisa

[[...]]

Thanks Bart!

 

Should I just take that at night before bed???

 

Lisa

 

I take 3 grams first thing in the morning and before bed. I also take an extra 3 grams before lifting weights which is 3-4 times a week. Several other people are getting good results taking a lot less. I  got my dose from a study which showed that 3 grams lowered cortisol levels in runners when given just before their run. Besides taking it before lifting weights I'm trying to lower a.m. cortisol levels by taking it late at night and early in the morning. Hope it helps.

[[sp...]]

Thanks Bart!

 

Should I just take that at night before bed???

 

Lisa

 

I take 3 grams first thing in the morning and before bed. I also take an extra 3 grams before lifting weights which is 3-4 times a week. Several other people are getting good results taking a lot less. I  got my dose from a study which showed that 3 grams lowered cortisol levels in runners when given just before their run. Besides taking it before lifting weights I'm trying to lower a.m. cortisol levels by taking it late at night and early in the morning. Hope it helps.

 

Bart - I was looking at vit C stuff yesterday, came across this and was curious what you'd make of it:

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/09/us/taking-too-much-vitamin-c-can-be-dangerous-study-finds.html

 

The short version seems to be that a lot of studies which concluded that vit-c is a protective antioxidant were looking at one DNA marker, and a new study looking at a different one concludes that it's an oxidative agent which may be damaging.

[[...]]

Thanks Bart!

 

Should I just take that at night before bed???

 

Lisa

 

I take 3 grams first thing in the morning and before bed. I also take an extra 3 grams before lifting weights which is 3-4 times a week. Several other people are getting good results taking a lot less. I  got my dose from a study which showed that 3 grams lowered cortisol levels in runners when given just before their run. Besides taking it before lifting weights I'm trying to lower a.m. cortisol levels by taking it late at night and early in the morning. Hope it helps.

 

Bart - I was looking at vit C stuff yesterday, came across this and was curious what you'd make of it:

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/09/us/taking-too-much-vitamin-c-can-be-dangerous-study-finds.html

 

The short version seems to be that a lot of studies which concluded that vit-c is a protective antioxidant were looking at one DNA marker, and a new study looking at a different one concludes that it's an oxidative agent which may be damaging.

 

Not all articles on vitamin c  are favorable, huh? We have an anti-oxidant lab in our department, although I have no involvement in it. I noticed the Times article was from 1998. Some people now think that anti-oxidants may not only be unhelpful but actually harmful because mopping up all those free radicals tends to obviate the need for our immune system to deal with their damage, which in turn decreases our immunologic abilities to deal with very early cancers. If you care to delve more deeply into the subject, here's a link to a relevant article  by James Watson, yes, that James Watson of double helix fame. http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/1/120144.full. There was also an unpublished study some years ago which clearly showed shipyard workers exposed to low levels of radiation had fewer cancers than did their non-radiation exposed co-workers. The reason was thought to be due immuno-stimulation of the radiation exposed group. Maybe nowadays that study could get published. This thinking clearly has not hit the lay press and I suspect will be suppressed by those who stand to lose if this becomes accepted dogma.

Supplement companies won't like this. OTOH, maybe in another decade we'll change our minds again. I stopped taking anti-oxidants a few years ago and now take vitamin c for other reasons. I do plan to cut back on it after my healing is completed.

By the way, I heard Linus Pauling say during a seminar that he was taking 18 grams of vitamin c per day. He died of prostate cancer at the age of 93. Supposedly, he was "only" taking 12 grams per day at the time. We just love to find heretical things that pisses off the establishment. Science has made a lot of it's gains when some young bucks find a way to take down the old bulls. This certainly is not settled, but I'm clearly in the anti-anti-oxidant camp.

Bart the Heretic

[[sp...]]

I wonder if vitamin c megadoses would help my tinnitus...

[[Co...]]

Spengler,

 

Eight years ago, when I was under severe stress, my doctor recommended zinc and / or magnesium to get a handle on my tinnitus.  Zinc worked for me; the tinnitus went away completely.

 

Now, in recovery, I have had just a trace of tinnitus, and it is gone.  I've been using magnesium citrate supplements all through my taper.

[Guest [Ce...]]

Spengler,

 

Eight years ago, when I was under severe stress, my doctor recommended zinc and / or magnesium to get a handle on my tinnitus.  Zinc worked for me; the tinnitus went away completely.

 

Now, in recovery, I have had just a trace of tinnitus, and it is gone.  I've been using magnesium citrate supplements all through my taper.

 

How much zinc did you take daily to deal with your tinnitus?

 

Thanks

[[...]]

Vitamin c has not effected my tinnitus.

[[Co...]]

Spengler,

 

Eight years ago, when I was under severe stress, my doctor recommended zinc and / or magnesium to get a handle on my tinnitus.  Zinc worked for me; the tinnitus went away completely.

 

Now, in recovery, I have had just a trace of tinnitus, and it is gone.  I've been using magnesium citrate supplements all through my taper.

 

How much zinc did you take daily to deal with your tinnitus?

 

Thanks

 

I don't recall the amount, to be certain... , I'd say probably 35 mg per day

[[et...]]

Thanks for all the good info..I've tried Vit C. 1000mg morning and noon.then 2000mg at dinner. Results seem to be good.I find it doesn't hurt to try things,if it helps..keep going..if it seems to make it worse..stop..seems like good advice when I read it here. 8)

[[Di...]]

That's good to hear ethan. I hope it continues.

 

I'm still going well on my Vit C routine. It's been 4 weeks now, and I'm convinced of the benefits.

[[Wo...]]

Does it help anyone to get up and exercise to burn through the cortisol first thing in the morning?

[[Di...]]

Can't speak for others, but I've found that most mornings I seem to wake feeling a lot more energized and wanting to get out and go for a walk.