FW: High Dose Vitamin A Protocol [for measles virus]

June 8, 2004

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High Dose Vitamin A Protocol [for measles virus]

[The first portion of this page was written by Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless.]

Message #1

Re the 400,000iu for two days (Mega A Rx for measles): This is reposting

of Vit A Rx for those who missed it. I'm concerned that someone is

giving 500,000iu in the CLO form because of the danger of Vit D

toxicity. Though current fears of that are probably overestimated, I

think it is unwise to give that much until we learn a lot more.

At the DAN!, (in PA) Dr. Sidney Baker spoke of a study showing that

200,000 iu of Vitamin A was not enough to ameliorate the impact of

measles infection - the children needed 400,000 iu for two days (800,000

iu total). As I have said, if the rubeola IgA salivary titers are

elevated (per our study), IgG levels are very elevated, the child has a

history of strong reaction to MMR and/or followed by regression soon

thereafter, and certainly with brain antibodies indicating autoimmune

reaction, I believe there is indication they may benefit from this large

dose, followed by 10,000 to 25,000 per day per age and size. Some

parents are reporting benefit from even smaller doses, as I was

originally suggesting 250,000 iu 1st day, then 200,000, then 150,000

etc. with maintenance at 10,000 to 25,000 (subtracting the up to 5000 in

CLO, with the rest in fish oil A or vit A palmitate.)

What kind to use? Fish oil vit. A vs vit. A palmitate? Dr. Pangborn has

given me the following information - " Per the Merck Index, the palmitate

form of all-trans or retinol is the preponderant ester in fish liver

oils (cod, shark). But I do not like synthetic vit A palmitate unless

one has to use pharmacologic doses such as Sid (Baker) is describing.

------ Synthetic palmitate can be a problem in allergically sensitive

individuals. ----- Natural fish oil includes all-trans-retinol,

-ci-retinol, and probably some very similar molecules. There's no

guarantee that a synthetic palmitate will have these. -----I'm wary of

synthetics, but again, for >200,000 iu doses one may have to use what's

practical. (This is item 10150 ( " Vitamin A " ) in the Merck index.)

To be practical in solid or powder supplements, one finds vit A acetate.

Some potency is lost in the acetate form, about 15%.

Under 5000 iu, there's no reason to test serum retinol levels. Actually,

tests are not reliable anyway. The most important thing is to watch for

symptoms of A overdose: headache, nausea, dry scaly skin, vertigo,

blurred vision and erythema or rash. Serum calcium will be elevated, as

hypervitaminosis A features hypercalcemia. "

Message #2

I am getting lots of personal e-mails on this subject, so want to

clarify. Vitamin A is particularly " used up " when measles virus is

present, and it has been shown that in the presence of active measles

virus, a 2-day mega-dosing of 400,000 iu of Vitamin A will affect the

measles virus, maybe not to completely exterminate it but to create an

extremely mild short-lived case in those who have already contracted the

disease. 200,000 iu for 2 days was not effective. Definitive studies on

all this are on the horizon. In a preliminary study of rubeola secretory

IgA from saliva from volunteers from your groups, Dr. Vojdani at

Immunosciences discovered 14 out of 32 kids had positive scores, 5 of

them at 5+. We are in the process of a more definitive study analyzing

both IgG in serum as well as secretory IgA in saliva to try and get a

correlation between the two.

My current recommendations based on the evidence is that IF your child:

has high serum IgG rubeola antibodies and/or high secretory IgA

antibodies (saliva),

the MBP or other neural antibodies are elevated (indication of

autoimmune process),

there is a history of reaction to or regression after the MMR vaccine,

and there is ongoing gut problems,

your child may have intestinal measles, as many who have been scoped and

PCR'd do (even spinal fluid has been found in a group of kids to have

positive vaccine strain measles). Without the benefit of scoping and

getting positive biopsy reports on the gut, many parents have given

their kids high doses of Vitamin A. The protocols change, but currently

is 400,000 IU for two days, followed by 10,000 to 25,000 depending upon

the size and age of the child. Blood tests are unfortunately not useful,

but clinical observation is very important. A scruffy rash usually

around the neck, is one evidence of Vit A toxicity; headache which kids

may not be able to tell us about, is another. Lethargy or excessive

hyperactivity or any unusual sign should be considered a possible

overdose of A. The toxicity of this is highly overstated, and though

there is a history of a child getting hydrocephalus after getting

100,000, I heard that the child became normalized after being taken off

the Vitamin A. There has been one death from Vit A toxicity in an adult

male who ate nothing but polar bear livers. Otherwise, it is a much

needed and quite safe vitamin, but it does store in the liver, so

400,000 iu should be probably a one-shot treatment, or certainly not to

be repeated more than twice a year. PLEASE NOTE: These are MY

recommendations and not others at this point, and there have been NO

peer-reviewed studies, so please know there's a lot we don't know, and

we need as much input as possible. Some parents are reporting miraculous

improvements with these doses of A, but not all by any means. As far as

testing, please at least get the serum IgG tests and if you can get your

child to spit, the salivary IgA. I'll let you know more as I find out.

Jaquelyn

For more information written by Dr. McCandless about vitamin A, click

here

<http://www.autism-rxguidebook.net/uploads/CLARIFICATION%20VITAMIN%20A%2

0MEASLES%20PROTOCOL.doc> .

[my thanks to Dr. McCandless for allowing me to use this information on

my site]

Additional signs of toxicity

In addition to those sign of toxicity indicated by Dr. McCandless above,

I found the following list on another message board

Symptoms of vitamin A toxicity:

Bulging fontanelles (infants)

Bone pain or swelling

Craniotabes (infants and children)

Skin and hair changes

hair loss

seborrhea

cracking at corners of the mouth

Irritability

Decreased appetite

Poor weight gain (infants and children)

Vomiting

Drowsiness

For my kids, toxicity symptoms have included dry and itchy rash,

headache, and upset stomach. I have read a few accounts of children

alternating between lethargy and hyperactivity.

[This section is my son's experience. I am not a medical doctor.]

[NOTE: Viruses are not technically " alive " , so any reference I make to

" viral die off " or " killing virus " is not technically correct. I have

tried to use the term " eliminate the virus " . Many medical professionals

prefer to use the term " suppress the virus " .]

Brief history: Son age 7-1/2, always has had visual stim issues,

sometimes better than other times. Addressing food and supplement

requirements, and chelation, made them tolerable but still there.

I gave TwinLabs Allergy A at a very high dose, altho not as high as

recommended above, every day for about a month with no change, still had

visual stim issues, never developed signs of toxicity.

I tried the high dose vitamin A protocol as recommended by Dr.

McCandless to kill measles virus. I used TwinLabs Allergy A, and

followed the protocol as indicated above, for two days, then reduced

slowly over the next few days. On the 6th day, my son developed the

toxicity rash. I reduced more quickly over the next few days, finally

stopping for a few days to let the rash go away. Then I started it again

when the rash was gone and his visuals had returned.

After a few weeks, this maintenance dose was not enough, he was

developing his visuals again.

AARRGGHH!!!!!!

[My after-the-fact comment: It appears that what is reported about

measles virus sucking vitamin A is correct. Until I did this protocol

again, see below, no matter how high I went with vitamin A dosing, it

would just be sucked right out of my son's body. If lower dose, the

effect was gone in minutes. At higher doses, it took days. But it was

still just sucked right out of his body.]

So I tried a " more aggressive approach " . His rash was gone, visuals back

again even at a relatively high daily maintenance dose.

So this time I gave an even higher dose of TwinLabs Allergy A, plus

10,000 IU CLO. The toxicity rash appeared on the second day. When the

rash appeared, I gave him olive leaf extract [an anti-viral]. The third

day, I reduced to the 25,000 IU [TwinLabs plus CLO], plus olive leaf

extract. About an hour after this second dose of OLE, he had a major

runny bm, ran all down his leg and all over his shoes. Nasty stuff.

No visual problems for several days, even at the " lower maintenance

dose " . I removed the OLE and then a few days later the TwinLabs. Now I

give him about 10,000 IU CLO per day and it seems to be sufficient for

him.

I sent email to Dr. McCandless " for her information and research

purposes " and asked if she could give suggestions on what I might try if

the visuals came back again. She gave me information for certain tests,

rx and OTC items, including Lauricidin [because of the olive leaf

extract success].

I had also given #3 and #4 the OLE when I was giving it to #2. When I

removed it from #2, I also removed it from #3 and #4. #2 showed no

problems with it removed. #3 and #4 had not shown any changes when I was

giving it. However, when I removed it, #3 and #4 both exploded in major

skin rashes, and #4 also had goo in her eye, which she had not had since

about round 50 of chelation. So I started back the OLE for them. #3 has

had a lingering skin rash, which was *almost* gone with chelation and

addressing various other food and supplement issues, but was still

lingering in a small amount and was much more pronounced when OLE was

removed. Now it is gone. #4 new skin rash is gone now also, plus the goo

is gone from her eye.

During this time, my #2 developed the vitamin A toxicity rash at the

10,000 IU per day dose, so I reduced to 5000 IU. This worked for a few

weeks, then the rash appeared again. So I reduced to 2500 IU per day

CLO. This is really amusing to me, that my son who had major visual

stims for basically the first 7 years of his life, now has no stims and

can only tolerate 2500 IU per day! In addition to the rash, my son will

also be slightly hyper and begin his visual stims when he has too much

vitamin A. Very strange.

The Lauricidin arrived on January 3. I had been experimenting with the

OLE, and the rashes come and go depending on how much OLE I give to #3

and #4. I will drop the OLE for now and try the Lauricidin for the rash

issue.

#2 now has the vitamin A toxicity rash, slight hyper, and return of

visual stims with 2500 IU of CLO. Very very very very strange. I will

now try the 1250 IU CLO.

Update

My kids had problems with the Lauricidin, so I dropped it and began

olive leaf extract again. This removed all the negatives of the

Lauricidin, and the positives of anti-viral are increasing. After about

a month, I was able to add the Lauricidin again, altho viral die off now

causes yeast. For specifics on this experience, click here

<http://www.danasview.net/myson.htm#viral> .

I had to entirely drop the vitamin A for my #2 son for about a month,

then the visuals returned and so I added it back. After much

experimenting with the dose, I determined that 1,000 IU per day is okay.

Less than that, or more than that, and the visuals return.

My son's benefits from this protocol:

No more visual stims! Increased language, especially in spontaneity of

use of words rather than gestures. Loss of residual echolalic speech.

Increased social interaction and pretend play. My #4 received a

dollhouse from Grandpa for Christmas. When we set it up here, #2 went

right over to it and did NOT line up the people figures like he would

have done a few years ago. He sat the people at the tables and said " man

eat " [he is still at phrases only, for the most part], he put them in

the beds and said " man sleep " . He had so much fun that #4 had trouble

getting him to let HER play with it. So I went out and bought another

one, this one is a hotel. #2 put the people in the pool and said " water,

slide, weeeeee " . He puts them in the elevator and says " man go up, go

down " , they " see TV " , they " sit on couch " . They " sit on chair, eat on

table " . They even call out to each other " hey man, come here, sit on

couch, see TV " .

My *non-medical* observations:

My son needed a higher dose than that recommended above, plus the

addition of olive leaf extract. I would not recommend giving the high

dose for more than two days. After two days, reduce down to a

maintenance dose. If the visuals return, your child *might* need this

protocol again, or he might need OTHER anti-viral [like olive leaf

extract]. Or your child might need a higher or LOWER maintenance dose.

Or your child might need something else entirely [for example, yeast

will cause my son's visuals to return, and for my son, viral die-off

caused yeast].

During the high dose protocol, watch for signs of toxicity. These might

be the rash, as my son experienced. But your child's signs might be

different, for example lethargy, nausea, headache, or any of the

symptoms listed above in Dr. McCandless' information. If you notice any

of those symptoms, stop the high dose protocol.

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June 8, 2004