Andy: Vitamin A protocol

[Guest guest]

Hi! I have searched the archives and found Andy's recommendation for a

Vitamin A protocol as follows:

Excerpt from post http://onibasu.com/archives/am/112213.html: (the

complete post is included at the end of this message)

" My guidelines are 500-1,000 IU of A per pound of kid per day. If you

want a loading dose, it is ten times that, ONCE, to start. If you are

already using some A, it is ten times the DIFFERENCE between your

target and what you are presently using. "

If we don't wish to use a loading dose, just use the suggested

500-1,000 IU of A per pound of kid per day, how long should it be

used? Sorry, I could not find a definite answer to this in the

archives.

Thanks in advance,

Angie

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== post http://onibasu.com/archives/am/112213.html

==

* Subject: Re: High dose vitamin A - I M P O R T A N T ! ! ! please read.

* From: " andrewhallcutler " <AndyCutler>

* Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 05:48:10 -0000

> Hi everyone,

>

> I did the 2 day high dose protocol on my son last weekend (400,000 IU

> continuing with 20,000 maintenance dose). He has not had any apparent

> reaction at all -no additional stimming, no rash, no loose stools.

>

You aren't looking to make him sick, you are looking to make him

better.

If you aren't seeing anything better then skip it.

There is a lot of misinformation, bad information, and foolishness

floating around that is going to hurt some people and make others not

do things that might really help.

Important considerations:

You are NOT trying to induce the signs of vitamin A toxicity! You do

NOT just keep giving more and more and more until the kid is toxic.

You try to AVOID toxicity, and give enough to do what is helpful

without any toxicity.

Due to the high vitamin A requiremnents of these children and the

sensitive nature of them there is some risk of toxicity at the doses

even responsible people discuss (myself, Dr. McCandless).

It is unlikely this is a measles specific issue so don't focus only on

measles related problems. Vitamin A improves immune function,

intestinal function, vision, and neurological function, specifically

improving socialization (and eye contact).

You do need to weight adjust the dose, or adjust it for body surface

area. Weight adjusting is a lot easier and also a lot safer than for

surface area so I always disucss it.

You need to know that vitamin A in high amounts is a TERATOGEN, which

means it can mess up fetuses if a woman is pregnant or becomes pregnant

while taking more than about 25,000 IU a day (exact number poorly known

for political reasons). Thus I STRONGLY recommend it not be used in

girls after they have their first menstural cycle.

The high dose to start is what is called a " loading dose. " It isn't

anything magic. Vitamin A lasts for a while in the body so it takes a

few weeks to reach a steady state if you just start taking some every

day. In order to have a more rapid onset of action, one may use a

loading dose which is to eat an amount corresponding to the body

inventory that would build up so as to start out at this steady state

rather than having to wait for it.

It is NOT mandatory to use a loading dose. Using a loading dose

greatly increases risk.

My guidelines are 500-1,000 IU of A per pound of kid per day. If you

want a loading dose, it is ten times that, ONCE, to start. If you are

already using some A, it is ten times the DIFFERENCE between your

target and what you are presently using.

Regular mainstream MD's and some ignorant alternative MD's are very

scared of vitamin A (and of their shadows, too). This is because it

works a lot better than accutane and is safer so they need to make up

scary stories. Regular MD's used to prescribe 300,000 IU a day to

teenagers for months to years on end to control acne (this did make

them slightly toxic as a rule). Now that they have prescription drugs

for acne, vitamin A is suddenly very frightening.

The 1955 edition of Cecil's Textbook of Medicine says that the

treatmetn for vitamin A deficiency is 100,000 to 300,000 IU of A daily

for 1-3 months.

At about 3,000 IU per pound per day you would expect most people to get

toxic eventually. It does take time. Toxicity for most of them would

be mild.

At 1,000 IU per pound per day you would not expect MOST people to get

toxic, but you would expect SOME to. Some could not use this much.

Many could use more. I do not advocate finding out where toxicity

starts and riding the edge except in very unusual circumstances which

almost nobody on this list is going to find themselves in.

Please exercise caution in using vitamin A or any other agent.

Please ensure that anyone you talk to about using vitamin A understands

they are NOT trying to induce toxicity and that if they do, they used

too much.

If you DO induce toxicity, or know of someone who did, stop all vitamin

A intake until it is resolved.

The loading dose IS NOT NECESSARY and can be skipped if you are willing

to wait and watch for gradual improvements. It is convenient to use a

loading dose, but not essential.

Andy . . .. . . . . . . . . .

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