High Dose Vitamin C

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What is High Dose Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is vital to all parts of your body. In fact, it helps all your body tissues grow and develop properly, while repairing any damage along the way. Further, it helps form collagen, absorb iron, improve immune system function, and maintain bones, teeth, and cartilage. Plus, it helps protect your body from free radicals, or harmful molecules, that result from tobacco use. As a result, Vitamin C helps protect you from heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.

What happens when you have low levels of Vitamin C?

Your body doesn’t make Vitamin C. Rather, you have to get this vitamin from food. So, a Vitamin C deficiency is rare. Usually, only malnourished adults have this issue. Still, symptoms of low levels of Vitamin C include:

Anemia
Loose teeth
Weakness
Bleeding
Bruising
Scurvy

What are the benefits of High Dose Vitamin C?

High Dose Vitamin C has many benefits for your entire body. Here are some of them:

Low levels of Vitamin C lead to many stress-related diseases. For instance, Vitamin C is the first nutrient lost in alcoholism, tobacco-use, and obesity. So, it is vital to maintain healthy levels of Vitamin C to promote your overall health.
Research shows that eating fruits and vegetables increases your Vitamin C level. And it lowers your risk of a stroke by 42%.
Although Vitamin C is not a cure for a common cold, studies show that it lowers your risk of severe complications like pneumonia and lung infections.
Aging of the skin. Vitamin C helps with cell inside and outside of your body. In fact, this vitamin improves dry skin, wrinkles, and overall appearance of aging skin.
Lower inflammation.
Reduce risk of cancer and heart disease.
Improve macular degeneration.

What are the side effects of Vitamin C?

For most people, there are no known side effects of Vitamin C if you take the recommended dosage. However, if you exceed 1000mg Vitamin C daily, you could experience:

Nausea
Vomiting
Headaches
Stomach cramps
Heartburn
Etc.

If you take more than 2000mg Vitamin C daily, you could experience severe diarrhea and kidney stones.

Are there any interactions between Vitamin C and other drugs?

Vitamin C has interactions with multiple drugs. Here is a list of all the moderate interactions between Vitamin C and other drugs:

Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
Estrogens
Aluminum
HIV/AIDS medications (Protease Inhibitors)
Niacin
Lowering cholesterol medications (Statins)
Warfarin (Coumadin)
Cancer medications (Chemotherapy)

Here is a list of all the mild interactions Vitamin C has with other drugs:

Choline Magnesium Trisalicylate (Trilisate)
Aspirin
Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others)
Nifedipine
Nicardipine (Cardene)
Salsalate (Disalcid)

How much Vitamin C should you take a day?

You can take up to 1,000mg without side effects like stomach pain, flatulence, severe diarrhea, and kidney stones. Here is a chart with recommended dosage based on the method, situation, age, and gender.

Method	Situation	Daily Dosage
Mouth	General (Men)	90 mg
Mouth	General (Women)	75 mg
Mouth	General (Infants 0-12 months)	Breast milk
Mouth	General (Children 1-3)	15 mg
Mouth	General (Children 4-8)	25 mg
Mouth	General (Children 9-13)	45 mg
Mouth	General (Girls 14-18)	65 mg
Mouth	General (Boys 14-18)	75 mg
Mouth	Pregnancy/Breast-feeding (18 & under)	115 mg
Mouth	Pregnancy/Breast-feeding (19-50)	120 mg
Mouth	Vitamin C deficiency	100-250 mg daily (twice a day for scurvy)
Mouth	Irregular heartbeat	1-2 g daily for 1-3 before surgery 1-2 g (divided in 2 doses) daily for 4-5 days after surgery
Mouth	Common cold	1-3 g daily
Mouth	High cholesterol	500 mg daily for at least 4 weeks
Mouth	High blood pressure	500 mg daily + blood pressure medication
Skin	Redness from injury or irritation	Creams with 10% vitamin C, 2% zinc sulfate, and 0.5% tyrosine Apply daily for 8 weeks.
Skin	Wrinkles from sun damage	Creams containing 3% to 30% vitamin C Apply daily. Avoid eye area, clothes, and hair.
IV	Irregular heartbeat	2 g 1-2 times the day before surgery 1-2 g daily for 4-5 days after surgery
IV	Post-op pain relief	3 g during the first 30 minutes of surgery