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Practicing medicine without a license? There's always a chance his MD knew what he was doing.
OP never said he went to see an MD. He pulled information from the internet and his wife diagnosed him with scurvy from a TV show unless I read his post wrong.
I guess the OP did just that, as he said he researched on the internet and referenced a TV show. But that really doesn't come into play with common knowledge. right?
I would see a doctor and certainly have tests done as to why I contracted scurvy, if that's what it is. Scurvy is pretty rare in the U.S. and limited to mostly malnourished countries around the world. If seniors are more prone to scurvy, it's probably because seniors with low incomes have a very poor diet lacking in nearly any fresh fruits and vegetables. It doesn't take much vitamin C to prevent scurvy. Even potatoes, green veggies, peppers, tomatoes, apples have plenty of vitamin C. It's not about the lack of eating citrus.
If it's indeed scurvy, there's probably a lot more going on. Perhaps another medical condition is preventing the absorption of vitamin C unless it's consumed in very high quantities. I'm just saying I would definitely have it checked out and find the reason for it.
This is from an article from the Cleveland Clinic on scurvy:
"Vitamin C deficiency can occur due to a diet low in vitamin C. But a deficiency severe enough to cause scurvy is rare in the U.S. because most people get enough of the nutrient in their diet. The condition is a problem in countries around the world where people are malnourished."
^^This. True scurvy is very rare in the United States (with the exception of people who have malnutrition and/or alcoholism), and its symptoms are much more dramatic than the ones you have experienced. You may have Vitamin C deficiency, but I would question whether you have actual scurvy, especially since your diet is good. If you do have Vitamin C deficiency -- or your body cannot utilize it efficiently -- I would be looking into why. For example, people who have iron overload conditions are known to frequently have Vitamin C deficiency. Which is odd, since Vitamin C increases the absorption of iron, but there it is. If you did have an iron overload condition, such as hemochromatosis, you would want to know about it and treat it. (BTW, it usually does not become clinically obvious until the 6th or 7th decade of life.)
I'm glad you were able to get relief from upping your vitamin C intake dramatically for a short period. A few others made good points though - it may be worth talking to your doctor just to check everything's ok and rule anything else out. Advancing age can sometimes mean other nutrition issues developing too. Better safe than sorry! Hopefully it is just a vitamin C thing though.
Just following the protocol.
But this 'flushing' of excess vitamin C intake might be exactly why the high dosage is recommended for a short duration. Get as much Vitamin C delivered in as short of time as possible to thwart progress.
Then go to a normal dose.
Large doses of vitamin C were also recommended to me by a doctor I saw about frequent UTIs. To avoid overuse of antibiotics, he recommended that early on, when experiencing a UTI, I take 1200mg of vitamin C, 3 times a day. He said even more wouldn't hurt. Yes, the excess will be flushed out, and that's what made it work for this particular purpose. It will make your urine highly acidic which will create a hostile environment for the bacteria that are causing the infection. I don't remember how long I had to take it for, something like a week. It worked and I've used this "hack" several times to avoid antibiotics. Antibiotics often kill the good bacteria as well as the bad, so avoiding them, when possible without compromising your health, is a good thing.
I guess the OP did just that, as he said he researched on the internet and referenced a TV show. But that really doesn't come into play with common knowledge. right?
FWIW, during the Covid shut downs when elderly people were told to isolate at home away from others a lot of concerned family members noticed a marked cognitive decline in their elderly loved ones which was not normal.
They checked on their elderly loved ones, got them out, if only for a car ride through the country. And their loved ones seemed to improve.
Turns out, a lack of sunlight can actually cause cognitive issues in people. The cure: a healthy dose of vitamin D from sunshine.
At the time, I didn't hear one expert from the medical community recommending this extremely simple solution. Quite the opposite actually.
I would discuss this not only with my primary but get oncology involved. Real vitamin deficiencies and absorbtion issues can impact a lot of bodily finctions. Popping pills may not be the solution based on how an individual's body handles it.
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