How long can I take high-dose SA?

[acupuncturemomma]

I'm battling a nasty cold/sinus infection/cough. I took SA for the first 24 hours, but then backed off. Now that the cold has morphed into a sinus infection I'd like to try SA again.

Should I take it for another 24 hours and then stop, or is it ok to continue for longer?

[tanyalynn]

My kids and I have taken it for far longer than 24 hrs. I'd take it as long as you're sick, and really try to take it to bowel tolerance, it's been very helpful here in reducing the symptoms of illness and helping us get better faster.

[acupuncturemomma]

Thanks! Just took some.

Can you tell me how to know bowel tolerance? Just keep track of how much I'm taking, back off when stools become loose? How can I know how much to keep taking after I see loose bowel signs?

[tanyalynn]

I change the frequency of dosing and the size of doses based on how sick we are--so there's some guessing involved.

Early on, I had to write down doses--time & amount. If I was fairly sick, I may take more every hour, and see if I hit bowel tolerance throughout the day--may increase the size of the dose after a while.

The rough guideline I've read is 250mg/kg body weight, spread throughout the day. That's 1.1 grams per 10 lbs body weight, but my kids and I always needed far more than that.

The kids and I get diarrhea if we take too much, some people get gassy and feel rumbly, so consider either.

For really acute illness-when I had mastitis, for example--I dosed every 20 mins and finally got diarrhea, and then my fever went down and my body aches stopped--the end was pretty abrupt. But for more normal illnesses, the end is more gradual, you'll slowly start to feel better, the amount of vitC you need will drop more slowly.

You want to stay just a bit under where the diarrhea/rumbly stomach occurs, you don't need to be higher.

Hope you feel better soon!

[acupuncturemomma]

Thanks so much for the input! I've always gone by the 250 mg/kg guideline too, but have never reached bowel tolerance at that dosage. Think I'll ramp it up today to try to kick this infection out, and see how it goes.

I've had great results with it in the past (also for mastitis)--even at levels below bowel tolerance. Good stuff!