My latest youtube video relates the travails that have led me to doing my own intravenous vitamin C at home, and describes the process of preparing an infusion.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgRoR1-qw8Y]
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97
97. That’s my latest CD4+ count, less than half the count from six weeks ago.
That’s it. I have tried as many alternative treatments as I can think of to reverse the decline. I will be starting my third round of pharmaceutical ARVs as soon as I can get a prescription and fill it.
This decision has been a long time coming, and in hindsight, I probably should have restarted a few months ago. There’s nothing magical about 97, or being below 100, but it’s as good a breaking point as any. I’ve long argued that there are two things to keep in mind about CD4 counts: one is the long-term trend; the other is single- or low double-digit counts.
What really happened to Emery Taylor?
Note: I’d like to welcome those of you visiting this site from the forums at aidsmed.com. This may be the first time that a mainstream AIDS site has referred to this blog as a “clear-eyed ‘alternative hypothesis’ site,” and I’m flattered. Given that, I hope you will look around a bit. A good place…
Reduce AIDS drug toxicity and side effects
I embarked on my third course of ARVs since 1998. For ten of the sixteen years I have been HIV-positive, I was able to manage well enough without ARVs and I continue to believe there is no reason for otherwise healthy HIV-positive—let alone negative—gay men to take these drugs. To those who want to wave a recent study about the benefits of early intervention in my face, I would ask them why they put so much faith in a science that has utterly failed us to date.
AIDS Drug Treatment Guidelines: Deify or Defy?
During our last office visit a couple of months ago, the infectious disease specialist I am now seeing repeatedly referred to “The Guidelines”, as if they were some kind of Holy Grail for treating her patients. The guidelines she was referring to are actually several documents, published by the U.S. Department of Health and…
The truth about Truvada: PrEP won’t stop AIDS
I’m willing to grant that gay men are entitled to use PrEP… provided they have access to all the information they need to make an informed decision. Informed consent has been a hallmark of the HIV and AIDS research and prevention efforts for three decades, and that shouldn’t be waived for the campaign favoring PrEP.
Gay men deserve to know that all the claims for Truvada reducing the risk of acquiring HIV-positivity are based on trials—funded by Gilead—that emphasized the importance of using condoms…
Confessions of a heretic AIDS dissident
You might not know it from reading the comments left here on my blog, but there are more than a few AIDS dissidents who really don’t like how I think or what I write about.
There’s a whole thread on a very popular Facebook page called “Rethinking AIDS”, discussing my open letter to Dora. Last I looked, that thread had nearly 100 comments, and very few of those comments were about Dora, Ruggiero or the defense of academic freedom.
No, the gist of the thread was whether or not I am in “the AIDS Zone.” It seems that because I did not use “air quotes” around the term “HIV disease”, I’m not really an AIDS dissident. Others took issue with my post for daring to publish that some AIDS Rethinkers hold a very narrow view about “HIV” and “AIDS”, while others of us are merely “questioning” the whole affair. None of them chose to comment directly to me here.
Some of the most visible and vocal Rethinkers seem intent on imposing their own “beliefs” (another loaded term that deserves quotes) on the entire movement. There has long been a tendency to try to impose a sort of litmus test to determine whether or not one is a true “AIDS dissident”.
Since I first met the AIDS dissident community via the AIDS Myth Exposed forums—since renamed Questioning AIDS—several years ago, I’ve become aware of several of the various factions, distinctive personalities and divisions within that broad group. Now I’m finding it ironic just how guilty some of these people are at their own version of “bone-pointing”.
Great Jon
Thanks for the info…….how r u trying ur latest trial?
Also at home?
I am doing all infusions at home now. I have four more to do in this trial, which will end April 11. I should be able to report results before the end of April.
I have learned to do the IVs by myself, and just finished today’s infusion with no assistance whatsoever. If I decide to continue this, I now know I can do so independently, provided I can acquire the necessary supplies, such as needles and tubing.
This is wonderful. I hope this turns out to be a viable solution and that should be able to share your information. I am curious how much this costs. I was also surprised to learn that it isn’t buffered … is unbuffered Vit C now the standard practice? If so, I wonder if there is any clinical data proving it’s better than say sodium ascorbate (I suspect there isn’t).
A 50-gram infusion “kit” costs about $81 from my doctor. Most people should expect additional expense for an infusion nurse, though I’ve been lucky to have someone volunteer that for me.The commercial vitamin C is buffered with sodium bicarbonate and sodium hydroxide. From what I’ve read, sodium ascorbate is probably preferable. The reason it’s not used in commercial preparations escapes me at the moment, but I think it could have something to do with the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. The Vitamin C Foundation has lots of information on sodium ascorbate, as well as Dr. Cathcart’s process for using it intravenously. Click on the IVC link there.
Jonathan, I’m excited to hear the update now that your 8 week trial is over.
Hoping all is well!
I’m working on an update now and I hope to publish it in a few days.
You will not need to do IV vitamin c any longer. look into Lipsomal vitamin c, an oral preparation of c that will create blood levels equal to or surpassing IV C
Hi Jonathan,
I just wanted to tell you that your video is really wonderful. I’m extremely interested in pursuing this treatment myself, also at home, and so I felt I should thank you for the information and encouragement. I suppose my first step will be to try and find a technician who’s cool enough and/or open enough to give some one-on-one training. It sounds like you really lucked out with yours being willing to help you, albeit in kind of an unhappy way I guess. I’m thinking that I’ll need to find some clinics who are doing intravenous vitamin c in their offices and then spend the money for at least a few sessions, and then just talk to the technicians or nurses or whoever is actually administering the treatment. I hope I’m able to find someone. If I actually succeed in doing this at home on my own I’ll definitely write back and let you know about it. Maybe that will help someone else, too. Anyway, I found the video totally inspiring! Thank you so much, and please take care.
I wish you well. Finding an experienced doctor or clinic to help you find your way is the best option, imho. Please stay in touch.
How are you Jonathan? I hope everything is fine. Inspired by your story I purchased some IV vitamin C, I have couple of infusion bags with water, needles, tubs, all that stuff. I have an acquaintance nurse, who will do the ‘vein’ work. My question is how much infusions per week is enough, and if it’s safe to make a mixture by myself just by adding the vitamin C to the infusion bag in amount of required grams. I heard somewhere that the first infusion should be less saturated with vitamin, but I’m not sure if such precautions are necessary. For now I am taking also the liposomal vit.C without any problems (although too much of it will result with a diarrhoea).
It was never my intention to provide detailed advice to others wanting to try IVC. I strongly advise against injecting anything into your veins without the support and knowledge of a doctor or other trained professional. A competent infusion clinic will test patients for G6PD, for example, a hereditary condition that make IVC dangerous for a handful of people.
There are usually other compounds, such as magnesium, that are also added to the infusion to help reduce irritation at the injection site.
It is not possible to know how much vitamin C an individual actually needs to reach therapeutic levels, without post-infusion testing of serum levels.
Bottom line: I did not learn how to do IVC from the Internet. I first received care at a highly qualified clinic, where I learned what needed to be done. Nearly all of my infusions were conducted with their knowledge, support and oversight. The two times I made an exception to that rule resulted in serious complications, which I also reported here.
I apologize if I gave the impression that self-administered IVC is a simple, do-it-yourself task. I’ve learned the hard way that it is not.
OK. Thank you sir for clarification. So I will definitely contact some PhD first. I hope the vitamin is doing good for you. Greetings from Poland.
do you compound water with the sodium ascorbate?, which type of water is recommended