Dr. Scott Graves's Fullscript Account

Cold and Flu

How much should I take in order to decrease cold and flu symptoms? This varies for individuals but here are some loose suggestions. Vitamin C - Vitamin C is very powerful to prevent cold/flu but is just as wonderful to help heal. The key is to get to bowel tolerance and stay just under this (saturation). Upon noticing first symptoms (itchy or sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, cough, etc…), take 2,000-5,000mg (1 tsp of powder = about 5,000mg) of vitamin C every hour until you get loose stools or diarrhea (smelly gas will be normal with this too). Once you get loose stools, ease off the vitamin C for an hour or two. Then continue with 2,000-5,000mg until you continue to bump up to bowel tolerance again. You may get up to 30-40,000mg per day or more and not reach bowel tolerance. The last time I had the flu 11 years ago, I took 100,000mg per day and didn’t have loose stools. It is very important to continue taking vitamin C until your symptoms go away completely. Vitamin C is extremely safe, even in these large quantities. This vitamin C powder doesn’t taste great, so it can be mixed with juice to get down more easily. Zinc - An extra 60-100mg (100-150mg total per day) of zinc per day can be taken while symptomatic. This is especially important for getting back your sense of taste and smell. Take 20 mgs every 2 hours during the day until symptoms go away. Quercetin - 2 capsules, up to 3 times daily until symptoms go away.