John of Ohio ....is it true if you take 3000mg of lysine ..you will get kidney failure..

There apparently is one report (in one individual) in the medical literature of kidney problems (a side effect) with the long-term use of lysine. Lysine: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning (webmd.com)

The length of dosing and amount of lysine taken was not stated.

Inasmuch as many thousands take lysine to suppress cold sores, etc., this is a very isolated incident.

If one has a concern, ask a physician before taking lysine. Of course, most physicians know little or nothing about lysine's ability to disrupt herpes virus replication, and are likely to recommend to stay away from this "unapproved supplement."

This site makes this claim:
"When taking the recommended dosage of L-lysine, the risk of side effects is low. Typically, the dietary guideline for L-lysine consumption is 1 gram per day. In most cases, a dose of 3 grams [3000mg] per day is considered safe." L-Lysine: Benefits, the Right Dosage, and Warnings | 1MD

Of course, to suppress a herpes virus infection, it's best to spread out the lysine over much of a day, as in taking three, time-separated 1000mg doses; one in the morning (at least 20 minutes before a meal, or at least 2 hrs after a meal), another meal-removed dose in the afternoon, and a final one in the evening --- none in a single 3000mg dose.

--John of Ohio

 

After symptoms are markedly reduced or absent, one can reduce the lysine by, say, a third; from 3000mg to 2000mg. If the symptomatic relief continues, go a bit later then down to 1000mg per day.

These reductions should probably occur after two or three months at each determining stage.

Personally, I've been free of all MM symptoms now for many years, probably a decade. I no longer need to diligently take the treatment regimen of over the counter supplements. But I do take 7000IU vitamin D-3, which strongly supports the immune system's ability to suppress viral infections, along with a strong multi-vitamin which has larger than "normal" B-vitamin concentrations.

Should Meniere's symptoms ever reappear, I will get right back on my regimen But, for the nonce, my elevated vitamin D-3 supplementation (which has given me a tested serum concentration of 85 ng/ml of 25-hydroxyvitamin D) has kept me free of symptoms. If you are deficient in vitamin D --- most moderns are --- with anything less then 30 ng/ml, you are open to all sorts of infections. Since taking 7000IU of vitamin D each day (now for about a decade) I've never had a cold or flu.

There is a phenomenal negative correlation between the severity of COVID-19 disease and a person's vitamin D level. If you are at less than 30 ng/ml, your chances of severe, even lethal COVID-19 are extremely high. At >30 ng/ml, but particulary >50 ng/ml, chances of lethal COVID-19 are greatly reduced.

Both COVID-19 and Meniere's (in most cases) are caused by viral infections. A weak immune system can be unable to effectively suppress viral presence or replication. The immune system is quite dependent on adequate, sufficient vitamin D; which is naturally synthesized in the human skin, upon exposure to strong ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation in direct, high-angle sunshine.

Of course, in the winter, the sun does not rise high in the sky, sunshine getting to the earth, at its low angle, must course through much longer paths through the lower atmosphere, which absorbs UVB. In all but the southern tier of states, from November through April, no one gets either a sunburn or sufficient vitamin D.

That's exactly why COVID-19 cases are exploding right now. Stores of vitamin D made in summer sun are now depleted, lost from human body fat where vitamin D is stored by the body. (If everyone took 5000 IU of vitamin D each day, COVID-19 deaths would plummet, perhaps to inconsequence.)

You must supplement. Take a softgel of 5000IU of vitamin D-3 each day.

Look it up, check also the importance of magnesium supplementation, along with vitamin D. It requires sufficient magnesium to support the immune system. Most modern diets are also deficient in magnesium.

I'd love to see a study assessing the vitamin D levels of those first diagnosed with Meniere's disease. I'm betting they will have lower then normal vitamin D (which, by itself is too low; anything less then 30 ng/ml is too low).

Simply, the immune system, to suppress viral infections, needs adequate vitamin D, magnesium, and B-vitamins.

Here are products that could be considered. Of course, you are advised to first check with a medical authority:

Vitamin D

Vitacost Vitamin D3 Mini Gels -- 5000 IU - 365 Softgels - Vitacost


Multivitamin (with sufficient B vitamins)

This product has properly, effectively elevated levels of the B vitamins, along with many other vitamins, minerals, and supplements that support the immune (and other) systems. But is lacks magnesium:
Vitacost Synergy Basic® Multivitamin -- 60 Capsules - Vitacost

Magnesium

Straight magnesium oxide, and some others, can cause loose bowels. This magnesium works well for me:
Kal Magnesium Glycinate -- 400 mg - 90 Tablets - Vitacost

--John of Ohio

 

Here is the discussion about this starting from this post:

Antiviral preference?

 

Yes, thanks for the links John.
My V D3 pill has 125 mcg which I think is equivalent to 5000 IU
It also has 100 mcg of Vitamin K2 and some calcium.

Do you know how a person would have their Vitamin D blood level checked in the USA without going through a doctor?

 

Yes, 125mcg is 5000IUs.

Vitamin K-2, along with magnesium, is an important, useful vitamin D cofactor. It helps the body to properly partition calcium in the body, keeping it out of arteries and in bones. This is the vitamin K-2 I take:
Vitacost Ultra Vitamin K includes Advanced K2 Complex -- 90 Softgels - Vitacost

Here's one available vitamin D test:
Vitamin D Home Test Kit – GrassrootsHealth

--John of Ohio

 

Good info John, thanks!

 

John, is that means that the SP-1005 and OTIVIDEX trials for Meniere's disease are mostly doomed because they are not addressing the main MD viral cause?

 

6 months

 

Favorable response time (thorough suppression of Meniere's symptoms) resulting from lysine is highly variable. A few found degrees of relief in just a few weeks. Others have taken one or two months, or even longer. I recall that one person relayed to me that for him (or her) relief didn't start to appear until the sixth month of lysine therapy.

So, there is no "usual" period of response time. Highly variable and individual.

--John of Ohio

 

I would point out that lysine does not "kill" any of the herpes viruses causing Meniere's symptoms. They are viruses, which aren't living organisms. They have no innate "life." They are merely packets of chemical RNA or DNA that intervene in the operating genetics of a cell, forcing it to produce more viral RNA or DNA. Lysine complicates, interferes with the enzymes required for viral replication.

-- John of Ohio

 

I'm not familiar with the SP-1005 or OTIVIDEX trials; don't know their particular mechanisms of action or their involved chemistries.

Meniere's symptoms are not always caused by a herpes infection of the inner ear. Approximately 20% of Meniere's cases do not involve herpes viruses; some other factor has caused the inner ear inflammation that causes the symptoms.

--John of Ohio

 

SP-1005 and OTIVIDEX are not antivirals. Does that mean these drugs have only a maximum of 20% to succeed?

 

I (nor anyone else) knows the answer to this question. The only way to determine rates of efficacy are by people actually trying the therapies, while results are properly recorded and analyzed. Usually, in a double-blind clinical trial.

--John of Ohio

 

If vitamin D helps protect against coronavirus, why have COVID-19 affected the sun-pampered countries as well?

 

For otherwise sunny climes and latitudes, two factors are at play, regarding the ability of vitamin D to reduce or prevent a SARS-CoV2 viral infection, the one that causes COVID-19 disease. Without adequate vitamin D (and magnesium, and some other molecules or ions), the immune system cannot work at full power so as to disable, repel, or suppress various pathogenic viruses.

If that's the case (it is), why, then, are COVID-19 cases a problem in countries with ample amounts of sunshine, as in the tropics? There are the two complicating factors:

1. Angle of the sun. This is a problem at all latitudes, particularly above and below the tropics. For the skin to synthesize vitamin D, it needs direct, full-strength sunshine. That occurs only when the sun is high in the sky, with a large angle above the horizon. When the sun casts a shadow on a person which is longer than the person is tall, the angle of the sun against the horizon is less then 45 degrees. At this lower angle, to reach the person, the sun's rays have to travel through much more of the atmosphere than if they originated at a high, overhead angle. Simply, the atmosphere, pure air, absorbs ultraviolet-B (UVB) portions of sunlight. UVB spectra are required for the skin to produce vitamin D. When the air absorbs most of the UVB, as when the sun is at a low angle, a person standing in the low-angle sun can produce no vitamin D, whether in the arctic or the tropics.

Of course, in the tropics, the sun rises high in the sky every day of the year; that's why they are so warm in all seasons. But until a person's sun shadow is shorter than the person's length, meaning the sun is shining at an angle >45 degrees, vitamin D can't be made. Which means that in the tropics, sun in the morning and in the later parts of the afternoon don't allow the body to synthesize any vitamin D. Remember the phrase, "Only Englishmen and mad dogs are out in the mid-day sun?" Simply, in the tropics, the mid-day sun is hot and uncomfortable; so people stay out of it, or shield themselves from its direct rays.

Of course, direct, strong UVB can cause skin cancer. Hence, native peoples in tropical areas across the world have various levels of melanin, skin pigmentation that blocks out the strongest rays of UVB. It prevents sun-caused skin cancer, but can also reduce the synthesis of vitamin D, particularly for those who chose to avoid the mid-day sun in tropical areas. With air conditioning and ample housing and buildings, the avoidance of mid-day sun is prominent, even desired in modern times.

2. Sun-shielding clothing. In some cultures, preferred, desired clothing covers the head, neck, and all of the body except the face and hands. Hence, even with direct, over-head sunshine, very little vitamin D can be synthesized in the sun-masked skin.

For those in tropical areas, who don't get adequate direct exposure to full, direct, high-angle sunshine, supplementation with vitamin D will solve the consequent vitamin D deficiencies of the regions.

In temperate latitudes, such as the US and Europe, people have the lowest exposure to direct, high-angle sunshine of any historical period. Today, winter or summer, we spend most of our waking hours inside buildings (air conditioned in the summer, warmed in the winter), year round. Many are deathly afraid of direct sunshine; smearing all sorts of sun-repelling, UVB-masking chemicals on their skin when venturing into the wild, open-sky environment.

Hence, there is no wonder that numerous studies, in all parts of the world, have shown consistent, strong negative associations between measured serum vitamin D levels and the rates and severities of COVID-19 disease. If your measured vitamin D level is less than 30 ng/ml, you are at great risk of contracting COVID-19. If it's >(greater than)50 ng/ml (my phrase: "Fifty is Nifty"), chances of contracting or conveying COVID-19 are greatly reduced. Chances of a lethal outcome with COVID-19 are even lower with elevated levels of vitamin D. For the four or five cents a daily dose of 5000IU of vitamin D-3 costs, it's one of the best, most effective things that can be done in response to the pandemic — far more effective and significant than just wearing a mask. Do both.

--John of Ohio