Q: Taking DCA 2 week on with 1 week off I understand… How long term can a person take the DCA, 6 months, years ? Kreuzman.

A: Dear Mr. Kreuzman,

thank you for your question. There are no official guidelines on how long DCA can be taken. Regarding safety, there have been documented reports of people taking DCA for more than 4 years (https://www.dcaguide.org/news/dca-and-cancer-melanoma-long-time-remission-and-stabilisation-case-presentation-101258). In some clinical studies, children have taken DCA for even longer periods of time. If someone has stage IV cancer which has spread, then DCA and other regimens should be taken as long as possible to keep cancer stabilized or cured.
How long can a person take Sodium dichloroacetate also heavily depends on how well the patient tolerates the DCA protocol, whether there is any preexisting liver failure or previous nerve injury. Diabetes can also cause nerve damage, therefore, preexisting diabetic neuropathy should be treated as much as possible before continuing the Sodium dichloroacetate treatment.
Some people take it for years to keep themselves in remission. Our suggestions for longer time periods would be:
• Stop taking DCA if you experience side effects. You can resume once they resolve.
• Stop taking DCA if you have severe chronic liver failure, acute hepatitis, chemotherapy-associated liver injury. You can resume DCA once the liver is in better function.
• Stop taking DCA if you experience abnormal liver enzyme (AST, ALT, GGT) elevation 2.5 times from the upper limit of normal levels. Take 1) silymarin or milk thistle, 2) essential phospholipids. Take a break till the liver enzymes return to normal levels.
• Take DCA till you treat cancer or you want to maintain remission.
Please don’t forget to take the neuroprotective supplements such as Vitamin B1, Alpha-Lipoic acid and, if possible, Acetyl-L-Carnitine.

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