My Ivermectin Journey So Far

I took my second dose of ivermectin today for the Covid prophylaxis protocol. The prophylaxis protocol involves dosing on Day 1 & Day 3, and then just taking one dose every two weeks thereafter. If I develop Covid symptoms, I’ll increase to daily dosing for five days and get tested. But I won’t wait on test results before shifting to the daily treatment protocol.

FRONTLINE COVID CRITICAL CARE ALLIANCE

The full protocol for using ivermectin for prophylaxis or early outpatient treatment for Covid-19 is here: https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FLCCC-Alliance-I-MASKplus-Protocol-ENGLISH.pdf. It has been developed by the doctors of the Frontline Covid Critical Care Alliance, and is being used in countries around the world to reduce Covid deaths and hospitalizations. The FLCCC’s full website is here: https://covid19criticalcare.com/. The organization was founded in March 2020 by Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Paul Marek, and other frontline physicians shown here: https://covid19criticalcare.com/about/the-flccc-physicians/ 

DOSING AND SAFETY

My dose (based on body weight) is 12 mg. The formula for calculating correct ivermectin dose for Covid prophylaxis and early outpatient treatment is 0.2 mg per kg body weight. Higher doses are used for severe Covid in hospitalized cases, where results have been remarkable. Doses in those applications range from 0.3-1.0 mg/kg.

This low dose (0.2 mg/kg) is the same dose that has been used for more than 30 years to treat parasites in humans around the world, with 3.7 billion such doses delivered for anti-parasite use over the decades. So this drug and this dosage of it have an extremely well documented safety profile that has stood the test of time, unlike various other approaches to Covid we are being offered.

In addition to ivermectin’s Nobel Prize-winning anti-parasite action, it turns out to also have considerable antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties at this same low dosage, hence its effectiveness for treating Covid-19.

AVAILABILITY IN CANADA

In Canada, ivermectin is legally sold in pharmacies under the brand name Stromectol (from Merck). But you need a prescription to buy it this way. Most Canadians are reporting that their GPs are unwilling to write the script. But some medical professionals in this country do understand the importance of making ivermectin available to patients for prophylaxis and early treatment—especially a so-called “high-risk” patient such as myself.

Ontario GP Ira Bernstein is one such family physician prescribing ivermectin to his high-risk patients. But this level of physician foresight in Canada is so rare that his story actually made the news a few days ago: https://www.thesuburban.com/news/city_news/ivermectin-another-therapeutic-bringing-hope-against-covid-symptoms/article_a23a959c-9cf6-50cd-9c7b-bf4c2a615ede.html.

I suspect he is now flooded with calls from people across Canada desperately seeking their own ivermectin prescription to protect themselves and their loved ones. I hope more Canadian GPs will follow his lead and start doing the right thing for their patients.

PRICING IN CANADA

Buying ivermectin with a prescription (if you can obtain one) at a Canadian pharmacy is the most expensive way to acquire ivermectin, which is an incredibly cheap, old, safe, off-patent drug that costs pennies to produce. Each box shown in my photo contains 4x 3mg tablets, or 12mg per box. Exactly my dose. And each of those 12mg boxes costs me $36 at a Nanaimo pharmacy. So every dose of ivermectin I take at my body weight (125 lbs), costs me $36 if I buy it “officially” with doctor’s prescription.

You can buy an equivalent 12mg dose of ivermectin from numerous online pharmacies selling generic versions (usually from India or Mexico), and requiring no prescription, for about $10 or less, for what costs me $36 in Nanaimo with a prescription. The online approach is not as risky as it sounds once you start asking around and get good leads on online stores that other people are using successfully. Even if you have the money to buy the branded drug at your local pharmacy, you may not have the luxury of a prescription to enable that.

These realities are driving the large and growing market of online purchasing from generic pharmacies abroad. The many stores listed on IndiaMart appear to be legit (they would get delisted quickly if they weren’t). People are getting their drugs, the drugs are working.

And then there is always the horse paste at feed and seed stores (or via Amazon). Yes it’s really ivermectin. Yes people all over the world are using it successfully to treat and resolve Covid. No there are no other drugs in it unless listed on box (although there may be apple flavour!).

I’m not making any recommendations yea or nay. Just sharing my own journey and what I have learned so far.

Stay safe, be well,

Kim Goldberg
February 23, 2021
(Nanaimo, BC)