Checklist for starting the Marshall Protocol

Before starting the Marshall Protocol (MP), patients should:

1. Enlist the care of a physician willing to prescribe MP medications and support the patient throughout the treatment.
2. Ensure that their physician is following the MP correctly. Also, be sure that he or she understands both the effectiveness of the MP and the dangers inherent in deviation from the guidelines.
3. Assess level of vitamin D metabolites. While there is no level of either 25-D or 1,25-D which must be achieved before one begins the MP, a high 1,25-D could reveal extensive inflammation and a higher 25-D could show a suppressed immune response. Note that a level of 25-D below 30 ng/ml is not necessary to begin the MP, but it is necessary before using more than one Marshall Protocol antibiotic.

1. Realize the MP is contraindicated for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Women of childbearing age on the MP should take adequate precautions to avoid getting pregnant.
2. Discontinue consumption of vitamin D in food and supplements. Other foods such as soy and soy products are also restricted.
3. Obtain sunglasses that block infrared light, of which there are only a few available. These include NoIRs, but there are other styles as well. MP patients may not begin olmesartan (Benicar) without NoIR sunglasses or the equivalent. MP patients must be willing to adapt their lifestyle to avoid sun and lights and be willing to look somewhat unconventional due to any measures needed to restrict light.
4. Modify home and work environment with regard to light exposure. If photosensitivity is a problem, patients may need to avoid or limit sun or lights if still employed or responsible for raising children.
5. Restrict exposure to radio frequency radiating technology - e.g. Microwave oven, DECT phone handset, mobile phone (as a general rule, do not carry close to body or hold at ear when in use)
6. Reduce workload if possible so it is possible to stay indoors during daylight hours, at least during the initial stages of the MP.
7. Enlist or have the support, physical if needed, of family and friends.
8. Be willing and able to use a computer to visit and participate on the MP study site.

1. Read the Tips for using the Marshall Protocol Knowledge Base.
2. Understand that the MP is a serious and often multi-year commitment.
3. All MP patients should be familiar with the list of safety warnings.
4. Understand immunopathology (IP). IP is the unavoidable increase in the severity of symptoms caused by increased activation of the immune response. IP can be symptoms a patient already has or new symptoms. In rare cases, IP may even cause an adverse event. Patients must be able to learn, early in the MP, to independently manage immunopathology by adjusting MP medications so as to avoid taxing the resources of the study site moderators.
5. Understand photosensitivity. Photosensitivity is not caused by the MP so much as revealed by it. Individuals who are photosensitive prior to the MP will likely become more photosensitive on the MP. Individuals who have no signs of photosensitivity may or may not become photosensitive on the MP. Also, photosensitivity may change over the course of the treatment.
6. Learn about olmesartan's essential role in the MP. Avoiding vitamin D and light exposure alone may appear to be an effective treatment for some but it is only a palliative effect. Disease progression may be stalled with these tactics but taking these measures alone without olmesartan will not be enough to get well. Olmesartan both activates the immune system and protects the body's organs. It is not optional. If you want to do the MP, you need to have the healing, protective and palliative actions of olmesartan for the treatment to be safe and effective.
7. Review the Marshall Protocol Knowledge Base to understand the fundamentals of the MP.
8. Review the guidelines.
9. Review appropriate articles on life-threatening conditions. Articles are devoted to patients who have cardiac, kidney, neurological, or respiratory illnesses and symptoms.
10. Learn about how frequent dosing of minocycline can control strong immunopathology.
11. Some patients who have difficulty finding a supportive doctor or have practical reasons to delay taking the MP medications want to do what they can immediately to start the healing process. If applicable, learn more here about the effects of withdrawing vitamin D before beginning olmesartan.
12. Ask any unanswered questions at MarshallProtocol.com.

1. Possess the desire to recover health instead of merely palliate symptoms.
2. Be convinced of the merits and validity of the Marshall Protocol and Pathogenesis. Between the Knowledge Base, the MP study site, Bacteriality, and all the papers which discuss different aspects of the MP, there should be enough information available for patients to make an informed decision whether the MP is for them or not.
3. Be willing to register on the MP Study Site and share your experiences.
4. Be willing and able to comprehend and follow protocol guidelines.
5. Be able to communicate effectively in English.

1. Possess the finances to afford olmesartan and, if chosen, MP antibiotics as well as regular doctor visits, D-metabolites tests, and appropriate sunglasses.
2. Obtain one month's supply of olmesartan (Benicar): 120-160, 40mg tablets. Olmesartan is essential to the MP. There are no substitutes. Further, there is no such thing as a “different version” of the MP that does not use olmesartan. Note that Benicar HCT is contraindicated. Do not take Benicar HCT. Patients are also expected to locate access to a reliable supply of olmesartan, especially if it is not available in their home country.
3. Once stabilized on the Benicar, patients should work with their physician to wean off alternative treatments especially immunosuppressants such as corticosteroids. Note these measures may make a patient feel worse due to immunopathology, and that the use of some palliative medications is okay provided it is necessary. For details, see the article on non-MP treatments.

Patients who complete these requirements have the option of doing a therapeutic probe, a brief trial of the MP, or beginning the Protocol in earnest.

1. Print out the Notice for emergency medical personnel, a guide for treating patients in an emergency situation.