I need to adjust the default server value for Max Input Vars on a website>

Writing ini_set('max_input_vars', 3000) on a script does not work

Adding the following to .htaccess makes the whole site go blank

php_value max_input_vars 1000
php_value suhosin.post.max_vars 1000
php_value suhosin.request.max_vars 1000

We dont have access to the ini file.

Is there a way round this at the script level?