Your herpes outbreak treatment?

I only have oral herpes, but when it breaks out, I take a lot of lecithin. Works almost immediately. It’s fastest if I chew it.

I have found that nothing but time heals outbreaks. A couple of thoughts though, first the breakouts do get less intense over time, the first was the worst the second was not quite as bad and so on. Also, I find that if I take L-Lysine daily, it keeps the outbreaks at bay.

The first was definitely the worst. I have been a bit stressed out lately but I’ve had this outbreak for about 2 weeks now and can’t see the gynecologist until dec 13. I read about L-Lysine but saw there were no concrete studies. I’ll give it a shot though

All I know for sure is the Lysine works for me, I haven’t had an outbreak in a year or so. Also, if I feel one coming on the I step up the dose and it stops it. If it has been two weeks you have to be getting close to the end – hang in there!

@College_girl You’re not likely going to find a study to suit you. That’s because pharmaceutical companies aren’t going to make any money off of L-lysine. It’s too cheap to make and too effective as it is.

Once I had a break out, and discovered I had run out of it. I was busy, so I put off buying more. Before I knew it, my lip had swollen to 4 times its size and my lymph nodes swelled up until I looked like I had a goiter. Talk about pain! Ouch! The swelling was increasing by the minute, so I dropped everything and bought more. The swelling started to go down within the hour.

I try to get the capsules, but tablets will do. If I get capsules, I open one up and dump it right in my mouth. Otherwise, I chew the tablets. My body tells me how much I need because if it’s not enough, I start to swell again. LOL.

I’ve also discovered that good immune support, good vitamins, sleep, and attention to diet also help.

Thank you! I’ll start the lysine tomorrow :) Fingers crossed!
What dosage do you usually take?

I have had the best results with Famvir over Acyclovir for my oral herpes. I’ve had cold sores since I was a child. When I first feel the tingle in my lips I start taking it and I usually only have a very mild outbreak. If I wait a day or two before beginning treatment, I’ll have a much worse outbreak. Getting it early is key.

I get shingles, which is a different virus, but the same meds are used. I take Valtrex which works very well, are you taking Zovirax? The drug that has to be taken 5 times a day? If you are I recommend switching to the longer acting Valtrex. Same drug basically. I agree with the jelly above that starting the meds early is key, and that is also what is recommended by the pharma company to significantly reduce, stop, or shorten the outbreak.

I am pretty sure stopping caffeine helps. I don’t drink caffeine for many years now, but I do cheat on occasion. When I get going on a few weeks of cheating I sometimes get a shingles outbreak, and I think it is related. I think it affects the nervous system and the virus travels down the nerve.

It is the same virus, it resides in the spinal ganglia, and that is why the same meds are effective. The physical location is different but it is the same virus, the names refer to the location. @snowberry is right, and @LilCosmo. Famovir and Acylovir are very effective but they are immunosuppressants. If you don’t want to take an immunosuppressant, take lecithin or l lysine.

Hmmm, Interesting, @trailsillustrated See, I often notice that my herpes outbreaks precede a cold. If I were to take an immuneosuppressant, I’d be worse off, wouldn’t I? And if what you say is true, why have I noticed that if I catch it early enough, sometimes I’ve pushed back a herpes attack by simply boosting my immune system?

^ it is self explanatory. You would not be worse off, per se, but why take an immunosuppresant when you can accomplish the same end with cumin, lecithin, or llysine.

There are three major drugs commonly used to treat genital herpes symptoms: acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex). These are all taken in pill form. Severe cases may be treated with the intravenous (IV) drug acyclovir.
To lower the risk of recurrent outbreaks, reduce or avoid factors that trigger outbreaks, such as overexposure to sun, fatigue, irritation of the genital area, and stress. Home cares such as warm baths, keeping the blisters dry after washing, and wearing loose-fitting, cotton underwear may help with symptom relief.

@trailsillustrated I have never heard Acyclovir is an immunosuppresant, that doesn’t make sense to me. The drug reduces the virus; it actually treats the cause, not the reaction to the cause. Why do you think that? Is it on the package insert?

@JLeslie acyclovir has to be taken five times a day, it is my understanding that it takes a lot longer to work than valtrex. It is a pain but the prescription is much more affordable. I got acyclovir for five dollars and valtrex was $90! There was no way I could afford it.

@LilCosmo I didn’t realize the difference in expense. I figured it was more expensive, but not that much. The pharma companies put out the extended version when the patent is expiring on the original drug so they can continue to make a lot of money. I’m pretty sure it can be taken with or without food right? I don’t remember for sure. If that is the case then taking it five times a day isn’t very inconvenient. The valtrex works fast for my shingles.

@College_girl I’ve never heard of overdosing on L-lysine. but apparently you can, so if you’re worried talk to your doctor. http://www.livestrong.com/article/232673-can-you-overdose-on-l-lysine/ One capsule every 3–4 hours worked for me with a bad problem. I often found that one 3 times a day worked for a regular breakout.

I am NOT a doctor.

Antivirals like Acyclovir are not immunosuppressants. They stop the virus from making copies of itself making it easier for the immune system to get on top of the infection.

@trailsillustrated Also, were you talking to me about it beng the same virus? Shingles is varicella, herpes on the lip is usually HSVI, but can be II, and genital is usually HSVII, but can be HSVI. The way to find out is a culture, or if the person happens to have no antibodies for HSVII and has an outbreak you can take an educated guess. Shingles looks different then a typical herpetic outbreak and different location on the body. Again, the real diagnosis is with a culture though. They say singles is not contagious, except for people who have not had chicken pox are susceptable to catching chicken pox from shingles. Herpes is communicable, people even need to be careful not to autoinnoculate. I personally think even shingles might be communicable, I am careful when I have it, but again the medical establishment currently says shingles isn’t.

^ I haven’t studied it since the early 90’s so apologies for old information- I don’t know if shingles is communicable or not-

Try witch hazel pads…..aka tucks medicated pads. I used them after I gave birth to my son vaginally. The pads are very soothing and you can leave them on your outer girl parts(external only) for about 10 min and replace with new. I can give you more descriptive details of how I used safely, if you want through a personal message.

@trailsillustrated The current information is it isn’t. As I said, it is only considered contagious for those not immune to varicella, and they get chicken pox.

I’m on acyclovir right now. The directions say to take it three times a day. I’m thinking of switching to cal acyclovir because I’ve heard it has better/faster results. Thank you everyone!

@College_girl What directions? How your doctor prescribed it? What mg are you taking?

The directions on the pill bottle per doctors orders. 400 mg tablets. I bought the Lysine this morning (500 mg tablets) and I don’t if it’s the placebo effect or if it really works that fast, but I took 2000 mg (4 tablets throughout the day, not at once) and the burning and itching is completely gone! Going to do the same the next two days and next time I see the doctor ask about valacyclovir

@College_girl I couldn’t get the dosage from the GSK site, for whetaver reason I couldn’t find a pdf of the insert, but on a different site it says 200mg 5 times a day, which is what I had remembered from when I spent a couple days at GSK, it happen to be when they were in the midst of introducing Valtrex. It also said on the site 400mg twice a day for 12 months for suppressive/profalactic therapy. Maybe 400 3 times a day is done now for treating an outbbreak. It seems like it would work theoretically. If it isn’t on the recommended dosage it hasn’t been scientifically tested.

@JLeslie The current BNF lists 200mg 5 times or 400mg 3 times a day for treatment of first episode. An older edition from 2005 only lists 200mg 5 times a day so it seems like a more recent regime.

@Lightlyseared It makes sense. That is easier for the patient, so that’s good. As I said above Valtrex behooved the manufacturer for patent reasons, I would think that patent is coming to an end anyway. So trying to pursuade people Valtrex is much better isn’t financially lucritive anymore if both zovirax and valtrex are generic now.