Lynn Capehart Wellness Project

AVOID COLD SORES, GENITAL HERPES, EPSTEIN BARR/MONONUCLEOSIS, AND SHINGLES, OR STOP AN OUTBREAK IN MERE HOURS WITH A SINGLE SUPPLEMENT

SEE COMMENT ON APPLICATION TO HIV/AIDS

CATEGORY: 6: Viruses

RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENT: L-Lysine

Helen’s labor started at three in the morning. At first she thought it was just the extra spicy hot wings flapping through her intestines, but quickly realized what was happening. She woke her husband with an elbow in the ribs. Rick, thinking she did it because he was snoring again, burrowed into the pillow and tried to breathe quietly. The second poke annoyed him. He burped and turned over, eyes bleary with sleep, saying, “Hey, did you notice I stopped snoring?” Helen said, “Hey, did you notice I’m going into labor?”

Two hours later Dr. Sajim stood in front of Helen with a frown on his narrow face. The hallway was quiet an hour before the hospital shift change. The smell of disinfectant coated the air. Rick had meandered off looking for a vending machine. He needed a Pepsi so he could take a Valium. No liquid and it would stick to his tongue. Same thing with water. Seems he needed the Pepsi as bad as he needed the Valium.

“You’re having a pretty bad genital herpes outbreak, Helen,” said Dr. Sajim. “Luckily, this time it was false labor. Otherwise, I would have had to do a Cesarean. I know you’re planning on going back to modeling after the baby. But I can’t let you deliver normally if you’re having an outbreak. I’m sorry, but as I’ve told you, herpes can be passed to your newborn during delivery. So we cannot take that chance, can we?”

Helen was already in her 40th week and due to deliver any minute. Dr. Sajim’s words nagged at her all the next day. She was more worried about her modeling career than she let anyone know. At 35 she was closer to the end of her swimsuit career than the beginning. A Cesarean scar would slam that door shut immediately. And no, they wouldn’t go to the trouble of retouching all her shots. She couldn’t turn to runway—the kindest thing Antonio had said was she walked like a librarian—though she did have other options. She just needed time to transition.

When she called me the next day, she was crying. She was afraid to take a prescription drug, fearing it might harm the baby. And over the counter remedies didn’t work. She wanted to know if there was a supplement therapy that would work. Stop the herpes without harming the baby. And known to be safe enough that Dr. Sajim would be ok with her taking it.

I told her about L-Lysine, an amino acid capable of actually disrupting the herpes virus’ DNA replication cycle, preventing it from spawning more and more generations, with each one making the outbreak worse. I told her it is completely safe even for expectant mothers close to their time of delivery.

HERPES VIRUS TYPES

There are different kinds of herpes viruses, but all of them can be controlled with L-Lysine. Below I discuss Types 1, 2, and 4. [Types 3 and 5 herpes viruses are equine related, and refer to a sexually transmitted disease in horses.] [See Comment on HIV/AIDS under Type 4.]

1.         Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV1): Oral Herpes: HSV1 usually manifests as blisters and ulcers around the mouth and lips, commonly called fever blisters and cold sores. But they can occur in other places above the waist, like the chin and face, inside your mouth or the back of the throat, or on your chest and arms.

Type 1 is usually associated only with mouth herpes, but it also causes genital herpes when it is spread during mouth-genital sex by a partner with an infected mouth.

About 50 to 80 percent of American adults have HSV1, even if they don’t know it. One reason so many are carriers is that herpes is a member of the same family of diseases experienced in childhood, like mumps, or chicken pox.

For instance, the latter is caused by Herpes Zoster which goes dormant after the initial outbreak, but can show up later in adulthood as shingles, a painful skin disorder. If you had one of these childhood diseases you are carrying the herpes virus and can infect others, even if you have never had an outbreak.

2.         Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV2): Genital Herpes: HSV2 usually manifests as painful blisters, ulcers, and rashes around the genital and anal areas. It rarely affects areas above the waist, like the mouth and face. It is spread through sexual intercourse by secretions from the mouth and genitals of an infected partner, even if they have no signs and don’t know they are infected. For example, in a study, a third of the participants who caught genital herpes from their infected partners, did so when the partners had no symptoms. Sexual contact is the most common way to become infected, and one in five Americans has genital herpes, again, even if they are unaware of it.

Genital herpes seems to be on the rise, especially among adolescents, because they’re having more oral sex instead of intercourse, believing it to be safer, or more moral. The only safe thing about oral sex is that it absolutely avoids pregnancy. But you’re still susceptible to an STD when you give or receive oral sex. Thus, there are more and more people with cold sores on their genitals, which translates as genital herpes.

3.         Herpes Simplex Virus Type 4 (HSV4): Epstein Barr: HSV4 is best known for causing Infectious Mononucleosis, the “Kissing Disease” we all remember from high school. It is also linked with certain forms of cancer, like Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, and central nervous system lymphomas associated with HIV.

One spot of good news is that since the virus dies quickly outside the body, it is next to impossible to get genital herpes through contact with toilet seats, towels, or other objects used by an infected person having an outbreak. The number of people with herpes will probably keep rising as people continue to infect one another. But the high cost and side effects of prescription drugs cause many people to avoid using them. L-Lysine is a natural alternative treatment that is safe, inexpensive and gentle to the body. It works faster and better than any other treatment available, bar none.

L-Lysine works quickly to suppress a herpes outbreak on the same day, usually within hours if taken as directed. Chronic cases can be controlled and all outbreaks prevented by taking a daily maintenance dose, and increasing the dose at the first signs of an outbreak, that first tell tale tingle that usually precedes an outbreak.

I have a friend, Gene, in his second year at UCLA. He gets cold sores all the time. He started using L-Lysine and found it worked, but he refused to use it regularly, as a maintenance dose. He’s a free spirit and doesn’t like the routine involved in daily doses. So he takes it only when he feels an outbreak coming on, despite my promise to him that a daily dose will completely prevent even one more cold sore. His problem is that sometimes an outbreak happens when he’s away from his supplements. Gene experienced this a couple of hours before a date recently. Later that evening, he and a coed were keeping each other warm, when she spotted an emerging cold sore and called things off. He said he was amazed he got that far with her before she noticed. I think that last “miss” might convince him to go ahead and take a regular daily dose of L-Lysine. Your body’s warning plus your timely response can equal prevention.

NOTES

► The virus is fighting for its life as hard as you would for yours. It’s replicating new generations to ensure the survival of its DNA—just like you do. For those reasons, I can’t overemphasize how important it is that you flood your system with L-Lysine in order for it to work effectively as a treatment for herpes. You have to follow the quick glance chart and take every dose on time, and not miss a single dose.

► Be aware that after taking L-Lysine for a while your bowel movements may be runny. This is not true diarrhea. You won’t move your bowels more than normal, but when you do they might become watery. This is not a cause for concern and will stop as soon as you lower your dose.

► If you know you have been exposed to herpes by an infected person, or if you know that you have had one of the viral childhood diseases like chickenpox, it is recommended that you take 2000 mg of L-Lysine twice daily, morning and evening, as a maintenance dose, to help keep the virus dormant.

► Since it is possible to have herpes and not know it, if you do suddenly get an outbreak, take a pause and a deep breath before you accuse your partner of wrong doing. If there is other evidence maybe you’re onto something. If she or he is a saint, do some more investigating before you jump them. Herpes can lie dormant for years after initial infection before it shows up. It could have been an earlier partner who infected you.

Please be nice to each other, and look for my next post: Blog 12: Radiation Poisoning where I tell you how to protect yourself from exposure like that threatened by the recent Japanese nuclear reactor problems after the tsunami.