by Nanci Elliott on March 9, 2010
Vitamin D Meets Genital Herpes | Treatment
Awesome article in the paper today about Vitamin D and herpes. This vitamin has been in the news a lot in the past year after a landmark study revealed that it was a key player in cancer rates in that a significant number of people with cancer were found to be deficient in Vitamin D. Since then there has been a serious hard look at this supplement and what role it plays in illness and the body.
A little background:
Vitamin D is made naturally in our body every time we are in the sun. You would think that this would make it completely unnecessary to supplement since well, it’s the sun, right? But no. It has been found that over half the world’s population is low in the vitamin and the issue is getting worse as we spend more and more time indoors. Also, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere (think Canada, Iceland, etc.) will never get enough in the winter because the sun does not rise high enough to induce Vitamin D production. Food sources are also limited with seafood (tuna, salmon, fish oil) topping the list followed by fortified foods like milk and yogurt. Anyway, we need more.
And how does this relate to genital herpes treatment?
A new study by the Danish has found that Vitamin D plays a vital role in virtually all immune function. Ladies, this is huge and not just for our vaginal herpes issues. It was found that the killer T cells in our immune system require Vitamin D to become active. Without the vitamin, it is possible that they remain dormant and infections and pathogens are free to roam the blood and wreak havoc. And yes, this include the female genital herpes virus!
Since this supplement is so important to our body overall (fighting cancer, multiple sclerosis, calcium deficiency) let’s make sure that this week we start taking 2000 iu per day. The government recommended dose is between 400 to 600 iu per day, and the cancer society is going with 1000 iu, but I belong to the school of, ‘if some is good, then more is better’ so I am going with 2000. Seriously, many health professional aim for 5000 iu a day so taking 2000 iu is just great. (Just to clarify: iu stands for international units – just how vitamin D is measured). Vitamin D is dirt cheap; I just bought 200 capsules (1000 iu each) on sale for $5.89. The label states that it promotes bone and dental health which is all find and good, but let’s use it to kick these herpes outbreaks to the curb!
Word.
by Nanci Elliott on March 3, 2010
Genital Herpes And Pregnancy:
This is by far one of my favorite topics. Not because I think herpes and pregnancy is a great mix (they’re not), but because there is so much fear and misinformation out there it’s nice to be able to have positive, valuable and accurate information. Stop the insanity!
I cannot tell you how many e-mails I receive or comments I read where women just diagnosed with vaginal herpes whose partners are negative, are told by their Doctors that it will be impossible to have unprotected sex (and thus incur the cost and stress of invitro fertilization treatments), and that there is a 100% chance of a scheduled C-section to protect the baby. And I am here right now to say that is absolutely NOT TRUE. Yes, you have to be careful when trying to get pregnant not to infect your partner and risk herpes transmission, but this should be something you are practicing 24/7, 365 days a year.
All I can do is share with you my herpes pregnancy story which starts with my husband and I tapering off using condoms about two years into our relationship. We had become relaxed enough to know that we were going to be together for (hopefully) a very long time, that I had my herpes symptoms under control, and that more importantly, I had an awesome grasp of what my early symptoms of herpes felt like and would abstain from all sexual contact until the either the symptoms disappeared, or the herpes outbreak had completely healed. This led us to the decision that stopping the use of condoms was a calculated risk that we were going to take because they were really starting to be a hassle and my husband felt confident that he would either not get the virus or that if he did, he would be able to live with it. I am happy to say that almost 10 years later he is still completely herpes free.
From that decision came my first planned pregnancy and all went well. I informed my OB who was more than familiar with female genital herpes and he was happy to provide me with a four week prescription to Valtrex which I started a few weeks before my due date. I was free of any signs of herpes when I went into labor and was able to have a happy healthy vaginal delivery. There was never any talk of a C-section or suggestion that I was somehow putting my baby at risk.
My second child was conceived 24 months later and was also born happy and healthy by vaginal delivery. I did have a prescription for Valtrex but he was born three weeks early and I had not had a chance to fill my prescription yet.
Please don’t misunderstand. I am not in any way trying to minimize the dangers of genital herpes and newborns, but I am desperately trying to reassure you that with knowledge, research and a competent OB, it is more than possible for women with HSV2 to have babies the plain old straight up old fashioned way.
I don’t want to get into a huge debate here over C-sections vs. natural deliveries but it is my firm belief that vaginal deliveries offer both the baby and the mother far more benefits in the short and long term that science has not even begun to understand. Hormonally, emotionally, some freaky shit about coming through the birth canal – this was all designed (by God, the Universe, Allah…) for a reason and I am going to respect it. I am so grateful for technology and the life saving techniques that have been made available to save the lives of women and children in pregnancy but I for one am 100% confident that the minimal risk of herpes infection from mother to baby is so much more worth taking than a schedule C-section, “just to be safe”.
There of course many special circumstances including mothers contracting HSV2 in the third trimester, active herpes outbreaks at the time of delivery, and other complications that you need to discuss with your OB. You won’t find any judgment here whatever your decision.
Now go get pregnant!
