And this one is bad.

I have had my vaginal herpes outbreaks under control for so long (which for me means on average two or three minimal outbreaks per year), that when I get hit with something like this one it makes me remember how bad herpes can be.   I started with one blister in my mucous membranes, and that was fine. I had the usual warning signs of body ache, fatigue and leg pain, and then – to be honest, I didn’t do too much to fight it.    My husband is away working for a week and I thought, “whatever”.

But then I got even more warning signs and I woke up with another blister on the outside on my skin.  I’d forgotten how much I hate these ones because the pain and swelling seem so much more intense when they’re on the skin.   And the right lymph node in my groin is so swollen and painful that it actually woke me up in the night.

Thank god for extra strength Tylenol.

And of course there is not a lot of people I can tell.  I have made friends with the mother of one of the kids my kid goes to school with and she came over for coffee today for the first time.   When she asked how I was, it wasn’t exactly like I could say, “well I feel like crap because I’ve got this massive herpes outbreak and I just can’t seem to shake it”.   Nope.   It’s even difficult just to say, I have herpes.

Now that I’ve told you how I feel, let’s clarify how I don’t feel.  I don’t feel like I am under attack from herpes.  I don’t feel like herpes is evil or against me.  I don’t feel like I am being punished for being a filthy disgusting whore.   I don’t feel less sexy or attractive.

And most importantly:  I don’t feel like this is my fault.

What I do feel is a sense of responsibility to myself because I know that I only get constant herpes outbreaks when I’ve stopped taking care of myself.   These past few weeks I’ve spent too much time in front of the computer (like, 9 hours a day), not enough time walking, breathing or sleeping.  Also (I know this is what pushed me over the edge), I’ve been drinking too much wine.  Not like, you need to call AA or anything but the other night my husband and I drank almost three bottles together and this alone messed up my sleep patterns, and gave me a horrible hangover that took 72 hours to recover from.  My youngest son is sick and so I am up once or twice a night with him and not being able to get back to sleep after 4am in the morning.   All this to say that I am thankful for herpes in that it gives me a kick in the butt to say, “you need to make some changes here, because what you’re doing right now, isn’t working”.

So I will break out the Vitamins C and E, the tea tree oil, and I will put the red wine away (not that there’s any left).    I will go to bed earlier and I will take walking and breathing breaks throughout the day (and maybe even a nap!).  These outbreaks will heal in a few days, and I know that with everything I understand about genital herpes, I can live outbreak free.

And if I don’t because life gets in the way, that’s OK too.

Related posts:

1. So You Have A Herpes Outbreak..
2. Vaginal Herpes

When I first found out that I had genital herpes, they did not have the internet.  Or maybe they did but it was housed on very large expensive computers that I did not have access to (what a difference 20 years makes!).   I found myself sneaking around the third floor of my public library hoping no one would figure out exactly what I was looking for and finding only one or two books on herpes outbreaks that were needless to say, exceptionally dated.  Neither of the books I found contained even a single reference to acyclovir (now the number one and only FDA approved treatment for constant herpes outbreaks).

What I did find that has stuck with me for all these years is the relationship between lysine and arginine.  Both are amino acids that exist in our bodies and are abundant in many sources of foods we eat every day.  The basic theory is that lysine is no friend to herpes, while arginine has a nasty habit of helping the herpes virus flourish.   Therefore – according to the theory – ensuring that the ratio of lysine to arginine is consistently higher in your body that the HSV should remain happily dormant.   It is important to note that this has never been medically proven.   Yet still, years and years later, people are still claiming to successfully treat their outbreaks by supplementing their diet with lysine and avoiding arginine rich foods.

This essential amino acid has recently been discovered to play a role in the treatment of Herpes simplex infections – cold sores and genital herpes. Almost 80% of the patients who participated in the research found that taking a lysine supplement daily reduced outbreaks of cold sores and eased symptoms. Treatment of genital herpes was not as universally successful but did help a number of patients, though further research is needed. (source: iHealth.com)

You can find a list of lysine (eat more of) and arginine (eat less of) foods here:  lysine/arginine herpes, but this is actually significantly more work than taking lysine supplementation on a daily basis.

I have previously written on the importance of taking Vitamin C and Zinc on a daily basis and here I am suggesting that you might try adding a lysine supplement as well.

I say this because from personal experience I can almost always expect a herpes outbreak after eating large amounts of either chocolate, peanuts or corn (including popcorn or corn chips).  So while I respect all medical studies, I can say that the lysine arginine theory has particular relevance for me and that to combat the giant bucket of M&Ms I ate last night, I will be starting a 1000mg daily lysine supplement.

I would appreciate any comments or e-mails on your positive or negative experiences with lysine and/or herpes and chocolate.

Take care.

Related posts:

1. Herpes Outbreaks
2. Signs Of Genital Herpes Outbreaks
3. l-Lysine: My Secret Weapon To Fight Herpes.

The first thing when you feel a herpes outbreak coming on is not to freak out.   The virus in your system will thrive due to your immune system being bathed with stress hormones.

Try to relax and follow your awesome regimen for herpes treatment.

While it is quite possible that you could just wake up with a herpes outbreak and have had no early warning signs (this has happened to me – although in hindsight, I probably had mild warning symptoms and was too busy to notice or chalked them up to PMS, ovulation…), it is most likely that for a full blown outbreak, you will experience the following three stages:

• Herpes early or warning stage:  My early symptoms seem to always start in my left leg (which is interesting in that 100% of my outbreak sites are on the right side of my body.  Strange but true.)  My left hip will feel bruised and sore.  The bruising – I would not exactly call it pain, but it is sore – spreads down my thigh and will quite often hang out in the back of my knee.  This can last anywhere from 12 – 36 hours.   I cannot stress that this is the most important time to undertake some form of viral suppression.

• If your body is unable to overcome the virus, you should start to feel a burning, tingling, itching feeling where the outbreak will arrive.   There can be one single blister/sore or a grouping of smaller blisters.   I have found that the smaller herpes blisters are easier to heal.   The single larger herpes blister seems to be deeper in the tissue and in my experience, left alone without treatment can often take up to 10 days to heal.

• When the herpes bumps/sores are full blown and in blister stage they can be quite painful.   Each blister will be filled with fluid and the area surrounding any herpes outbreaks will be red and sore.  It’s not the end of the world, and with the exception of a few rare cases (keep in mind the first herpes outbreak is usually the worst) any outbreak should not hamper your daily activities.   Unless of course your activity that day involved having sex.  Sorry.  Work to keep the entire outbreak area clean (and dry) and when the sores begin to burst (it isn’t as bad as it sounds and at this point there is usually some relief from the intensity and swelling of the outbreak) you can begin to apply Vitamin E to speed up the healing.

During the final stage the sores will crust over (again, sounds worse that it is…)  and heal.

There may be some residual tenderness but once the sore is closed it can heal relatively quickly.    Keep up with the Vitamin E and don’t have sex too soon!

You will know when it’s gone.   Trust me.

Related posts:

1. Herpes: I Have A Vaginal Herpes Outbreak