The Journey – Stop Cold Sores

I’m back – Stress and cold sores go hand in hand.

Job related stress, 62% of workers say that work is their #1 source of stress. Add to that family responsibilities, financial stress, lack of sleep and you have a snapshot of the typical American household.

Stress will cause cold sores if you already have the herpes simplex virus. When you’re stressed or even just feeling run down, this can affect your immune system. When your immune system is under pressure, the resistance to any virus isn’t as strong so the virus (cold sore) has a chance to break out again.

Once you have had a cold sore outbreak (and have the herpes virus HSV-1), the virus lies dormant in nerve cells in your skin and may emerge as another cold sore at the same place as before.

Now if we read the typical advice given at the online medical references we read things such as:

All of these are true, and good ideas but like the last few months for me (I run a tax preparation business) it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to not be stressed at work. Can you identify ?

More work to do than there are hours to do it?
Pressure to do more work, with less time and resources?
Family stressors do not “pause” during stressful times at work.

Life cannot always be balanced and stress free… at least not in the “real” world. This is when the nasty HSV-1 virus rears its ugly head and we get that “tingly” feeling telling us that a cold sore is getting ready to appear.

What do you do ?

It is too late for most treatments… Abreva, Lysine, cremes, home remedies none can stop the outbreak. All they MAY do is limit the length of the outbreak. This used to be my dilemma, that is until I discovered how to prevent cold sores outbreaks permanently.

If you also suffer from cold sores during stress filled times in your life, like I did. You do not have to suffer from a cold sore outbreak again, and they can be prevented without the expense and potential side effects of a prescription antiviral drug. Take a look at the free report provided at coldsores.us.

What about treating cold sores with a prescription antiviral drug like Valtrex ?

When searching online for a treatment for cold sores, one of the options shown is the use of prescription antiviral drugs. A study done in 1998 shows that the use of Valtrex type (valacyclovir) antiviral drugs do reduce the number of outbreaks by 33%-50%. The study also showed the higher doses (500 – 1000 mg day) provided greater suppressive effects (better at preventing outbreaks rather than merely treating the cold sore once it appears).

So if these prescriptions work, why aren’t more people using them ? There are a number of reasons that I would not take (or recommend) a prescription antiviral drug to treat/prevent cold sores:

Reducing outbreaks is a half-measure that is only a 1/2 solution. We want a way to prevent outbreaks.
Costs, although the prescription is available from your neighborhood Wall-Mart for about $20 per month (30 x 500mg tablets), the price does not include the price of doctor visits and blood test to monitor kidney function. Likely cost with doctor visits and blood work $500 yr.
Side Effects from long term use of antiviral drugs:
1. Kidney Damage caused by valacyclovir
2. Alopecia (going bald) caused by valacyclovir
3. Painful menstrual cramps
4. Tiredness & Malaise (a feeling of overall weakness a feeling of discomfort a feeling like you have an illness simply not feeling well)

There are a number of online doctors who will prescribe these drugs to folks suffering from cold sores, but you will agree to hold them harmless should you suffer some of these side effects. Although this treatment may be a better option than doing nothing (it is more effective), it still is not the best treatment available.

I spent over a decade researching (and testing) the ways to treat my cold sore outbreaks (> 10 a year). You can now have access to all this research written in plain english that explains exactly how you can STOP the herpes virus from causing cold sores outbreaks. Imagine never attempting to cover up an outbreak again, or pretend other people are not staring at the scab on your lip.

You do not have to suffer from a cold sore outbreak again, and they can be prevented without the expense and potential side effects of a prescription antiviral drug. Take a look at the free report provided at coldsores.us.

Fools Gold…

I mentioned in my previous post that in 1993 my cold sore prevention / cure journey brought me to a possible solution, the amino acid Lysine. Let me give you some background…

It was 1993 that I started weight training, and as an ectomorph body type (ie. skinny) thought that supplements might help me gain weight. An amino acid called Arginine was purported to increase HGH (growth hormones) if taken at night on an empty stomach. I started my supplementation with it every night on an empty stomach. After a number of months I started to see the effects of taking Arginine as a supplement. Unfortunately, it was not the result I was looking for… MORE COLD SORE OUTBREAKS.

In trying to discover why, I came across this study on the “Relation of arginine-lysine antagonism to herpes simplex growth in tissue culture” published in 1981. The study states that an arginine deficiency suppressed the replication (growth) of the cold sore virus (Herpes HSV-1), and that the amino acid Lysine antagonized (worked against) the virus promoting activity of Arginine.

The theory was that if one limited the amount of Arginine rich foods you ate (things like nuts, chocolate, oats and breads) AND took 1,000 mg of Lysine daily then cold sore outbreaks could be prevented or drastically reduced. Well I started taking Lysine supplements daily (500 mg with each meal) and guess what… I still got cold sores. So I increased the dose to 1,000 mg with each meal, still got cold sores. The thought of giving up peanut butter (nuts), sandwiches (wheat in bread), oatmeal (oats), and chocolate were not appealing.

Now if I Google “Lysine & cold sores” I get about 400,000 hits, with the majority touting Lysine as a cure. My experience is that Lysine may help some people but most people (myself included) have found its use as a foolproof method of preventing cold sore outbreaks the equivalent of Fools Gold.

I continued my research and discovered another product / person who claimed they could stop me from getting cold sores… this is someone I doubt any of you have ever heard of but his books are probably in your local library. I will discuss him and his cure next week.

Let me assure you be that you do not have to suffer from embarrassing cold sores. I haven’t had one in over 20 years.

Hope for cold sore sufferers ?

I was in the 5th grade (see picture below) when I remember getting my first cold sore (about 1973). Since it was my first cold sore, the warning signs (tingling around the mouth) were not something I understood. The next morning, I woke up with a blister on my upper lip. The blisters got progressively worse until 3-5 days later they burst and began to scab over.

I am #23 the kid on the bottom right, this is the 7th grade boys BB team. — I am #23, kid on the bottom right

My parents took me to the the doctor. He looked at the sore on my upper lip and told them it was a cold sore. They were told to go to the store some Campho-Phenique to put on the scab to soothe any pain but explained there is no known cure for these cold sores.

Now at school, a kid with blisters or a big scab on his upper lip is an anomaly. No kid wants to be different or stand out, I was both with these sores on my mouth. First the kids would ask “What’s that sore on your lip” ? Then I got called all kinds of names to like “VD boy“, “Scabber“, etc. After a couple outbreaks, the teachers sent me to the office to have the nurse check me for a communicable disease such as impetigo and such. I tried to cover up the sores, pop the blisters, pick the scabs… anything to try and make them go away. Nothing worked.

To make matters worse I would get them every 6-8 weeks or so. The typical culprits… stress, spicy foods, sun, hormones. This went on all through my elementary, middle & high school years. Now remember, at this time (late 1970’s) there was no internet to research. If you wanted to look stuff up (do research) you went to an old fashion library with books, film, and research papers. I spent much of the next decade reading everything that was available regarding herpes (cold sores).

It was about 1993 that I found a possible solution. I will describe this in my next post but be assured that you do not have to suffer from embarrassing cold sores. I haven’t had one in over 20 years.