Tag: 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.

Cold Sores – Treatment vs. Prevention

So you feel a cold sore outbreak coming (only those of us who have suffered know that “tingly” feeling) and you decide to do some online research.  The results…

Only 162,000 results to read through…

The treatments tend to fall into the following types, home remedies, creams, ointments, numbing lotions and just waiting for them to heal.  Well let’s look at three of the results:

  • Valacyclovir is a prescription drug used to treat cold sores around the mouth.  It claims to reduce the severity and length of cold sore outbreaks.  It costs about $25 per month (plus the cost of a doctors visit) and comes with the following side effects.
  • Abreva is a cream that claims to reduce the length time it takes to heal a cold sore up to 25%.  It comes in a (small really tiny tube 0.07 ounce) that costs about $16.99 at your local Wall-Mart.
  • LED (low intensity laser) is a treatment that claims to reduce both the time to heal and the occurrence frequency of cold sore outbreaks.  The products range in price between $90 – $299 and must be carried with you so that when you get that “tingly” feeling you immediately begin to use it to prevent an outbreak.

All of these were listed on the first page when searching.   Let me be honest with you, over the years I have gone deep into the google listings (20+ pages) looking for ANYONE who claimed to be able to PREVENT cold sores rather than treat an outbreak.  I could not find a single one, that had a viable solution.  

I started my journey of a way/product to prevent cold sores (in the 70’s) before ANY of the three options above were around.  As a matter of fact the internet wasn’t even around.  When I finally discovered how to prevent outbreaks with a tiny inexpensive capsule (non prescription for pennies a day) that could be taken with dinner daily (in the 90’s), these products were not available.

A typical outbreak lasts 7-10 days, and the most optimistic of the top three treatment claims to reduce healing time from 7-10 days to 4-5 days.  I don’t know about you but when I suffered from embarrassing cold sores, reducing the time I had to try and cover them up was better than nothing but NOT a solution.

In next weeks post we will begin to review my journey into finding a fool-proof way to prevent 100% of cold sore outbreaks.  We will discuss the culprit, the HSV-1 virus and why it is so hard to find a solution to problem that 67% of the population has by age 50.

I hope you find this information both helpful and informative, and discover that it is possible to prevent cold sore outbreaks. 


Myths, Lies, and Half-truths

There are no cures for cold sores.   Myth
You cannot prevent cold sores only treat them when you get one.   Lie
If there were a way to prevent cold sores a drug company would patent it and make a fortune selling it as a prescription.   Half-truth

In this post I want to address the Myths, Lies and Half-truths surrounding cold sores and the cause of cold sores, the HSV-1 virus.

The Myth
According to WebMD, “Despite the name (cold sore), that isn’t what causes them. The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is most often the cause. You get it from contact with an infected person’s skin or body fluids.  (If you have it, chances are you picked it up when you were a child.  It most likely came from direct contact with someone who had it, like getting kissed (as a baby) by an adult with the virus.)   Between outbreaks, HSV-1 hides inside nerve cells, so it’s never completely cured.”  Ironically, if you read the web page thoroughly you will see the following “This content is selected and controlled by WebMD’s editorial staff and is supported by Abreva (owned by Glaxo-Smith Kline a major pharmaceutical company).

The facts are that as early as 1975, Science magazine reported that there was a product that inactivated lipid containing viruses (such as HSV-1).  So what does that “inactivation” mean to you and me… If the virus in inactivated it means we cannot have a cold sore outbreak.  Practically speaking, if we cannot root out and and eliminate the HSV-1 virus from every cell in our body then the next best thing is to prevent (read cure) the outbreak of cold sores.  This is possible.

The Lie
There are a number of triggers for someone having a cold sore outbreak and according to the “experts” we should just try and avoid the items on the following list:

1) Stress (please tell me how this is done)
2) Fatigue (right, like that is possible)
3) Cold weather Move to the south)
4) Too much sun (oops, not to far south)
5) Spicy foods (no more Mexican or Thai food)
6) Hormonal changes (stop aging, how)
7)  Dental Trauma (I guess one should avoid getting cavities)
8) Weakened immune system (don’t get sick)

The fact is it is impossible to avoid any (let alone all of these triggers).  But if we assume we could avoid all of these (and still wanted to live), what other things trigger cold sores?  The fact is that you and I want to stop getting ugly, embarrassing cold sores while enjoying our lives.  Is this possible, you bet it is.

The Half-truth
So if it’s possible to prevent cold sore outbreaks, why hasn’t some big pharmaceutical company patented it and run ads on TV telling us to go to our doctors and get a prescription for a drug called CSbegone?  To receive a patent on a product (20 years of protection to sell that product exclusively) in addition to other factors the product must  have a novelty requirement.  Novelty simply means the invention must be new. That is, it must differ from knowledge already existing in the public domain, prior patents, published applications, publications available to the public and items on sale.

For example, you and I could not get a patent to cure stinky feet with aspirin (if it worked).  Why?  Because aspirin is already a product available.  Even though we may have discovered a new application for the use of aspirin, we could never receive a patent.  So this means if a product now available to the public, were to be effective in preventing cold sores no one is going to invest the time and money to produce and market the product because in a matter of months they would have dozens of competitors selling their own version.  They could not recoup the R&D, advertising, productions, etc. to make a profit?

It is my hope that you will find this information helpful, and yes it is possible to prevent cold sore outbreaks.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

This blog is about teaching you how you can stop suffering from ugly cold sores.  Let me start by sharing my story.

My  name is Dave Conley and I suffered from cold sores since I was in elementary school.  Kids made fun of me (called me VD mouth).  I was taken to the school office more than once in elementary school because they (teacher, nurse, etc.) thought I might be contagious. Throughout high school it was the same thing, every month or so I had another outbreak.

At the time I had no idea the cause and tried everything to get rid of them but was told that “you will just have to let them run their course of 7-10 days” by the doctors.  In my early twenties (the 1980’s) I began researching the cause and possible preventive measures.  My hope was to reduce my number of outbreaks.

I tried Lysine, almonds, avoiding spicy foods, avoiding lip balms, etc. but nothing seemed to work.  It was after many years of research (by the way this was before Google) that I came across a couple of scientists doing study on life extension, and a little known study done in Bowling Green, KY in 1983.  The researchers and scientists had stumbled across a common compound that when ingested kills the HSV-1 virus that is responsible for cold sore outbreaks.

Fast forward 30 years of taking this product, I am free from cold sores outbreaks. It is my hope that you will find this information helpful, and you too can prevent cold sore outbreaks.