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Lysine is an amino acid, it competes in the body with another amino acid called arginine. Arginine is found in nuts, meats, fish, dairy among other things. Arginine is a key amino acid for the production of nitric oxide which helps in many bodily functions. I have been weight lifting and running my entire adult life (I’m 34). When I found out I had contracted HSV-2 I started doing all the frantic research I could. There are several myths/facts about foods that “can” cause outbreaks. Chocolate, peanuts, excess sugar, alcohol (alcohol is my number 1 trigger for outbreaks) are all things that people say cause outbreaks. They say to take Lysine as a supplement because lysine competes with arginine. HSV needs arginine to function. So In theory, if you reduce your bodies arginine levels you reduce the viruses ability to function. Well, hold on a second, because arginine is a very important amino acid and maybe it’s reduction is worse than it’s abundance. Before I contracted HSV-2 I used to take arginine as a supplement. I also would take nitric oxide which is a combination of arginine and citrulline amino acids. Once I heard about arginine helping HSV I tossed out all my supplies. After about 2 years I did some research into HSV and nitric oxide supplements. Some people had no issues at all. So I decided to take arginine and nitric oxide again. I did not notice an increase in outbreaks or an increase in the intensity of outbreaks. I was on arginine for 6 months during a great season of working out. I was extremely disciplined when it came to zero excess sugar and drank plenty of water and took daily vitamins. I felt great, looked great and had very little symptoms at all. I have tried taking daily lysine supplements for about 8 months and did not notice a reduction or increase of symptoms.

Thank you for this information

O ok I understand now. Congratulations on finding your special person

So you have little to no symptoms of HSV-2? Is that why you didn’t tell him sooner?

You got HSV from someone else during your relationship with him?

That is incredibly brave to put yourself out there and disclose your condition to a potential sexual partner. I haven’t disclosed my condition to anyone except the 2 people I think gave me HSV2

I tested negative 2 times before my positive test about 9 months after my first outbreak. So it might take a while for a blood test to come back positive if that’s how you’ve been testing. I kept going back to the doctor because I was having symptoms but I never came to them with an unpoped blister.

I’m going on my third year with HSV-2. My symptoms are mild but more frequent. When I first contracted HSV-2 I would have a breakout every 26 days almost like clock work, then 5 days after the break out another blister would form. It would take about 10 days from blister to fully healed in the beginning for me. I would have about a week maybe 2 between a healed blister and a new one. That lasted about a year and a half. I got on valtrex but after a month of taking them everyday it felt like the medicine was draining all my energy and I felt terrible. I started using the valtrex on a per symptom basis. Now I don’t use valtrex at all as I don’t notice a difference when taking on a per symptom basis. My healing method is popping the blister after a warm shower with a q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide by rubbing the q-tip with pressure to really push the peroxide into the wound. I rinse with water after it bubbles a bit. Then I apply neosporin on a daily basis 2x a day. This method is what I’ve come up with after 3 years of trying everything, it heals it the fastest and no pain or itchiness. Valtrex doesn’t work for me. I haven’t tried the other medication as far as pills for HSV. I hope this helps someone struggling with frequent symptoms.