Diet Considerations for Herpes?

[Rose89]

Hi all!

 

This is my first post here, though I've been reading through the forums since I had my first outbreak last month. You've all been very helpful already in getting past my initial, 'wanting to jump off the roof', reaction!

 

My main question at the moment is how careful I should be with diet, alcohol consumption, etc. I don't eat junk food really, but based on what I've read I'm not sure if I should be swearing off all nuts, sugars, chocolate, seeded breads, and (by far most importantly), coffee. I haven't had coffee since I found out and it's a toss up about what's bothering me more, caffeine withdrawal or my concerns over my future sex life.

 

Whatever the case, I'm sure I'll get used to it. I just wondered if my current, torturously strict, diet plan is really worth it.

 

Have many of you found these are major triggers for you?

[tsv33]

Hi Rose....I'm a newbie too. I was wondering the same thing.

[livewelldiy]

Every person is different, so it may vary from person to person. The usual culprits are nuts, chocolate, and caffeine that you should stay away from, as they are high in arginine. I have had herpes for 7 years and have been able to eat chocolate and have caffeine with no huge issue. Nuts, however, cause me to have an outbreak.

 

Another major reason for the cause of an outbreak is due to stress or your monthly period. There's months where I will get an outbreak (every month) right around the time of my period (which may have to do with the massive amounts of chocolate I crave at the time!! haha) , but then there's others where I won't get any outbreaks.. but when I am stressed about something, I'd say about 95% of the time an outbreak occurs.

 

I have also read that Lysine supplements help.. although I haven't taken any to recommend.

 

Another tip is when you are having an outbreak, where cotton underwear! You don't want to wear tight fitting clothes either. It will irritate it immensely!! :( Not fun at all!

 

Check these threads out for some tips/advice from others on here regarding diet/natural and holistic remedies:

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/2423/trying-to-control-herpes-naturally-my-tips-and-i-want-yours-finding-it-hard

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/2592/nutty-question

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/comment/11598#Comment_11598

 

Hope this helps! And I’m sure others will answer after me :)

Hugs for Herpes!! Lol, it’s really not as bad as it is in the beginning, trust me! It’s all about your perspective on the virus and how YOU react to the diagnosis of a mere skin condition!! Don’t be like me and wait for years to accept it – that’s just a waste of precious time!

 

-Amanda

 

[WCSDancer2010]

Hi Rose! Great to meet you!

 

Here are 2 more links for you... so much depends on your physiology - I went through a spell where chocolate and nuts would make me break out - now I eat them every day and I'm fine ... STRESS is the #1 thing that is guaranteed to make you break out... if your diet is out of balance (ie, lysine/arginine balance) then that is a stressor. So it will be a bit of reading/learning and a bit of an experiment to see what works for YOU.

 

And regarding the underwear comment - when I broke out I would go commando and I still do much of the time if I have yoga pants or the like on and I rarely have OB's any more :)

 

(((HUGS))) and Welcome :)

[dreamingofsomeone167]

I noticed that sugar is a huge trigger for me. I think the sugar also affects my hormones, so I would get many of my ob's just after my period was done. I love sugar so I have really tried to cut back. Stress and when I am too hot (sleeping, hot tub, etc) I noticed seemed to be triggers. I am on daily suppression for H 2 and still have ob's...one of the unfortunate to have continual ob's if not on it :(. It's just a nuisance, I still love my life and feel fortunate with all that I have in life. You just need to figure out your own triggers. Take care, keep smiling :)

 

[thisisgoingtobeokay (previ]

I have H1. When I was diagnosed I made the decision to back off the usual culprits just as a prevention. I stopped caffeine, chocolate and nuts immediately. Since then I have incorporated little amounts of it all. I haven't had another outbreak. I take lysine if I do have something like that that is high in arginine. I will say, occasionally I am fine. I did have a cup of coffee for about two weeks straight each day and I noticed I was feeling "off". Not sure if it's because I quit it and then like shocked my system by having so much so fast, but I never broke out but I felt weird. Could have been all in my mind too. I think occasionally it's okay, from my experience. I don't think you should be downing 10 cokes a day or eating a whole box of chocolate cookies. I've been okay so far. Moderation I think. But each person is different as said above. You will learn what makes you feel "weird". Take it slow and gradually test things and see what happens. I just do my best to stay away from it, I eat it occasionally though. It isn't so bad truly.

[Rose89]

Thanks so much for the advice and info! I've lots of reading to do on this it seems :).

 

For now, I'm thinking I'll stay away from all this stuff until I've learned how this virus behaves. Then maybe try reintroducing a few things.

 

In the meantime, morning coffee has been replaced with green juice. Lovely.....

[WCSDancer2010]

ACK - forgot to put the links in :p

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/1821/food-drinks-that-causeprolong-herpes-outbreaks/p1

 

http://regannaturopathic.com/2013/04/the-truth-about-arginine-lysine-and-herpes-simplex-virus/

 

 

[Kanoa]

Hi @Rose 89!

 

I've wondered the same thing a lot because I feel like I "should", like you, be on a strict diet or something that avoids those supposedly triggering foods. But like everybody else has said, every person's body is different, so you just have to play around and experiment a bit and see what YOUR body's triggers are... and what you can get away with :) I eat copious amounts of peanut butter every single day with 0 problem... chocolate, other nuts, etc also seem to have no effect. One thing that I have noticed... I moved two months ago (several thousand miles) and (not purposefully) kind of quit drinking alcohol... it just happened. I do feel like that cut down on my OBs. (I did drink an entire bottle of wine the other day after starting an OB, but I would say that the OB caused the alcohol rather than the other way around).

 

My biggest trigger is a lack of sleep. Miss a few nights in a row and I can pretty much count on it.

 

BTW... I am not a caffeine fan because it makes me feel weird and love the energy from fresh juice SO much better... so once you adjust you might feel a whole lot better with the juice anyway :)

[Rose89]

Thanks :). Starting to get used to it now, although I've slipped up a few times on the drinking and chocolate! No ramifications thus far.

 

Which leads me to one more question. I'm sure this varies from person to person too, but how long would you say it takes for an outbreak to actually start after a "trigger"? For example if work my way through a box of peanuts one day and that does turn out to be a trigger, would it be typical to expect the outbreak that day or the next or could in be a week down the line?

[WCSDancer2010]

Hi Rose..

 

Answer is, there is no definite answer. Soooo much depends on so many other factors - other stressors, illness, combinations of trigger foods, hormones, etc. Eventually you will learn what your "normal" way of reacting is :)

[misserin]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I did eat A LOT of chocolate around the time of my period. I wonder if that had anything to do with mine. I've never had a problem with caffeine or nuts but I'm sure everyone is different. I read on multiple sites that kelp vitamins may help and I already had them so I started taking them daily.

 

http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=21786

[WCSDancer2010]

Kelp vitamins may be high in iodine so don't over do them or you will end up with a whole other issue that could affect your thyroid glands. The recommended daily intake for iodine is 150 mcg per day...this is a time when "more" isn't "better".

 

Kelp is high in Vit B so don't be surprised if your pee gets bright yellow and VERY clear :p ... and you may find you have more energy... many people are deficient in Vit B and that is what is in a lot of the natural "energy" drinks and supplements ;)

 

It is claimed to be a good anti-viral supplement but there are no double-blind studies on it so I'd say try it, but don't double up with the idea that more is better... and be careful to not combine with products with additional Iodine... esp don't take Iodized salt while on it... you don't need to add another problem to our H friend :p