What are your herpes triggers?

[JessikaRabbit89]

Has anyone noticed after a certain activity or eating, drinking something that you suddenly had an outbreak? If so, what were they? How did you treat them? For me I've learned my two triggers are stress and chocolate, and not just any chocolate, but SNICKERS!!! It seems everytime I eat that candy bar, like clockwork the itch comes back, and since I have internal outbreaks, it almost feels like popcorn is going off inside of me (best description I can give) from the blisters breaking down, with quick electrical bursts every few hours, and pain in the heel of my foot.

 

I'm just curious as to how everyone deals with their condition.

[Ihaveittoo1975]

Recently I have had pretty constant ob's with one little tiny blister replacing the next. I did really well after my initial ob despite putting through my body all kinds of test to see what triggers my ob's. Not until I had sex for the first time after the initial ob did things start to going south with several smaller ob's. I have not had sex since so I am very curious/worried about my reaction next time it's time to get giggity as my body should have built up a better defence, although these last couple of weeks make ps me doubt that.

 

I am towards the end of a separation soon leading to a final divorce, and lately I have been questioning whether I am making the right decision or not. This obviously has me stressed out. On top of that I just started working out again, so I am worried that may be partially cause of my reoccurring ob's. Quite frustrating to say the least. I really do hope it's just the stress causing this, and not the working out part.

 

As far as food triggers, I have not noticed any ob's being caused by any type of specific food. I say simply stay away from Snickers if that's your trigger. You will probably miss it initially, but then that urge will probably diminish.

[JessikaRabbit89]

May I ask how long have you had it? I believe with all that you've been going through and the great amounts of stress, that's probably whats causing your recurrent obs. Have you tried any ways to vent or meditate to get your mind off of things and see if that helps? I find coconut oil very soothing for blisters.

[WCSDancer2010]

Mine used to be a trail mix that had chocolate and nuts when I was going through menopause... thankfully I can eat all the chocolate and nuts I want to now :)

 

[WCSDancer2010]

Here's more Trigger related links :)

 

Triggers

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-triggers/

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

http://www.sandiegohomeopathy.com/downloads/Lysine_Arginine_Foods.pdf Lysine Arginine ratio of foods

 

[Ihaveittoo1975]

Jessika,

 

I was exposed to it exactly four months ago so still early on, but I feel as things should start to settle by now and not go in the opposite direction. I take Super Lysine, vit C, zinc tablets and olive leaf extract. No anti virals, but should this continue even once my stress level is back to normal I may have to go that route.

 

I really do hope the stress is what is causing these frequent obs. Otherwise I am a healthy person who normally don't stress much, eats (mostly) healthy, non smoker and since my diagnose my taste for alcohol is pretty much all but gone.

 

I'm not overly bothered by the ob's as I am not in a relationship, my concern is if this continues once I am back in a relationship. That would definitely be a problem obviously.

 

Btw, how does one post the @+screen name" as I have seen others do?

[hereandnow]

@ihaveittoo1975...my 4 month H anniversary is in a few days. i am still with my giver, and sex is definitely a trigger for me. i am also very healthy, my great internist ran me for blood counts/hormones/thyroid/cortisol, etc. and found nothing else wrong. stress is absolutely it. without a doubt. my therapist has actually challenged me to not "live in a desert", as i have been restrictive to the point of obsession. so now i have a little coffee here and there, some mexican food (thought i'd die without it), etc. H has still made me so much healthier, ESPECIALLY with refined sugars. I was a soda addict, and have completely stopped. it was harder than cigarettes 5 years ago. also used to use a lot of pot, and have cut that out. alcohol is down 97% as well, used to drink heavily a few nights a month with the guys. i am slowly starting to experiment with sunlight, which is oddly what worries me most. i am an avid golfer, and haven't been playing. going to force myself this weekend no matter what. living in southern california the sun is always there. i've recently started meds for depression and anxiety, and i can tell my outlook is improving dramatically. fought that for the last 6 weeks or so, and its a miracle my outbreaks haven't been 100x more severe. On the advice of my ID specialist, taking 2g/day valtrex along with lysine/transfer factor/red algae/b's/zinc/omegas+D. i had sunk so low that i even quit my meditation practice for fear of being alone in my head. new beginning with that today as well. guided meditations allow you to not feel as "alone" with your thoughts while providing the relaxation and calm. i use my iphone as there are a ton of great apps for cheap. look up "Sounds True" for those. take care.

[hereandnow]

oh, and simply type the "@" symbol followed by the username you are referring to and the post will change it to blue for you when its saved.

[Ihaveittoo1975]

@herandnow It would totally blow if sex is indeed a trigger for me which will not subside as time goes. I do feel for you if that is the case for you. At least you and your partner both have it, so no fear of giving it to her. I hope I have better results next time I get to have some fun in the hay. I will make sure to use lots of lube and go real slow this time to minimize the friction.

 

When I was diagnosed I kept saying "well, I can't eat this, I can't eat that" but I must admit I have not changed my diet a whole lot, except for cutting down on drinking Coke. I even had a dozen of Krispy Kremes over three days a few days ago. :) Obviously not healthy for other reasons, but you have to treat yourself every now and then.

 

As far as being out in the sun (I'm a golfer too) I was very worried about that too initially. It seems however that it's the direct sun ray exposre to the infected area which is the issue, i.e lips for those with oral H or possibly bikini line for women with GH and not so much if the area in question is fully covered. I'd say playing golf should not be an isssue, as long as you don't burn yourself which causes your body having to heal the burn, which in effect lowers your immune system. So go out and hit those 300 yard drives! The fresh air, exercise and clearing your head will probably do you a lot more good than the sun will harm you.

 

And yeah, thanks for the @ tip.

[JessikaRabbit89]

@ihaveittoo, we just have to be patient with this kind of thing unfortunately. I was lucky at first to have only had one ob, now it seems like I get one every month. They are pretty mild though, but its still an inconvenience. We are still newly exposed so I guess our bodies are still adjusting to it all. I read an article about a woman who contracted H at age 20, didn't have another ob for 2 years, then suddenly suffered obs everyday for 9 years straight. The only thing that gave her relief til this day was marijuana. She has been using for 6 years and is outbreak free. Idk if that's something you can or will consider, depending on your opinion of cannabis, but I tried it myself during my outbreak, before even reading that article, and noticed my ob was less painful, so I stopped taking Valtrex and the next day, I literally had no pain. That's actually what led me to researching the potential benefits of marijuana for Herpes because a friend of mine told me her friend drinks cannabis tea during her obs and they truly help her.

[Ihaveittoo1975]

Well, marijuana is out of the question as I have a safety sensitive job and would hence lose my livelihood should I get caught using it. Lets hope it doesn't go that far with my ob's. I really hope it's my high stresslevel causing these little blisters keep coming back over the last couple of weeks.