Vitamins/ Suppressive therapy for HSV 1?

[stargirl7]

I was diagnosed with HSV 1 a few weeks ago and wanted to know what kind of precautions people with it take to prevent OB's and such. I asked my doctor about anti-virals but she said since it's HSV 1 and so by default usually more mild than HSV 2 I didn't "need" to be on supressive medication? She also said it didn't do much to reduce my risk of transmitting it to someone else anyway.

 

My questions are:

-Is she correct about this? Or should I be on suppressive medication, especially seeing as it's my first year? Or should I wait for my body to adjust?

-What would be the best kind of vitamin supplements/ foods to avoid? Are there any that have definite links to reducing OB's? I read somewhere that Lysine helps. Right now I've just started taking Vitamin B's and C, and working out etc.

 

I would appreciate any comments/help! Thanks

[ann122]

Doctors differ in what they tell you about antivirals.....from what i've read on here they can significantly reduce risks of transmission. Not positive on the percentages, @wcsdancer can help with that one! Im in a relationship now with a ghsv1 negative guy (but who has it orally) so I chose to do suppressive just to minimize the risk of transmission to almost 0%. If i wasnt in a relationship I would probably not be on them though. I hate taking meds every day, and I'd like to see how my body handles the virus on its own.

 

as for foods to avoid..I have read that chocolate and nuts are bad for herpes viruses. However Im a peanut butter fiend, and enjoy chocolate as well. I havent cut either out of my diet. I work out 4-5 times a week, eat healthy (minus occasional sweets), and take vitamin c, l lysine and the suppressive meds. I've only had my initial outbreak and nothing since (which was over a year ago). What this all means to me is take care of yourself and keep your stress levels low and your body can fight this virus pretty well :) hope this helps!

[WCSDancer2010]

There's some *thought* that genital HSV1 doesn't transmit very often, which would make sense given that it sheds about 1/3 as much as HSV2 in that region (and about 1/3 as much as it does when you have it orally).

 

So my *personal* thoughts are if you are not in a relationship and the virus (whether you have H1 or H2) isn't keeping you from doing what you normally do, I wouldn't go on suppressive therapy. Sure, you may have a few days here or there that sorta suck, but if you can get through them, I believe that it's better to let the body learn to deal with it first. Then if/when you need suppressive therapy, your body is more likely to respond better to it. I know for me that I live without them right now (have had H for 35 yrs) and when I feel an OB coming on, I only need one or 2 pills to help me to knock it right down.

 

Now, if you are it a relationship/sexually active, that's a little trickier. You have to consider the other person, and truth is the first year is when your body is learning to deal with the virus and YOU are learning to recognize your prodromes.... so you have to look at whether you are having ongoing/repeat OB's or not, whether your partner already carries HSV1 orally (which gives them *some* protection), and the feelings of your partner about the risks involved (I'd guess that the risk of passing HSV1 genitally female-male is under 2% without meds once it has settled down given the different shedding rates).

 

As for foods.... do some research on the Lysine/arginine balance (links below) ... because for *some*, this makes a big difference in their OB's. (I'm guessing the reason for the difference from one to another it s combination of their original diet AND that each of our body digests and processes these nutrients differently based on age/genetics/stresses/hormones/etc) ... I went through a spell at the beginning of menopause where I couldn't eat peanuts and chocolate at the same time (I figured it out when a certain trail mix seemed to bring on an OB). Never had that problem before that time, and once I got through menopause, I was fine again.... so things can change over time depending on the stressors in your life.

 

#1 thing to work on to reduce OB's is STRESS ... physical, emotional, spiritual ... doesn't matter. Herpes LOVES stress and it will tell you when you need to check in and make changes once your body has established a balance (the first few months can be more difficult to find what YOUR triggers are as your body just has to get the immune system up to speed).

 

These links should help you clarify things a bit 🙂

 

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

 

Handouts + disclosure e-book:

https://www.herpesopportunity.com/lp/ebook

 

Herpes facts video

 

 

[stargirl7]

@wcsdancer2010 @ann122 thanks so much! really helpful stuff. That's pretty much what I assumed but I just wanted to get a second opinion. I'm currently not seeing anyone so I'm more worried about figuring out the outbreaks for myself and letting my body adjust so that I can fight this thing whenever it decides to rear it's head again.