Treating Herpes Safely, Naturally, Effectively Part One:
A New Holistic Approach to the Treatment of Herpes and Cold Sores800,000 people or more will contract Genitaland Oral Herpes (Herpes 1 and 2) this year in North America alone. It'sestimated that 60% of the population has Herpes. A majority of thepeople with the disease are unaware that they carry the virus- makingthem much more likely to pass it on to others. With so many peopleaffected by this epidemic, it's a wonder that Herpes doesn't get moremedia attention. It's been labeled an incurable disease which leftuntreated can have serious consequences such as the death of a infantborn to a mother having an outbreak during delivery and vastlyincreasing one's chances of getting AIDS and other opportunisticinfections.
The sad fact is that there's still a pervasivewall of shame and silence over this disease. People are much morelikely to publicly declare their HIV positive status than admit tohaving Herpes. There are numerous charities and foundations with theirhigh-profile celebrity spokespersons leading the very public campaignof AIDS awareness and research. There's an ever increasing amount ofsympathy and support for AIDS victims from the general public. But Ichallenge you to name a public spokesperson for Herpes? Better yet, cananyone even name one single Herpes charity? I'm sure they exist, buttheir public profiles are next to nonexistent. Have you ever seen atelethon to raise money for Herpes research? It's inconceivable to mewhy Herpes is treated as such a "dirty" disease. Is it the modernleprosy? I have worked with many Herpes sufferers who do not tell theirlovers of their status for fear of being rejected. I'm not sure whatthe answer would be to gaining more support and sympathy for thesufferers of Herpes, but it's something we could all work on.
The Acyclovir family of drugs-including Valtrexand Famvir, has been the long standing therapy prescribed by doctorsfor the treatment of Herpes 1 and 2. Although the drug has provenitself to be somewhat effective in the reduction of the duration andseverity of outbreaks when used topically and in the suppression ofsome outbreaks when taken orally, this effectiveness can come with asteep price.
Acyclovir does not cure Herpes, and must betaken indefinitely. Like many other drugs there are serious possibleside-effects, including kidney dysfunction, toxicity in the nervoussystem, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea seizures, confusion and tremors,severe headaches. Beyond these perhaps the biggest problem with takingthese drugs for Herpes is the creation of drug-resistant strains of thevirus that will make treating people in the future much more difficult.
I have been using natural remedies to helppeople suffering with Herpes for fourteen years now. One of theprinciple natural tools used in controlling Herpes has been L-lysine-anamino acid that has been proven to reduce the frequency of outbreak insome people. Unfortunately L-lysine has now been shown to have it's ownserious side-effect. Since it's main action is to inhibit arginine inthe cellular environment, the long term effect of taking L-lysine isthe lowering of the body's immune function. Which is a less than adesirable outcome.
PartTwo:
A Comprehensive Programme for Managing Herpes Safely and Effectively
Fifteen years ago I contracted Herpes myself inthe context of a monogamous relationship. Being open-minded anddesperate I tried drug therapy and immediately got migraine headachesfor the first time in my life. It was clear that I had to find anatural way of managing the disease for myself since I was going tohave it for the rest of my life and I needed a way of being able toresume my sex life without the dread of the likelihood of passing it onto others. In the next two years I tried every natural therapyavailable at the time. Frustrated from the lack of consistent andlasting results from most of the touted natural remedies for Herpes Istarted developing my own treatment programme based on my familiesmulti-generational background as herbalists.
What I found through my experience is that Herpes needs to be addressedon many levels- obviously nutrition and lifestyle changes/adjustmentsbut that also the deep shame and many psychological effects of thedisease are equally if not more important to treat than outbreaks.Herpes also can change quite significantly during the course ofsomeone's history with the disease so any protocol would have to beflexible enough to deal with the evolutionary nature of the presentingsymptoms.
I also don't believe in the validity ofsuppressive therapy for Herpes. I think suppression inevitably leads tothe disease expressing itself in other ways-ways that may be moredevastating than conventional outbreaks- so the protocol is notdesigned to suppress outbreaks altogether but rather to lengthen theperiod of time between outbreaks and to shorten their duration andgreatly lessen their severity. Some people have had their averageduration of outbreaks reduced from 12-16 days to 1 to 2 days. Somepeople have been able to prevent most outbreaks from re-occouring
Theprotocol does not cure the disease and does not stop all symptoms fromappearing. Even those who have been able to stop most of theiroutbreaks have experienced some mild infrequent outbreaks. many lessthan one per year. Some far less than that.Aftertaking someone's case the protocol is adjusted depending on manyfactors including the strain of the virus, the frequency, location andduration of outbreaks. The relative health of the client’s self-esteemand the relative level of stressors. Whether the client is male orfemale,
length of time with the disease , etc , etc, etc. For most the protocolinvolves both internal and topical remedies. For all it involvescombination therapy- I learned a great deal from studying how othernatual practitioners were treating HIV , especially people who had bothHIV and Herpes or who had drug-resistant HIV. In North American manypeople with HIV also have Herpes. Many of the same substances that areeffective for HIV are also effective for Herpes.
Iam not big on the use of L-lysine. I never found it particularlyeffective and now research is showing the long term use of L-lysine canactually lower your immune function. L-lysine is not part of the protocol.
For the most severe cases, A referral to aHypnotherapist is part of the protocol. Hypnosis has been clinicallyproven to be very effective in the treatment of Herpes particularlywhen combined with other therapies.
Lastly, I counsel people to make peace with thedisease. To not treat the virus as some ghastly invader. But to somehowdialogue with the virus and reach some kind of accommodation. The virusis an
intelligent, motivated organism quite capable of surviving. The virusis just one of many many micro organisms homesteading in our bodies. Iencourage people whenever possible to make an agreement with the virusto allow the virus to stay if the virus agrees to cause as littledisruption of the host's life as possible. And above all else to not beashamed of having Herpes. To have the courage to speak about thedisease and not feel like a leper.
If you haven’t read my essay “Why I love makingmy own remedies”, please do read it.
Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/Herbalist
Holistic Herpes Specialist
