Cold sores (herpes) v lyseine

Dingle_berry

Does anyone take Lyseine supplements to prevent cold sores or sped up recovery? I have heard that an imbalance of amino acids can trigger herpes reactivation but haven't found much research to back it up.
A few that I have found: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6423612
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21127688

I never understood the pharmacology of OTC acyclovir... you have to dab or rub it on... But touching the lesion makes it worse?!! And those compeed plasters? WTF?

HeadPig

The literature is conflicting on lysine for coldsore prophylaxis. The lowdown is it won't do you any harm and may slightly decrease recurrence or slightly speed up healing.

The compeed patches are just to stop it from spreading by touch.

Dr Silly Bollox MD

An omega 3-6-9 a day keeps the cold sore away.

So sez me granny.

RobFowl

A very interesting thread but can't we just be mindful not to stray into offering medical advice?
Thanks

Vorsprung

Plenty of potential for observer bias in that study from 1983!

There's not a lot of evidence for topical aciclovir generally as far as I understand.

Some evidence for oral famciclovir in reducing duration of symptoms/pain - but it's expensive stuff - not sure if it would hold up if it came up to a cost benefit analysis. eg this study where lesions were induced by UV light Linky

echo beach

Vorsprung wrote: »

There's not a lot of evidence for topical aciclovir generally as far as I understand.

Isn't that the big problem with evidence based medicine? There are so many gaps in the evidence, even for treatments that have been used by millions of patients over many decades.

Vorsprung

echo beach wrote: »

Isn't that the big problem with evidence based medicine? There are so many gaps in the evidence, even for treatments that have been used by millions of patients over many decades.

Do you mean that in the sense that lots of remedies/medicines are used without evidence?

sidcon

I had been taking Ly-sine for over 5 years as I suffer really badly with cold sores. I was taking a dose of 1000mg per day which was one large tablet. Approx 3 years ago I start suffering with IBS getting worse and worse some days not being able to move for fear of an accident. I start seeing a consultant 6 months ago about it and they could find nothing wrong with me, then after doing a two week food log he studied Lysene, he found out that side effects to taking it is diarrhoea and kidney failure. Since I stopped taking the tablets my symptoms have almost come to a stop, however I'm now being treated for kidney damage.
While this is not 100% linked to Lysene the odds are firmly against it be anything else.

echo beach

Vorsprung wrote: »

Do you mean that in the sense that lots of remedies/medicines are used without evidence?

I wouldn't say they are used without ANY evidence. There had to be some evidence to have them licensed in the first place and there are thousands of patient years of experience with them but there aren't the robust, double-blind, randomised controlled trials needed to provide a firm evidence base.

Splendour

I suffered from cold sores for years until someone told me about lysine as a preventative. I took it for about 2 years (can't remember the dosage) and I very very rarely get a cold sore now. I heard subsequently that lysine should not be taken on a long term basis-so beware!

pc11

Splendour wrote: »

I suffered from cold sores for years until someone told me about lysine as a preventative. I took it for about 2 years (can't remember the dosage) and I very very rarely get a cold sore now. I heard subsequently that lysine should not be taken on a long term basis-so beware!

Lysine is just an amino acid, and present in many foods, so why would it be bad to take it long-term?

Splendour

pc11 wrote: »

Lysine is just an amino acid, and present in many foods, so why would it be bad to take it long-term?

I've no idea-somebody told me that it's not good to take it long term but I didn't ask why and seeing how we are not supposed to give advice here I thought I'd throw in the 'beware' to cover myself!

opinion guy

pc11 wrote: »

Lysine is just an amino acid, and present in many foods, so why would it be bad to take it long-term?

The dose makes the poison - etc

pc11

opinion guy wrote: »

The dose makes the poison - etc

The doses of lysine used as supplements for herpes prevention are not high in comparison to what occurs naturally in foods.

death1234567

SNIP

Vorsprung

MOD NOTE

Please refrain from suggesting particular treatments (counts as medical advice) and buying medications over the net, thanks.