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Herpes and Shingles

In the seventies “Herpes” became a dirty word, if you “had herpes” it was a little as if you had leprosy. Then, with the advent of more threatening diseases such as AIDS or Ebola, you felt like a bit of a woos if you complained about herpes.

Herpes are a real pain (pardon the pun). There are three types of herpes and they seem to plague you at every stage of your life: when you are little you have cold sores (Herpes Simplex I). When you become an adult you might get sexual herpes (Herpes Simplex II) and when you are older you get shingles (Herpes Zoster)!

All the above are related, they are a viruses which get into your body and force your body cells to fabricate more of the virus. The original body snatchers. At first the body is devastated, which is why the first attack is always the worst, then your body learns how to defend itself faster and faster so it can keep its permanent unwanted guest under control.

And that is the catch: if you are well and strong, the virus will just lay dormant in your spinal cord and leave you alone. When you have more than your share of stresses (physical and/or emotional) the virus will wake up and want to get into the action. If your immune system is keen and responsive it will cope but if you are stressed and run down, the virus goes through your defences and you have an attack. Therefore the best way to avoid continual outbreaks is to become strong and healthy.

But what if you are in the middle of having an attack? Have No Fear, Granny Is Here!

Treatments: Herpes Simplex I & II:

• Stay off alcohol, this will insure the attack is shorter.
• Cold applications: yes, an ice cube on the area will numb the pain, not for long but just when the ouch is too hard to bear.

If the blisters are really weepy you need to dry them by applying:

• Iodine powder (available from your chemist under the name EDP powder)
• Tincture of St John’s Wort
• Tincture of Golden Seal.

WARNING: The tinctures are based on alcohol and they are therefore EXTREMELY OUCHY! Take care to spot apply them. However they are a case of one short, sharp ouch to get rid of continuous pain.

When the blisters have dried but are still sore, try:

• Cold compresses of Chamomile tea
• Oil of St John’s Wort
  

Shingles (Herpes Zoster)

Not many people know that shingles is actually the ‘reborn’ expression of childhood chickenpox. The virus can remain dormant for ever and only comes up again if the whole system is really running out of steam, which is why it is so common in older people and in people suffering immune deficiency disorders, such as glandular fever which has become chronic.

With shingles, blisters and crusts develop along the nerves involved. The outbreak is usually on one side of the body, usually on the abdomen under the ribs but it can also involve the arm or the leg or even one side of the face. Fever and fatigue accompany the pain, which is often excruciating.

• Cool cider vinegar baths (good old vinegar again):
  One litre per bathtub in tepid water. The water must NOT be warm or hot.
• Vinegar compresses:
  150mls cider vinegar per litre of cold water- soak a cloth the size of a nappy (a kitchen towel is good) in the water + vinegar, wring and apply on the side, as soon as the coolness has gone replace with another towel.

When the blisters are drying up you can use the same remedies as per Herpes I & II

* Note : I make a cream which works for all herpes at all stages and which I demurely call “Snow Bite”. Some of my patients think I am a saint because of it. You can order it directly from this website.

PREVENTION

If you suffer from herpes, whatever the type, you want to make sure the attack is as short as possible and that it does not happen again. Herpes is war and if you want to win the war you have to be serious about it.

When an attack starts you need large amounts of:

• Vitamin B complex.
  The best way to have this is to have a teaspoon of Brewers or Torula yeast in apple juice twice a day. If you have the yeast tablets you will need four tablets three times a day. Of course you can have ordinary B complex tablets but they do vary in quality from brand to brand.
• Vitamin B 5.
  This you need to take on top of the B complex. B5 (Pantothenic acid) is specific for adrenal exhaustion, which is what happens when you have an attack. People with shingles especially need to take B5 during an attack. The dose is one 250 mg tablet x 3 /day.
• Vitamin C powder (Ascorbic acid or Sodium ascorbate- from your chemist).
  You need massive doses: one teaspoon a day for a week. For shingles sufferers continue with half a teaspoon a day for one month.
• Calcium and Magnesium.
  These two minerals are necessary for repair and good functioning of the nervous system. During an attack take 500mg of Calcium and 250mg of Magnesium twice a day. Do not take Dolomite: humans cannot digest it!
• L-Lysine.
  This is an amino acid which gets depleted with herpes infections. During an attack take 1000mg twice a day. After the attack you need to continue to take L-Lysine at the rate of 500mg a day for six months to build up a good reserve of this amino acid. Unfortunately you can’t get enough from natural sources to bridge the gap caused by the depletion.
• St John’s Wart and Liquorice.
  Are the two herbs that are excellent to treat herpes because they both work on the nervous system and the adrenal glands as well as the immune system. Take them in the fluid extract or tincture form; not more than one millilitre of each three times a day. You can also drink liquorice tea.
• Lime flowers tea (Tilia)
  Drink freely, with honey, because it reduces fever and is very soothing to the nerves
  

Maintenance

With good management you can really get on top of any herpes condition. I am not ashamed to say that personally I have an herpes attack these days only when I have a divorce! (three times in fifteen years! you don’t need to publish that, but it’s true!). You need to make sure you have a lot of the above nutrients in your diet. Plenty of whole grains (brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta); plenty of fresh green vegetables, lightly cooked; yogurt, because of its calcium content; and of course small but consistent amounts of protein for tissue repair.

You also need to make sure you don’t run yourself down. When you feel the symptoms starting (they are called prodrome) stop before you crack: slow down, relax and start taking the supplements before the attack.

Of course it helps to learn to relax mentally and emotionally to avoid that side of stress.

Finally you are going to hate me. There are three foods that are absolute NONOS if you are a herpes sufferer.

The first one is spinach, as in English spinach, not silver beet. That’s not too bad.

The other ‘one’ is peanuts (and hazelnuts.)

The third one is chocolate.

These are guaranteed to give you an attack if you are susceptible. Just as staying off them will increase your chances of keeping the nasties at bay. (So that’s why I don’t eat chocolate!)

Sorry! You hate me now but you will love me later!

For a personalised treatment please contact me here.

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The information on this website is not intended to provide personal medical advice, which should be obtained from a medical professional.
This information is made available with the understanding that the author and publisher are not providing medical, psychological, or nutritional counseling services on this site. The information on this website does not cover all possible uses, actions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.
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