Few questions and a little help

[Rein]

Ive had herpes hsv-2 for about 6 years. Ive mostly always been completely a symptomatic. But for the past 9 months or so I've had an outbreak that I just cannot get rid of. My usual treatment is Zinc Ixcide ointment twice a day showering in between applications. I take lysine and eat rather healthy. Exercise regularly. Drink beer occasionally (always have never caused outbreaks before). Do not have Health Ins so gettting medication could be quite expensive. Any and all tips and help are much appreciated. Thanks! 

[Evaluate]

If you've started having outbreaks recently, what has changed?  Diet, location, soaps, stress, etc?  5.5 years of being without symptoms to suddenly have symptoms, in my layman opinion, seems like its environmental.  Staying healthy is the best way to go for the cheap.  Topical wise, lemon balm can be helpful.  Keeping stress low is probably the biggest impact you can have, although it can definitely be hard.

[LilyMae]

Hi @Rein. Nine months. That sound awful. It's hard to say what could be causing this. There are a number of things that might be something to look at. If I were in your shoes, I would start with trying to build my immune system. Echinacea, vitamin C and B complex vitamins are a good place to start with this. B6 and B12 are cheap and helpful with hsv. There is some newish thought that vitamin D, especially D3 is really important for immune systems. Some say that it can contribute to outbreaks. Others think high dosages may weaken the h virus. I take it and haven't noticed it has much impact on h one way or the other in terms of causing outbreaks. It's one of those vitamins it's pretty easy to become deficient in and it seems to help me with colds and flu. You might want to research that for yourself. A good probiotic is also helpful here. And colustrum taken orally. If you get capsules, you can make a paste with it and apply it directly to the outbreak.

Hormones can play a roll in outbreak frequency. Midlife changes for both men and women. Going on or off birth control for women. So depending on what's going on in your life that might be something to look at. Depending on your gender there are some natural supplements you can take that might normalize temporarily out of whack hormones. 

Another tack you could take is trying to calm your nervous system. Hsv goes dormant in the nerves of it's impacted area and uses the nerves as a pathway to the surface outbreak, so of you can settle any agitation of the nerves down the hsv might relent a little. St John's wort and lemon balm are nervines, meaning they calm the nerves. Peppermint is good too. Probiotics are important in terms of serotonin release and easing cortisol release. Most of the body's serotonin is stored in the gut and it's release is heavily impacted by your microbiotic gut flora. Like @Evaluate said, stress is a big one. It's part of life and can't be entirely escaped but managing it helps. I've had good luck with the guided meditations for stress relief and relaxation on YouTube. I'd be glad to recommend a couple channels of that's up your alley. 

Another thing to consider is that it's easy to think anything going on down there is h related. But it depending on the location of the outbreak and whether you can clearly see it, it might be something else. For example, I've seen someone think they had a cronic outbreak in a new location and when he saw a doctor about it, it turned out to be a hemmeroid. 

I hope you get some relief soon. 

[Rein]

7 hours ago, LilyMae said:

Hi @Rein. Nine months. That sound awful. It's hard to say what could be causing this. There are a number of things that might be something to look at. If I were in your shoes, I would start with trying to build my immune system. Echinacea, vitamin C and B complex vitamins are a good place to start with this. B6 and B12 are cheap and helpful with hsv. There is some newish thought that vitamin D, especially D3 is really important for immune systems. Some say that it can contribute to outbreaks. Others think high dosages may weaken the h virus. I take it and haven't noticed it has much impact on h one way or the other in terms of causing outbreaks. It's one of those vitamins it's pretty easy to become deficient in and it seems to help me with colds and flu. You might want to research that for yourself. A good probiotic is also helpful here. And colustrum taken orally. If you get capsules, you can make a paste with it and apply it directly to the outbreak.

Hormones can play a roll in outbreak frequency. Midlife changes for both men and women. Going on or off birth control for women. So depending on what's going on in your life that might be something to look at. Depending on your gender there are some natural supplements you can take that might normalize temporarily out of whack hormones. 

Another tack you could take is trying to calm your nervous system. Hsv goes dormant in the nerves of it's impacted area and uses the nerves as a pathway to the surface outbreak, so of you can settle any agitation of the nerves down the hsv might relent a little. St John's wort and lemon balm are nervines, meaning they calm the nerves. Peppermint is good too. Probiotics are important in terms of serotonin release and easing cortisol release. Most of the body's serotonin is stored in the gut and it's release is heavily impacted by your microbiotic gut flora. Like @Evaluate said, stress is a big one. It's part of life and can't be entirely escaped but managing it helps. I've had good luck with the guided meditations for stress relief and relaxation on YouTube. I'd be glad to recommend a couple channels of that's up your alley. 

Another thing to consider is that it's easy to think anything going on down there is h related. But it depending on the location of the outbreak and whether you can clearly see it, it might be something else. For example, I've seen someone think they had a cronic outbreak in a new location and when he saw a doctor about it, it turned out to be a hemmeroid. 

I hope you get some relief soon. 

Wow thank you so much. I probably should have mentioned that I'm a Male age 25 soon to be 26.  Nothing has really changed in my day to day life. I live a fairly stress free life to be honest. I do have a wonderful girlfriend who is completely understanding. A Hormonal imbalance is something I might want to look into. Are there any supplements you recommend or any natural ways? Thank you so much for the help 

[LilyMae]

Hi @Rein. I tend to think that if you're 26 and male, unless there are other signs of a hormonal imbalance, like maybe suddenly lots of acne or fatigue , changes in mood or emotional bouts or a change in your normal muscle to fat ratio, that the outbreak isn't homorne related. And hormones in tge body are pretty tricky and sometimes if you mess with them out can really throw your body out of whack. I have a friend who several years ago went from being pretty overwieght and having all kinds of blood suger problems at about 26 to being a tacfit instructor. He did one of those whole life direction changes. He thought there were a couple supplements that helped some. I'll look them up and get back to you. Most health food stores have a Men's Health section of supplements with formulas designed to support specific things for men.

I think your immune system is where I'd start in your shoes. Echinacea and B complex vitamins. I can't sing their praises enough. And colustrum. 

Are you comfortable describing the chronic outbreak in a little more detail? It's location and appearance and what it feels like. You can pm me if that's more comfortable. I know it's pretty personal information to just throw out on the internet. But if I knew a little more I might be able to give more helpful advice.

I'm really glad to great you have such a great girlfriend. That's wonderful.