One piece of advice that I’d like to give to the women on this subject. I too, have suffered from cold sores in the past, though not too many, in my extreme old age. Throw away your lipsticks for the duration of your cold sore and buy new ones. I’m not sure where I picked up this piece of advice, but it makes sense to me. Whenever I had recovered from a cold sore and put lipstick on, I seemed to get recurring sores. YMMV
[[Curasore kills the surface viruses. Acyclovir attacks them into a deeper layer of the body, but the effect is the same.]]
I know it works for you, Barbi. Can you show me any literature that supports this? I know a doc here who is one of the herpes experts in the world, and I’ve never heard him mention this Curasore stuff.
There was an article in an old * Consumers Report * about the effectiveness of ether on cold sores, but a search in CR failed to disclose it. Can you ask this doc directly about ether or Curasore?
Damn, y’know, searching on the Net for original articles is a pain!
Here are the references that I found that support Lysine:
A group of 27 herpes sufferers administered supplements of the amino acid L-lysine for 6 months experienced an average of 2.4 fewer herpes infections, and had greatly reduced severity and healing time compared with the placebo group. Griffith RS et al: Success of L-lysine therapy in frequently recurrent herpes simplex infection. Treatment and prophylaxis. Dermatologica 175(4):183-90, 1987.
Of 1543 herpes sufferers assessed by questionnaire after 6 months on supplements of the amino acid L-lysine, 84% reported that the supplements prevented recurrence or decreased the frequency of herpes infections. 79% described their symptoms as severe or intolerable without lysine. 83% reported that sores healed in 5 days or less on lysine, but took 6-15 days to heal without it. Walsh DE et al: Subjective response to lysine in the therapy of herpes simplex. J Antimicrob Chemother 12(5):489-96, 1983.
Others:
References:
- Kagan C. Lysine therapy for herpes simplex. Lancet 1974; 1:137.
- DiGiovanna JJ, Blank H: Failure of lysine in frequently recurrent herpes simplex infection. Archives Dermatology 1984; 120:48-51.
- Griffith, RS, Norins AL, Kagan C: A multicentered study of lysine in herpes simplex infection. Dermatolgica 1978; 156:257-267
- Griffith RS, Walsh DE, Myrmel KH, Thompson RW, Behforooz A: Success of L-lysine Therapy in Frequently Recurrent Herpes Simplex Infection. Dermatologica 175: 183-190, 1987.
- Ayala E, Krikorian D: Effect of L-lysine Monohydrochloride on Cutaneous Herpes Simplex Virus in the Guinea Pig. Journal of Medical Virology 28:16-20, 1989
- Wright E: Clinical Effectiveness of lysine in treating recurrent apthous ulcers and herpes labialis. General Dentistry, 40-42, Jan-Feb 1994
- http://www.altmedicine.com/app/registeruser.cfm
- http://www.nutritionsciencenews.com/NSN_backs/Aug_98/stds.html
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http://www.healthyideas.com/healing/vitamin/genital_herpes/
foodfactors.html - Flodin N: The Metabolic Roles, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of Lysine. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, bol 16, No. 1, 7-21, 1997
NOTE: #2 above does state ‘failure’- gotta be fair…
Lastly, JillGat, You keep talking about overdosing with Vitamin B6, but I never said to overdose. When my Vitamin B supplement says take 1 a day, I’d think that that was found to be safe, and the injections a doctor would give you are probably NOT going to cause overdose damage (in fact, it might only be an injection of the safer B’s). Now, taking the injections and a few pills a day…sure, not a good idea.
-Tcat
[[Lastly, JillGat, You keep talking about overdosing with Vitamin B6, but I never said to overdose. When my Vitamin B supplement says take 1 a day, I’d think that that was found to be safe, and the injections a doctor would give you are probably NOT going to cause overdose damage (in fact, it might only be an injection of the safer B’s). Now, taking the injections and a few pills a day…sure, not a good idea.]]
B6 was recently found to be toxic at far lower doses than they originally thought. I’ll find out the level. One a day won’t hurt you, depending on the dosage. Some pills are megadoses. The shots are for B12, not B6. If you eat any meat at all, even very small amounts, you get enough B12 in your diet. If you lack the intrinsic factor to process B12, then you may need supplementation. I know that some people seem to benefit from extra B12 though, and I don’t know much about it. Regardless, taking B vitamins will have no effect on herpes outbreaks.
The first study wsa quite small and it doesn’t state whether it was a blind study. The 2d study was titled “Subjective response” and that was what it was. It was based on subjective responses, was not controlled, and was not blind. Inspite of the assertion that the sore healed in 5 days with lysine, but longer without it, 5 days is a long time for cold sores to heal. Without anything, mine healed in less time. With Curasore they healed in a day.
I asked a pharmacist I know about “Curasore” and he had never heard of it. I asked a virologist about it and he had never heard of it, either. I told him it contained ether and he said he knew of no evidence that ether would work against herpes. He also said, “Be sure there’s nobody smoking nearby when he uses it.” I’m not denying it works for you, Barbi, just that there is no proof that I can find that it is generally effective against the herpes virus.
Re L-Lysine, the studies that showed it to be effective were not replicated and later studies didn’t show any more benefit from Lysine than from placebo.
This link is all I can find re ether. It says that a combo of aspirin & ether may have antiviral activity and be effective against herpes zoster.
I don’t know why you pharmacist never heard of it. I bet if you go to a couple of drugstores and ask the pharmacist for it, you’d find it. I’m giving up in trying to educate the masses of the merit of Curasore. I will conclude and say that if you have cold sores, try it, you’ll like it.