Cold Sores
Natural Remedies

Cold Sore Relief: Top Natural Remedies

L-Lysine

23 User Reviews
5 star (21) 
  91%
1 star (2) 
  9%

Posted by Jodi (AV, Minn) on 04/01/2008
★★★★★

L-LYSINE Keep it simple - you feel the tingle - take (2000 to 3000mg) lysine asap! then (2000 to 3000mg) 3 times a day -for 2 days. Day 3 reduce to (1000 to 1500mg) 3 times a day. Day 4 (1000 to 1500mg) 3 times a day. Day 5 & day 6 (500mg) 3 times a day. Your Done! You will either have no outbreak or only a day or two with a very small blister with this treatment.

Also note: L-LYSINE is an amnio acid not a vitamin. Do not take Lysine for long extended periods or mega dose as it can have negative effect on the liver. For mega dosing you may want to have your liver checked out. I have done this for 20 years with great success. I do not take it any other time.

Tip: For traveling back and forth - cold to warm climates, or after viruses, or muscle exersions all of which can trigger coldsores as well as large doses of stress. Take 1000mg for a week to help keep them away.

Replied by Michelle
(Minneapolis, MN)
12/12/2008

I thought you were supposed to take L-Lysine everyday, which is what i've been doing for a year, as a preventative. I'm glad to finally figure this out.

I used to get cold sores at least every other month when I was a student. They were brought on by stress, and also seemed connected to my period. Acyclovir works for me but I have to double dose and also use abreva and carmex.

I started taking a Vitamin B-complex, Sunmark's Stress Vitamins, daily. I was also taking L-Lysine with this, which I will now quit. It greatly reduced the frequency and duration of my outbreaks. I get them 3 time a year now, compared to at least 6 and they are usually really small and last no more than 3 or 4 days.

I have a tiny one right now, it looks more like a little zit above my lip. But I am excited to go home and start the L-Lysine regiment now that I know the appropriate way to do it.

Symptoms will get better with time for a lot of people. It's important to track your behaviors and habits closely so you can know the triggers and if you've never used it before i highly recommend acyclovir from your dr. Take about 4 right when you feel the tingle and then 2 more that day and it will knock it out before it even becomes a cold sore.


L-Lysine
Posted by Sue (Waukesha, WI) on 09/23/2007
★★★★★

Ever since I was a child I would get really bad cold sores on my lips. about eighteen years ago a co-worker told me about L-lysine. I bought some and as soon as I would feel the tingling like one was starting I'd take 2-3 L-lysine and later in the day 2 more and the next day only 3. And the cold sore wouldn't form or come out. For about a year I'd take it only when I felt one coming and a day or two. For about 14 years I haven't had one cold sore! A miracle!


L-Lysine
Posted by Sheila (Kansas City, MO) on 05/11/2007
★★★★★

there's a vitamin called LYSINE -they sell it everywhere>>>GO BUY IT IT HELPS STOP fever blisters from coming and helps them go away..... i crush them up and put them on my lips IT WORKS

Replied by Cs
(Sg, Sgp)
04/16/2013
★★★★★

I've tried just about everything. Lysine is the only thing that works.


L-Lysine
Posted by Leslie (Barboursville, VA) on 03/03/2007
★★★★★

hey cool got it! speaking of foods and health, peanuts, coffee and chocolate all contain arginine, the amino acid which promotes the outbreak of herpes simplexes, esp. cold sores. Add lack of sleep and stress, and that risk increases. More than 97 percent of all humans have some form of these strains of viruses. To combat, take a supplement amino acid, L LYSINE, which tilts the see-saw of balance back. Usually a double dose at first then as directed for several days to prevent worsening of symptoms. The tingling outbreak will stop and it should start to heal within 24 hours (with good sleep, no coffee, etc). Also, the greens, arugula, italian rockette, will assist healing. A paste can be made to draw fluids off, too. Lip Balms sold at health food stores can be purchased that contain Lysine as well.

CAUTION: Do not take Lysine for long extended periods as it can have negative effect on the liver. Try to use foods instead and good care of the body. if necessary, milk thistle, dandelion root and burdock can assist the liver in rebuilding itself.


L-Lysine
Posted by Melinda (Arlington, VA) on 01/24/2007
★★★★★

I went to a homeopathic pharmacy yesterday and spoke to an herbalist and wellness counselor. She recommended I take 1,000mg of L-Lysine everyday. During an outbreak, she told me to take 3,000mg of L-Lysine everyday. Additionally, she gave me a Super-Oxygenated Anti-Viral Formula that I should take 1 dropperful in a small amount of water 2-3 times a day when having an outbreak. She also gave me an RMA Healing Ointment to use on both oral and genital sores when having a herpes outbreak. I will keep you posted on how they all work!


L-Lysine
Posted by AJ (IL) on 04/13/2006
★★★★★

Lysine didn't cure the herpes but it clears it up in no time. I also put hemorrhoid creme on the sore if it doesn't get opened. The ulcer is gone by the end of the day. If it does get opened then I used Hydrogen peroxide. It burns but it clears it up faster.

Replied by Earthclinicrocks
(Melbourne, Australia)
08/22/2013

Beware of using hemorrhoid creams. Many contain Hydrocortisone, a steroid that reduces inflammation. It does this by reducing the immune response in that area. This is exactly the opposite of what we want to achieve. Clinically tested products like an infrared device work by enhancing the immune response, not suppressing it. Using a hydrocortisone cream in any viral, fungal or bacterial infection is likely to have dire consequences.

The ingredient that may assist in healing is zinc, contained in some hemorrhoid creams. It is also available in many other forms (nappy rash creams, for example) which do not contain Hydrocortisone.


L-Lysine
Posted by Maria (New Jersey)
★★★★★

I used to have back to back cold sores. Neither over-the-counter nor prescribed medications worked for me. I discovered L-Lysine. It is excellent. I try to take one daily on an empty stomach. If I get lazy and the tingle of a cold sore starts, I take several for a day or so. The sore does not breaks out, but can still be painful .Though not a cure, L-Lysine is the very best possible preventative. All my family with the same malady have had equally great results.


L-Lysine
Posted by Liz (Louisville, KY)
★★★★★

I had frequent outbreaks of cold sores and my dentist recommended I take Lysine. Since I started taking 1000 mg Lysine daily, I have not had a single cold sore in years.


L-Lysine
Posted by Tina (Weiser, ID)
★★★★★

When I was a child I used to always get cold sores on the corner of my mouth, when I was 12 I had this really bad one and I had used Blistex (for cold sores) well, instead it caused it to spread even larger and I ended up with a large outbreak all over my lips, horrible for a 12 year old girl. So my mom heard about Lysine, I took the tablets, and in about 2-3 days they were all gone and believe it or not I have never had a cold sore since (now I am 26) So yes, I believe in the Lysine treatment 100%.

Replied by Rein
(Gatineau Quebec Canada, [email protected])
09/01/2010

Hi Tina, If your herpes never really came back again without continous preventive treatment, then this Blistex must have something to do with it, synergy ? Or it made your body react so accute or it may have overwhelmed the virus so strongly together with Lysine so it didn't survive, what chemical it might have been? There are so many varieties of Blistex now? Reinhold from Germany in Canada


L-Lysine
Posted by Jane (British Columbia, Canada)
★★★★★

I use L-lysine. 500mg. Taken a few days each month. Or take at the on-set of symptoms. Very rarely do I ever get an outbreak of oral anymore. Used to get them regularly and now they are almost a thing of the past. L-lysine is the cheapest and most effective remedy that I have found. Love it.


L-Lysine and Diet

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Lorik (Va, Usa) on 12/31/2014
★★★★★

I have suffered from cold sores for years, mostly in my teenage years. I have used B-Complex and found that helpful to take a few times a week and my occurrences subsided. Then I discovered using Spirit of Camphor on the end of a q-tip or cotton ball helped dry them once they began. Now I strictly use L-Lysine as soon as I get an 'itchy' feeling that one is one the way. I take about 1000 mg per day for 2 days and the cold sores rarely come to a complete break out. Earlier this year I began to eat a good, healthy, balanced diet and haven't had a break out in months.. Healthy living is the best way for most issues, in my opinion.


L-Lysine and Vitamin C

3 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  67%
1 star (1) 
  33%

Posted by Aviva (Tel Aviv (Gosh Dan)) on 11/16/2022
★★★★★

I came up with the tingling feeling of a cold sore. There it was. on my upper lip. I took 4 grams Lysine per day + natural vitamin C 4000 mg per day and put some coconut oil on the blister. It stopped growing and tingling immediately and the blister began drying quickly. Now it is the 3rd day and only a wound remained.


L-Lysine and Vitamin C
Posted by Mike (San Jose, Ca) on 05/04/2011
★★★★★

Back in the mid 80's my girlfriend at that time saw me breaking out on my upper lip. She instantly told me about Lysine and vitamin C.

I've been taking Lysine and vitamin C since then, and have stopped outbreaks about 70% of the time. When I do have an outbreak, usually on my upper lip, Lysine and vitamin C shorten the active period and make the healing much faster. I don't use any skin treatment as the herpes is causing the breakout from within the skin.

I've experimented over the years with taking only one or the other and they don't work nearly as well apart.

When I feel an outbreak coming on, I take 2000mg Lysine and 1000mg of chewable vitamin C with each meal. Works reliably and quickly for 25 years now.

Replied by Merryanne
(Orange City, Florida, Usa)
05/04/2011
113 posts

It is true that L-Lysine kills viruses, it has saved me several times from severe colds that would have put me in the bed for at least a week, but I do not want to miss that much time off my job. I am 64yo so it can be hard on me. I also take lysine 2000 mg every 4 hours as long as I am up, and the next day, as long as I have any symptoms, sometimes I do get very congestd, but not so that I have to miss work. If I had any permanet virus I would take it every 4 hours, 4 times a day for a few months and see if I could get totally free of that bug, but that is just me... I do have faith in lysine, the last cold I had, it started with a tickle in my thorat. I started with the lysine, the next day I was still sick.. I kept up with the lysine, then it was gone in two days, no coughing, no drainge, if not for the lysine I would have been down for a long time. And I did take some C 2000mg a day... For children under 60 pounds, I have given 250mg every 4 hours. Merryanne in Central FL


L-Lysine and Vitamin C
Posted by Jay (san francisco, california) on 09/11/2008
★☆☆☆☆

Well, I had a cold sore on right corner of my mouth for about 6 months now, it just kept scabbing, then falling off, then scabbing, then falling off, i tried everything, so far its been 1 week from taking l-lysine and vitamin c daily, about 10g a day, and so far, nothing, i still have the cold sore, my doctor gave me acyclovir, but yet it didn't do a thing. Anyone have any suggestions, im really suffering from those terrible cold sore i had for about 6 months. HELP!

Replied by Cathy
(Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
09/14/2008

Without a doubt, CAYENNE pepper. Put it directly on the cold sore. It will sting but the next day it should be 90 % better. I have used Oil of Oregano and it works very quickly but Cayenne is the fastest. Good luck!

Replied by Jay
(San Francisco, CA)
09/14/2008

Questions to Cathy:

O, well do i have to rip the scab off first before applying the cayenne pepper?, cause i don't think the cayenne pepper will go to the source without peeling the scab off first, so what do you think? Also, which brand of kind do u suggest? Also, when i peel the scab off, yellow liquid immediately starts to slowly come out so just apply the cayenne pepper onto the whole infected area? What kind of cayenne pepper, like the liquid kind or powder form?What kind do you use?

Replied by Anita
(New York, Ny)
09/08/2010

I'm a picker myself and must say that I do believe Lysine and Vit. C does help. It the picking that keeps it going! Try putting a rubber band on your wrist and each time you have the urge to pick snap the band. Hope this helps...


L-Lysine, Garlic

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Mike (Pemberton, Nj) on 09/21/2011
★★★★★

Ok so I been plagued with cold sores since I was young but I recently found a way to put an end to it if caught fast eough and a way to reduce the amount of times you get these monsters. AT the first tingling you feel immediately hit that sucker with some ice numb it up I usually use on ice cube in a paper towel. Then I take a bunch of L-Lysine tablets which I bought for $4 and a garlic tablet I also bought for $4. Also take a garlic pill cut it open and put it on the cold sore it will prevent it from ever coming up no bubbles no scabbing nothing just looks like it might come through but it never does and withing a few hours I saw the sore completely go away. I also think the main ingredient here is a positive outlook stay calm dont stress and forget about it and it will go away along with the garlic and lysine. Worked for me and I am a server at a restaurant and trust me no one wants a server with a fat cold sore.

L-Lysine and Garlic pills especially if you dont have health insurance to get Acyclovir or Valtrex which is the ultimate best and take L-Lysine pills daily to prevent or limit the outbreaks.



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