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Lou-lou (Adelaide, Sa) on 04/01/2010
4 out of 5 stars

Hi, I have posted here before but not for oral herpes which I also suffer from. Mine occur on the inside or outside of my nose, sometimes extending towards my mouth. Needless to say, not a pretty site :( and I have battled for years to try and improve the sores asap. What I hadn't looked into much before though was how to avoid getting them in the first place. There are always triggers for things and our bodies try to tell us this by giving us a rash, or a sore or spots etc. I too have also found a link with artificial sweeteners but what I have discovered through my own testings is CAFFEINE! It's a huge NO NO, well at least for me. I have cut out all caffeine products such as coffee, chocolate, coke etc. I loved all 3 but the alternative (a sore) is not worth it. I have found a coffee substitute called Caro and there is also one called Ecco. They are a cereal beverage and are sold in supermarkets right next to coffee. I usually mix that with decaf coffee. There is still caffeine in decaf but a very low percentage. I used to get outbreaks just about every month. I have been sore-free for 3 months now and counting :) Also as most of you would know, both Lysine and Arginine are amino acids. Most, if not all foods have each of these in them. Lysine is good for us herpes sufferers but arginine is very bad. Nuts, especially peanuts are at the top of the list for arginine properties. I printed a list from the web of foods high in arginine. The key is to ensure your diet has far more lysine. Plain yogurt and cheese top the list there. Also important is to know that the ratio of lysine in a food far out weighs the arginine content. If you don't think you are getting enough lysine, then you can always take a supplement. If any of you out there are staph carriers and suffer from severe infections around the nose towards the mouth area, I have an idea about that too so let me know if you are interested.
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Replied By Julie (Boston, Ma) on 11/07/2011

I agree, I gave up caffeine for a few months for other reasons and noticed I didn't have any cold sore breakouts.
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Replied By Stephanie (Bendigo, Australia) on 12/15/2011

I have suffered coldsores since I was 2 months old. I have found that I can greatly reduce the frequency of them if I totally avoid Oranges. I recently discovered that if I eat even the smallest hint of orange I WILL the next day have 1 to 6 coldsores around my mouth.

When I spoke to my doctor about this he told me it was a food allergy. Like how some people have anaphylaxis over nuts, I have coldsores from oranges. I don't only have cold sores from oranges but I also get them before I get sick, when I am sick, when I am tired and when I am stressed. I find overdosing on lysine can help as well as applying peppermint oil or this foreign cream called Yeao Paya Brand Balm that my uncle brought over from Thailand (I think). (it contains camphor, cinnamon oil, menthol, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and olive oil. ) I find this cream burns the skin around the coldsores and builds a thin scab where the coldsores is and stops the burning and itching as it kills it from the outside.
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