Managing HSV2

[gldntbk]

Hi Dr. Warren –

Thank you so much for all you do here. Your help with my last question was greatly appreciated (and your advice on how to tell my last partner that he had to have given me this was spot on. The conversation went as well as it possibly could have gone. Thank you for your help there.) So my next question….

It’s been a month since I was diagnosed, and I am really struggling emotionally with this. (which I understand is normal.) The thing that’s helped me since getting diagnosed is learning as much as I can about the disease and what I can do to manage it. I’ve done a lot of research online about ways to prevent outbreaks. Many sites have a give a list of “Yes” foods that help prevent outbreaks and “No” foods that can cause them. I’ve been eating strictly by the “yes” foods and have not had a second outbreak (but I’m also on 500 mg / day of Valtrex).

The thing is, I’m sick of eating the “Yes” foods (I think if I eat another egg white, I am going to start clucking), and I am really missing the “No” foods. Seeing other people drink coffee, eat chocolate, almonds, bread, etc has been really hard, and it’s been one of the many ways that I now know my life will be forever altered by this disease. In an effort to start to feel like a normal person again, the other night I decided to treat myself and eat fish tacos (fried, so on the “no” list)….while I enjoyed them while I was eating them, I was up all night stressed out and worrying about my little dinner splurge causing an outbreak.

The Type-A part of me wants to keep eating by “the list,” but the other part of me wonders if the cons of eating by the list (ie: the mental impact) outweigh the pros (ie: preventing outbreaks). I wonder if “the list” I’m going off of is more restrictive than it really needs to be to prevent outbreaks. I’ve already lost several (16) pounds in the last month since I started eating by the list, and I don’t want to loose any more. Is there any scientific information about foods that can prevent vs foods that can cause outbreaks?

Thanks so much

[Terri Warren]

There is absolutely not a single shred of evidence that any food high or low in any compound has anything to do with actual herpes IN PEOPLE. There may be some evidence indicating certain compounds in THE LAB might encourage or discourage herpes virus growth, but that has not been shown to be true in humans when put into practice. Individuals will say this and that works for them, but that’s very different than science, right?

So I say eat whatever you like. If you have an outbreak, you do, treat it and move on. I’m not certain, but did I recall that you have HSV 1?

Glad the conversation went well, good job!

Terri

[gldntbk]

No, the guy I was dating gave me HSV2 right before he broke up with me. I’m the one with the “perfect trifecta” of the negative IGG test at the beginning of the relationship, a positive culture test a few weeks later and a positive IGG test right after that.

As unfortunate as this entire experience has been, I will say that having the data that shows he gave it to me made the conversation much less painful and is saving me from a lifetime of wondering where I got this. But the diagnosis in itself is the kind of news that rearranges your life (or it has been for me), and I am having the hardest time dealing with the emotional side of this. Maybe being a little less restrictive in my diet will help. I’m going to think about integrating a few of the “no” foods back in. I’m just very cautious because my first outbreak was terrible, and I don’t think I’m mentally capable of handling another one right now…

Thank you for all that you do. This forum and your book have been most helpful as I try to navigate my new life.

[Terri Warren]

aaah, yes, now I remember. When the follow up questions get separated from the original one, I can’t track it.
It will take time to get back to normal psychological functioning and you may always be unhappy about having herpes. But if you let yourself grieve for a while and then start working actively on thinking differently about this, you will, I believe, start feeling differently.

The first outbreak is almost always the worst for people, so don’t assume that future outbreaks will be like this.

Terri

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