800,000 people or more will contract Genital and Oral Herpes (Herpes 1 and 2) this year in North America alone. It's estimated that 60% of the population has Herpes. A majority of the people with the disease are unaware that they carry the virus- making them much more likely to pass it on to others. With so many people affected by this epidemic, it's a wonder that Herpes doesn't get more media attention. It's been labeled an incurable disease which left untreated can have serious consequences such as the death of a infant born to a mother having an outbreak during delivery and vastly increasing one's chances of getting AIDS and other opportunistic infections.

The sad fact is that there's still a pervasive wall of shame and silence over this disease. People are much more likely to publicly declare their HIV positive status than admit to having Herpes. There are numerous charities and foundations with their high-profile celebrity spokespersons leading the very public campaign of AIDS awareness and research. There's an ever increasing amount of sympathy and support for AIDS victims from the general public. But I challenge you to name a public spokesperson for Herpes? Better yet, can anyone even name one single Herpes charity? I'm sure they exist, but their public profiles are next to nonexistent. Have you ever seen a telethon to raise money for Herpes research? It's inconceivable to me why Herpes is treated as such a "dirty" disease. Is it the modern leprosy? I have worked with many Herpes sufferers who do not tell their lovers of their status for fear of being rejected. I'm not sure what the answer would be to gaining more support and sympathy for the sufferers of Herpes, but it's something we could all work on.

The Acyclovir family of drugs-including Valtrex and Famvir, has been the long standing therapy prescribed by doctors for the treatment of Herpes 1 and 2. Although the drug has proven itself to be somewhat effective in the reduction of the duration and severity of outbreaks when used topically and in the suppression of some outbreaks when taken orally, this effectiveness can come with a steep price.

Acyclovir does not cure Herpes, and must be taken indefinitely. Like many other drugs there are serious possible side-effects, including kidney dysfunction, toxicity in the nervous system, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea seizures, confusion and tremors, severe headaches. 

I have been using natural remedies to help people suffering with Herpes strengthen their immune systems for fourteen years now. One of the principle natural tools used in controlling Herpes has been L-lysine-an amino acid that has been proven to reduce the frequency of outbreak in some people. Unfortunately L-lysine has now been shown to have it's own serious side-effect. Since it's main action is to inhibit arginine in the cellular environment, the long term effect of taking L-lysine is the lowering of the body's immune function. Which is a less than a desirable outcome.

Part Two:
A Comprehensive Programme for Managing The Immune System Safely and Effectively

Sixteen years ago I contracted Herpes myself in the context of a monogamous relationship. Being open-minded and desperate I tried drug therapy and immediately got migraine headaches for the first time in my life. It was clear that I had to find a natural way of managing the disease for myself since I was going to have it for the rest of my life and I needed a way of being able to resume my sex life without the dread of the likelihood of passing it on to others. In the next two years I tried every natural therapy available at the time. Frustrated from the lack of consistent and lasting results from most of the touted natural remedies for Herpes I started developing my own immune enhancing programme based on my families multi-generational background as herbalists.

What I found through my experience is that the immune system needs to be addressed on many levels- obviously nutrition and lifestyle changes/adjustments but that also the deep shame and many psychological effects of the disease are equally if not more important to treat than outbreaks. Herpes also can change quite significantly during the course of someone's history with the disease so any protocol would have to be flexible enough to deal with the evolutionary nature of the presenting symptoms.

I also don't believe in the validity of suppressive therapy for Herpes. I think suppression inevitably leads to the disease expressing itself in other ways-ways that may be more devastating than conventional outbreaks- so the protocol is not designed to suppress outbreaks altogether but rather to strengthen the immune system in order to help lengthen the period of time between outbreaks and to shorten their duration and greatly lessen their severity. 

After taking someone's case the protocol is adjusted depending on many factors including the strain of the virus, the frequency, location and duration of outbreaks. The relative health of the client’s self-esteem and the relative level of stressors. Whether the client is male or female,
length of time with the disease , etc , etc, etc. For most the protocol involves both internal and topical remedies. For all it involves combination therapy- I learned a great deal from studying how other natual practitioners were treating HIV , especially people who had both HIV and Herpes or who had drug-resistant HIV. In North American many people with HIV also have Herpes. Many of the same substances that are effective for HIV are also effective for Herpes.

All of the substances in the protocol are from botanical sources. Many of the substances I grow or collect in the wild myself. Most of the substances I tincture or homeopathically prepare myself. Melissa Officinalis is the cornerstone of the protocol. Lomatium Dissectum and Olive Leaf and Prunella Vulgaris are part of the remedy for everyone. There are also two patented substances- one from a Marine Biologist and Bio-Chemist and one from a MD that are frequently prescribed herbally as part of the protocol. The most common homeopathic remedies prescribed in the protocol are Rhus-tox, Mezereum and Rananuculus, but there are over two dozen homeopathic remedies that I use depending on the symptom picture and another dozen or so herbal substances. Again the protocol is a combination therapy. Some of these substances are used internally , some externally.

I am not big on the use of L-lysine. I never found it particularly effective and now research is showing the long term use of L-lysine can actually lower your immune function. L-lysine is not part of the
protocol.

For the most severe cases, A referral to a Hypnotherapist is part of the protocol. Hypnosis has been clinically proven to be very effective in the treatment of Herpes particularly when combined with other therapies.

Lastly, I counsel people to make peace with the disease. To not treat the virus as some ghastly invader. But to somehow dialogue with the virus and reach some kind of accommodation. The virus is an
intelligent, motivated organism quite capable of surviving. The virus is just one of many many micro organisms homesteading in our bodies. I encourage people whenever possible to make an agreement with the virus to allow the virus to stay if the virus agrees to cause as little disruption of the host's life as possible. And above all else to not be ashamed of having Herpes. To have the courage to speak about the disease and not feel like a leper.

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Here is an additional essay “Why I love making my own remedies”, please do read it.

Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/Herbalist
Holistic Herpes Specialist
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