MSM has helped me dramatically [long message]
David Le Sauvage
17 years currently with back to back recurrences. I began taking a
sulphur supplement known as MSM for chronic headaches in November of
2000. It stands for methylsulfonylmethane but it is always called MSM.
To my surprise I have had no outbreaks of herpes since I started the
MSM, but the real success of this is measured by the associated
improvements in my health. Prior to getting herpes in 1983, I was quite
healthy.
My job for the past 12 years has involved searching the medical research
to answer questions posed by physicians. I am very aware of the herpes
literature and I have used my job to research the disease for myself.
I do not want to scare anyone - most people with herpes do not get what
I have. I relate my experience to demonstrate the incredible
improvement I have had by using MSM. I hope others may get the same
benefits as I have. Unfortunately, there is almost no useful research
on the effects of MSM for any disease not just herpes, but there are
anecdotal accounts from a few physicians who have used MSM in their
practices since 1980 that people with herpes have reported an
improvement. MSM is known mostly as an aid for people with arthritis
pain and inflammation and is found in some glucosamine pills.
I would first like to say that while my disease is very severe, (I'm
guessing at the numbers) but it's probably as high as 99.99% of herpes
cases are much milder and do not include most of my symptoms, severity
or frequency. If you have just been diagnosed with herpes, don't worry,
it is very unlikely to develop the way mine did. However, there are some
even more severe cases than mine so you should treat the disease
carefully - wash your hands with soap if you touch your lesions and
never put your fingers in your eyes mouth or nose and inform everyone
you have had sexual contact with so they can protect themselves and
others.
First a report of the effects I have suffered for 17 years to give you
an idea of how dramatic my improvement is. These were my symptoms and
history before I started taking MSM:
Outbreak locations: genital, oral, and nasal (inside and out).
Sometimes the lesions spread to form a sore about 3/4 " in diameter
which completely erodes the top layer of skin and takes weeks to grow
back. In the early years the outbreaks came every month or two.
Fatigue: occasionally extreme on the day before the itchiness and
tingling start.
Headaches: Mild to Severe; come and go through the flareup and usually
respond well to aspirin. During the early days of a flareup the bones
around my eyes hurt. Sometimes a spot on the top of my head feels like
it's burning. In severe outbreaks I sometimes need aspirin+codeine for
the headaches (which is available without a prescription in Canada
thankfully). The pain of the lesions themselves is not helped by either
of these drugs although that is not a big problem unless I touch the
lesions which of course you shouldn't do.
I am moderately fatigued most of the time. My sleep is poor. Although
I sleep through the night, in the morning I do not feel refreshed and
have a lot of aches and pains throughout my body. My thermoregulation is
off: I get cold easily and if I exert I get excessively hot. I have
mild night sweats 4 or 5 times a year. For the past 8 years I have been
taking a combination of dhea+melatonin and this helps the sleep quite a
bit. My memory and concentration are very poor. I have a hard time
reading a book because I tend to forget the details as I read them. At
times I would have difficulty finding words and became reluctant to
contribute in a conversation because I had a hard time explaining my
point. Some people might be inclined to think that these symptoms are
not herpes related, but in fact they are typical of a mild case of an
obscure disease called Mollaret's Meningitis. The cause of Mollaret's
was unknown until very recently when it was shown that at least some
cases of Mollaret's are actually caused by HSV-II. I thought I had
Mollaret's long before it was confirmed that HSV-II can cause it.
My initial infection in September of 1983 was genital. It prevented me
from emptying my bladder (which resembled severe prostatitis) and a
proctitis which prevented bowel movements for 2 weeks. Four months later
in January of 1984 I was either reinfected or I transmitted the
infection to my nose. That was when the central and cognitive effects
started to occur. Last year I had a recurrence of the prostatitis-like
symptoms (inability to urinate) but that was the only time since 1983.
I have never had the proctitis symptoms again.
Acyclovir/Zovirax: I was on it for approx 3 years daily as a preventive
(200mg 3 times per day). It worked fairly well, as I only had a few
outbreaks during those 3 years. Then it stopped working altogether and
the recurrences became more frequent - once to twice a month. I tried a
higher dose but that didn't work either. It seemed the virus had become
resistant and the infections became worse (larger, lasted longer).
Now the good news. Most of the symptoms I have mentioned above have
ceased abruptly. No lesions in any location. No headaches. The fatigue
is gone. I have so much energy (both physical and mental) it's like I'm
17 again. ALL THE PAIN IS GONE. I hadn't realized just how much pain I
had until it was all removed. The constipation I have suffered since the
age of 12 also disappeared. My sleep is somewhat improved and I have
stopped taking the dhea+melatonin. My mind is clearer - concentration
is moderately to substantially improved. I'm not sure if the memory is
improved or not. I am able to think quicker and do my job quicker and I
notice I am able to express myself better - my vocabulary is accessible
again and I can organize my thoughts coherently.
One other point I should mention. Last summer I started taking a
supplement called Moducare Sterinol which contains plant sterols and
sterolins. The outbreaks did improve a bit - the lesions were smaller
and healed quicker. I have continued to take that as well though less
religiously, so there may be some synergy (helpful interaction) with the
MSM - I can't be sure. Unfortunately the Sterinol is quite expensive. As
far as the MSM goes, one can only speculate that it is boosting my
immune system in some way that is not understood - as I said there is no
research on this. There is some research that can explain the pain
suppression however and it does appear to be safe. There is a lot of
bogus information about MSM on the Internet - completely unsupported
claims and even absolutely false claims.
The doctors who have been using MSM in their practice claim that it
takes several weeks to get a benefit (for various diseases) for many
people, so if you try it, don't give up too early.
I would be very interested to know if anyone else in this group has had
help from MSM.
David
GUYonphone
I have a couple questions.
Instead of using the Acyclovir as suppression, did you ever just try hitting it
much harder right at the first of an outbreak? You talk about having some
pretty evident prodrome type things going on just before an outbreak, so I
wondered if you had ever tried taking something like 800mg x4 of acyclovir
starting at these first symptoms to see if you could knock out the outbreak
before it got started.
You mention taking 200mg x3 for suppression, which by everything I read is too
low. The recommended dosage is 400mg x2, and that's only a 'starting point'
from what I see and hear--it can easily go up to 400mg x3 or even x4 for
suppression. Then, for outbreak strength, my doc prescribed 800mg x4 till
symptoms start going away.
On the MSM... where can it be found? Does it require a prescription to get it
in the dosages that have done you good? And how much to take? When? Like,
every day? Or during outbreaks only?
Has the herpes in your nose and around the mouth area actually tested out to be
HSV2 through culture or PCR?
Thanks again for offering your ideas here.
Hang in there
-G
pe...@egale.ca
In article <20010122152421...@nso-cu.aol.com>, guyon...@aol.com
(GUYonphone) asked if I had tried a higher dose.
Hi Guy,
Thanks for your words of encouragement. Yes I did try the double strength tabs
but don't remember how many or how often. As far as 200mg x 3 being too low,
that was the recommended dose in the 80s right after acyclovir was put on the
market and as I said, it worked great for 3 years, so when it stopped working,
I felt the virus had developed resistance. I have read that resistance is not
a problem with acyclovir, but I don't believe it. I have no interest in trying
drugs at this point since my body now seems to be able to suppress the virus.
If the MSM stops working, I may consider something stronger than acyclovir as
my drug plan should cover it. It's only been since November, but that's the
longest herpes free period I've had in years and with virtually all the other
symptoms disappearing, I couldn't be happier.
guyonphone wrote:
>On the MSM... where can it be found? Does it require a prescription to get
>it in the dosages that have done you good? And how much to take? When?
Like, >every day? Or during outbreaks only?
MSM is not a prescription drug and it is available in most every drug store in
the US and Canada as well as supplement stores. It is a sulfur compound
extracted from trees. It is not very expensive. The cheapest way to buy it is
in powder form but most stores only carry tablets. I take 1/2 teaspoon 3
times a day which is a fairly high starting dosage (about 6000 - 7500 mg in
total) although some people take more. If I take more than that I get a bit
of a headache. Also if you take too much you can get a little diarrhea - if
so, you should reduce the dose - obviously extended diarrhea is harmful due to
dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Most people start with one or two 1000
mg tabs twice a day. Drink lots of fluids and take with meals if possible.
The information on using MSM for herpes is limited to a few anecdotes so you
will be experimenting on yourself. There have been no drug trials and nothing
has been published in the medical literature. It does seem clear that this
is a very safe compound. The LD50 (lethal dose to kill 50 % of the test
animals) is 7 times higher than for ordinary table salt. In other words,
table salt is 7 times more toxic than MSM.
All we have are a few anecdotes from people who've experienced a reduction
or elimination of outbreaks. I wouldn't recommend waiting for an outbreak
because it often takes several weeks to have any effect (in all the other
conditions that it helps). It is possible that herpes could be suppressed more
quickly than that but no one knows. If you want to read a book on MSM, the one
authoritative book I know of was written by the physicians in Oregon who
invented and pioneered its use and there is only a paragraph or two in the
book about herpes. The book is called The Miracle of MSM : The Natural
Solution for Pain by Stanley W. Jacob MD, Ronald M. Lawrence MD, and Martin
Zucker. These physicians have treated thousands of patients (mostly for
arthritis, asthma, headaches, inflammation, bladder irritation and pain) since
1980 using MSM. Because there is little or no research on this substance,
conventional medicine dismisses it out of hand. They consider Dr. Jacob's
10,000 patients irrelevant.
There are four other books on amazon.com but I haven't read them.
All About Msm by Margaret Dennison
Msm Miracle by Earl Mindell
MSM-The Super-Supplement of the Decade by Martha M. Christy
Msm : The Natural Pain Relief Remedy by Deborah Mitchell, Steven J. Bock
Since there is so little in the medical literature, I expect that these books
will probably just review what Dr. Jacob has written since he is the expert,
though it would be interesting if any of them have any anecdotal information
on herpes.
guyonphone said:
>Has the herpes in your nose and around the mouth area actually tested out to
>be HSV2 through culture or PCR?
The test was done in 1984 and I don't believe they had a PCR test then, so I
assume it was a culture and it confirmed HSV2 not HSV1.
Good luck if you try MSM and let me know how it goes at da...@egale.ca.
David
Grandma C.
chika...@aol.com
chika...@aol.com
I somehow stumbled upon this thread through a google search and though it's not active I am going to post my results and progress here to hopefully help anyone that comes across this post the same way I did and are just looking for some help/answers.
andrea...@yahoo.com
jmank...@hotmail.com
L-carnitine which I get off of amazon and is not expensive. Make sure to get the pure form and try to stay away from synthetic. I also started taking I-throid which is iodine to support your thyroid (major player in your immune system). Currently I just started taking MSM crystals for a week now and I ended up getting the joint pain and upset stomac again. Reading what others have said about MSM and HSV, it sounds like the virus is moving because of the MSM and can cause OB in other areas but won’t be as bad and then will go into dormancy. Hope this helps and I wish you the best!
-Jess
James Wood
Contact Him via Email: herbalis...@gmail.com because his medication cure lots of ailment.
FOR MORE INFO ON HIS WEBSITE CLICK ;
https://herbalistwanginlahealthcare.wordpress.com/home/
