Wow! Looking back, I found information about swabbing garlic oil (chopped fresh garlic in x-virg olive oil; let it sit...how simple!) on newly-forming outbreaks. This fits right in with me (never take medications, never see a doctor if I can help it--think they make it worse about 60% of the time, and am kind of a health food nut. OK, not "kind of.") Worked like a charm! It's much better and has only been one day! Also I've been eating some raw chopped garlic on spaghetti or bread, which I've done before for colds but never for H. Thanks so much...can't remember now who wrote about it. Also, it smells great and feels soothing. By the way, instead of straining out the garlic and tossing it, you can remove it from the olive oil a piece at a time and eat it on a salad, etc. My soulmate works in a grocery store & says they sell garlic in olive oil as a delicacy, very expensive; but so easy to make yourself.
Thanks again! Go garlic!
[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 09-08-2003).]
Hi Backpacker! I am the person who wrote about the garlic oil. I'm so happy it helped you Like you, I hate to go to doctors and only do so as an absolute last resort. But I have to confess that I gave up eating fresh garlic after a couple of weeks and now am shamefully popping odorless garlic pills By the way, your story of finding your soulmate and having four healthy chidren is a HUGE inspiration to me! It gives me hope that I, too, can have a normal life one day. Were all of your children born while you had H?
SophiaM!!! Thank you so much! The sores never opened up, the blisters just started to heal and now are gone, only 2-3 days.
I think I did have herpes since dating my ex-husband, before we got married and had the boys, but I did not have my primary outbreak for years, until I was 3 wks away from my third baby's due date. The midwives and birth assistants were all very supportive. When I hadn't healed at the time I went into labor and had to go to the hospital for a caesarean, the midwife went with me and stayed the whole time. I was devastated. Now, 13 years later, it's not such a big deal. The midwives made sure my back-up dr was the best in the area, so that I'd be able to have a vaginal home birth with my next child--and I did! I made sure to take it easy, eat well, and get lots of sleep during the pregnancy.
By the way, after reading all the difficult dating stories, I asked one of my former lovers, a friend now for many years, if he had been put off by the h (he never seemed to be at the time), and he said no, the risks seemed acceptable. I would mention to any guy you get involved with that a good safety measure, condoms or no, is to wash up afterwards. I did finally find, in one old book about h, a reference to washing with soap and water after intercourse if you think you may have been exposed (this was from when they thought you could contract it only when lesions were present.) This is what my soulmate and I have always done, for 12 years, just in case there is some asymptomatic shedding.
Thanks again!
[This message has been edited by backpacker (edited 09-09-2003).]
Okay, I'd like to try that. What's the ratio of garlics to olive oil? Anything that we should know about in making it? Do you need to make a fresh batch daily?
Backpacker, I envy the attitude of your hippie friends And thank you for such an encouraging story.
Tincat, just chop the fresh garlic very finely (3 or 4 bulbs, or however many you want) and pour just enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the garlic. Let it sit for 3-5 days (but can be also used after a couple of hours), then strain it and pour the oil into a bottle. No, you don't have to make a new batch every time if you don't want to. YOu can make a lot of the stuff and keep it in the bottle and use as necessary. I am not sure if you're supposed to refrigerate it though.
Dear SophiaM--there have to be more than a few old hippies left! (To tell the truth, K and I are a few years too young to be old hippies, but we have the spirit.) I've found more people with the attitude toward life and toward other people that I love while backpacking. There's something about people who seek out solitude and nature...Another thing, I'm going to eat the raw garlic only when I feel an outbreak coming on (and maybe every month around my period); like you, I think it's a bit much to do every day into infinity.
Tincat, what I did was to chop several big cloves of garlic (maybe 5?, though mashing them should do), and then put them in a smallish rubbermaid container, and added probably too much ex-virg olive oil. I've kept it on my bathroom sink with some q-tips nearby. When I get up in the morning, go to bed, and anytime in between when I'm up there (2-3 more times a day?), I swab a little bit on the sores (which are completely gone now.) I don't think refrigeration would matter unless you plan to eat it or to keep it for weeks. I think I will make less next time. I'm still swabbing it on because I think I'm vulnerable to another outbreak the first few days after healing.
After I'd been using it for a day or so, my soulmate walked into the room and said, "What is it that smells so good?" When I told him, he wanted to make some to keep in the fridge and use on salads! Such a versatile herb, that garlic!
Hi, this is my first time ever posting, although i've been checking it out for a few days now.
I have diagnosed myself, in a funny way because my bf had something on his lip that looked like a cold sore and i did a search for herpes. i was like "are you kidding me? i've had this for like a year and a half now now"... and definitley before my current boyfriend, we've only been together 5 months. my symptoms are so minor i thought it was just an irritation in my crack from wearing a thong. (suspiciously in the same place, though... fairly often... but it didn't hurt or blister or anything, so i was like "whatever". anyway, to make a long story long, i have no doubt.
I told my bf a month ago that i was suspicious and last night tried to tell him that i was certain. especially becuase i did the stinkin oxygen-DMSO thing (no offense, if it worked for anyone, than i'm stoked for you!) but it turned my booty into a freaking war zone. Now that I'm out of denial, he seems to be in it for me and wont completely believe me until i see a doctor, so i'm going monday. he doesnt have anything, to my knowledge,and we talked about it. he said it's probably nothing, i said he's wrong and WHAT IF IT IS? he said it doesnt change how he feels about me as long as we can still have sex and children. he said "i'll still take care of you". i'm hoping that this holds true once he gets the confirmation!!
anyway, Backpacker, you seem like about the coolest chick ever and have been such a key player in my mind set, you have no idea! i'm not into doctors and drugs unless totally necessary and my whole point of this is that today i am doing the garlic thing and i swear i already see a difference in a few hours. it that possible? i dont want to count my chickens and i'm knocking on wood right now. up to now (and even now) it hasnt been a big deal, discomfort-wise (knock on wood again) hence that i was clueless as to having it... but as far as giving it away, i do feel a little bit booby-trapped.
it's funny, i'm at work right now and i came to work and mixed up the garlic and olive oil and now have it on my backside. between that and the oil of oregano i smell like an appetizer at an Italian restaurant.
Anyway, thanks again. it's been nice finding some positive outlooks here.... i'm not taking it lightly, but i certainly dont want to quarantine myself.
Thanks again guys
OK, I HAD to try this garlic oil thing. I mixed up my first batch today. I've gotta say - its really soothing - stopped the itching for me. BUT - I don't know if I could deal with the smell of the garlic all day at work, though. In my line of work, I deal with executives all day, so the way I smell is incredibly important. Does anyone know if taking oderless garlic suppliments will help in the healing of an outbreak?
You know what, movingrightalong? You made my day. Please let us know what your dr says.
Babs, the garlic pills should work--I've read that drying garlic doesn't make it ineffective. And the garlic oil down below shouldn't really be noticeable from up above and through all your clothes. Unless, like, the executives are really short....
Hey there
just wanted to say that the garlic oil was so effective that by the time i went to my doc, there was nothing to see. so i talked to her for awhile and she said that from what i described, it could be anything, but the fact that it surfaces in the same spot, it's definitley sounded suspicious. i happen to have no doubt, the check up was just a formality. it's funny, doctors seem to think that it's only one description of symptoms. i started rattling off info and statistics and she was cracking up and said that there was really nothing that she could tell me that i didnt already know and that all i could do was come back if it comes back. i'm taking a bunch of suppliments and i'm hoping that it never ever does, of course..... are'nt we all?
one question, anyone who has used garlic oil, does it leave the area pretty dry? i apply it a few times a day and now my booty is a little dry in the spot i was applying it, it doesn't bother me but i'm a little scared to moiturize it because i dont want to let the area be moist and encourage anything to come back. just wondering if anyone has experienced this.
oh, and by the way Babs, i was exagerating a little on the smell. it's really not bad, in my work it wouldnt be great to be all garlicky either, but noone ever says anything, not even my sister at home who would definitley feel free to comment if she smelled anything. you should definitley try it....
HEHE! I'm still laughing about the "appetizer at an Italian restraunt" comment!!!! LOL Well, I have been taking two tabs/ 3 times daily of the $5.00 oderless Garlic supplement that you can buy at the drugstore. Normally by this time in my cycle, I would be starting an outbreak, but (knock on wood) I have NOTHING so far. I'll be sure to let you guys know how it works out. Perhaps we don't need to smell like pizza sauce all day, after all!! :P
Hey everyone! I was laughing so hard at the short executives, Backpack, you made my day! The italian appetizer comparison was also hilarious! We really do need more humor on here, it helps a lot.
I think the best garlic supplement is the kyolic one, I don't know if I can say the brand on this board. And the oil is really amazing, totally worth the appetizer smell. I sometimes get a little irritation around my period (which is an OB in my case-I'm lucky, I know), but this time, since the garlic supplements and oil--nothing. I would love to try the H2O2 like Nonexist did, but I have to admit I'm a little scared.
The garlic oil has left me feeling more lubricated! But I am naturally too dry. Maybe if you try a little less garlic-to-oil ratio; I never used as much garlic as indicated at first. Ok,ok, the truth is the oil just kinda slopped in, way too much. Maybe yours is a little too potent, movingrightalong.
I think I used too much oil too. I also think I didn't cut the garlic into small enough pieces.. they're maybe a little bit bigger than a pea on average (I just chopped up one garlic)
BUT it has been working! Or the OTE or the lysine or the acyclovir or it all combined! All I know is that this regimen I am on is WORKING!
Because usually the sores don't fully go away until a day or two after I'm done with my acyclovir... I am only halfway through it and I have NO MORE SORES!!!
OK, last day of my cycle, and only one sore. That's AMAZING!!!!!!!!! The garlic supplements WORKED!!!! Or at least they made my mind think they worked!!! I'm totally thrilled right now. I have no irritation or anything like I normally would right now! HOORAY FOR GARLIC!
Question For babs or anyone else...
I take one garlic pill a day with my regular 500 valtrex per day. How much garlic are we suppossed to take for suppression,,
OLE OOO Garlic...so confused and how mych of anything to take,,,cause i wanna get off Valtrex really soon
PLEASE help
I definitely make my garlic oil potent...although the dryness seems to be gone now and my booty seems to be back to normal. hooray for garlic!
as far as dosage for garlic pills, my bottle says one or more capsules with a meal twice a day, so that's what i do. i take 2, twice a day. i'm no expert and a have been known be pretty gung-ho about things in general, so someone might have something better to add on that one. I take the Kyolic brand pills, oderless....
My OLE is 500mg capsules and it says on the bottle to take 1 capsule 4x a day or 1 capsule 2x a day for maintenence.. but the lady at the store who recommended the OLE to me over the OOO said that for maintenence she takes 1 capsule once a week and that works fine for her.
Basically, you don't want to take TOO much, so never take more than the bottle says... but you can experiment to see how much works for you.. why take more if less works, know what I mean?
Hey, everyone, we are ON FIRE!!! On fire for garlic and oregano!!!
I just eat the garlic. I mince it and sprinkle it on a little spaghetti, bread, chinese fd, anything but sweet stuff, about 3x a day. I like it, and soulmate K loves it too. He likes to call me "garlic breath" (should I change my posting name?), but it's affectionate.
As for chopping it to put in the oil, I don't think the size matters, as long as you cut the clove a few times to let the liquid ooze into the oil more easily. I believe the oil actually extracts the garlic juice from the clove. The cloves have a much different texture after sitting in the oil for a while.
Right now I'm not doing anything because I'm between ob's. And from next Monday through Sunday I'm going backpacking with my youngest boy, so will get much healthier. Can't wait! But will surely miss you all.
garlic oil 
Like you, I hate to go to doctors and only do so as an absolute last resort. But I have to confess that I gave up eating fresh garlic after a couple of weeks and now am shamefully popping odorless garlic pills 
By the way, your story of finding your soulmate and having four healthy chidren is a HUGE inspiration to me! It gives me hope that I, too, can have a normal life one day. Were all of your children born while you had H?
