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Herpes Outbreaks Since Stopping Gluten

lulumonkey

By lulumonkey
in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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lulumonkey Newbie
lulumonkey
Posted

I stopped eating gluten about 2 months ago. Since then I have had the DH outbreaks at the base of my spine and on my buttocks that I seen mentioned in so many topics here but I have also had never ending outbreaks of herpes simplex I on the inside of my nose. I have had these outbreaks before but rarely. Since quitting gluten my skin has improved dramatically and so have my digestion issues but I can't get rid of my herpes or DH. I take massive amounts of Lysine daily which used to work but now just seems to help a little with the pain. Has anyone else had this problem? I wonder if my immune system is being taxed by some illness I picked up at work. Everyone there is sick right now. It is hard to know what is a detox symptom and what is being caused by this illness. The symptoms I am sharing with my coworkers are fatigue, runny nose, and earaches. Even when I have caught the flu before I still wouldn't get fever blisters unless I was also really stressed out. I am under some stress right now but it doesn't seem like enough to cause all of this. They are inside of both nostrils on the top and both sides. Every few days I get another outbreak. This is so frustrating!

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weaselfish Rookie
weaselfish
Posted

I stopped eating gluten about 2 months ago. Since then I have had the DH outbreaks at the base of my spine and on my buttocks that I seen mentioned in so many topics here but I have also had never ending outbreaks of herpes simplex I on the inside of my nose. I have had these outbreaks before but rarely. Since quitting gluten my skin has improved dramatically and so have my digestion issues but I can't get rid of my herpes or DH. I take massive amounts of Lysine daily which used to work but now just seems to help a little with the pain. Has anyone else had this problem? I wonder if my immune system is being taxed by some illness I picked up at work. Everyone there is sick right now. It is hard to know what is a detox symptom and what is being caused by this illness. The symptoms I am sharing with my coworkers are fatigue, runny nose, and earaches. Even when I have caught the flu before I still wouldn't get fever blisters unless I was also really stressed out. I am under some stress right now but it doesn't seem like enough to cause all of this. They are inside of both nostrils on the top and both sides. Every few days I get another outbreak. This is so frustrating!

Hello lulumonkey,

I'm now into my 3rd week as gluten-free as possible. I was diagnosed with HSV-1 27 years ago. I've seen no increase in HSV outbreak frequency and haven't had one since eliminating gluten in my diet. So, I don't think your unfortunate HSV issue is a result of the absence of gluten. In my case, stress is a huge trigger, and DH if anything IS stress. I had massive regular HSV outbreaks ( not happy ) from my 20's to my mid-late 30's. At 54, the older I get, the less frequent they manifest in me.

DH can take a long time to heal / stabilize, at least as far as my research tells me. And my own slow healing lends validity to that assertion as far as my personal experience goes. I've got a long way to go to get there . . .

Best of luck and healing to you lulumonkey,

WF

ciamarie Rookie
ciamarie
Posted

I also went gluten-free a little over 2 months ago. I've begun to figure out that if I have anything that has msg or some of it's aliases, the DH in my ears acts up. I haven't narrowed it all down yet, but something like that might be an issue for you also.

Or perhaps you have an issue with some other food item such as dairy? I'm not sure what your diet is like, but keeping a food diary might help.

Or look for areas of possible cross-contamination. I just cleaned out my silverware drawer yesterday, since I moved aside the stuff that was covering the bottom of the drawer and realized there were lots of crumbs in there -- most of them no doubt gluten-y. It's a big drawer, so I have my silverware holder (also just cleaned) and a bunch of 'gadgets' in there too. In the process I tossed a couple spatulas and other items that I haven't used in a while that weren't likely to be safely de-glutened.

squirmingitch Veteran
squirmingitch
Posted

Think about make up, anything you use on your skin, lotions, shampoo, conditioners & how about those "treated kleenex?"

domesticactivist Collaborator
domesticactivist
Posted

I got a herpes outbreak when first going gluten free. But then it cleared up. A year of gluten free/GAPS diet and I only had one outbreak. Now I am five weeks into a gluten challenge and I've had three outbreaks (one right after the other) since reintroducing it. They seem to have been triggered by nuts. Nuts had been a trigger before i changed my diet but on GAPS I could eat them with no problem.

Hopeful1950 Explorer
Hopeful1950
Posted

I think many people experience some crazy symptoms when going gluten-free. For me it seemed that my symptoms had to have a last big blow out.

If you think about it, if you are celiac, and you are consuming gluten, your body's immune system is always in high gear trying to attack the enemy gluten. Is it possible that, with the elimination of gluten, your immune system is not working as hard and therefore is allowing the herpes to break out? Just a theory.

lulumonkey Newbie
lulumonkey
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to hang in there.

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rosetapper23 Explorer
rosetapper23
Posted

You're smart to take Lysine....and it's possible that it's not working well for you right now because you're eating a diet that is rich in Arginine. In order for the Lysine to stop the herpes virus from erupting, your body has to be low in Arginine. It is the balance of high Lysine and low Arginine that keeps herpes outbreaks at bay. You might do a word search on foods that are rich in Arginine to figure out if your diet might be too high in it right now. If that's the case, cut back on those foods and raise your Lysine level so that your Lysine is always higher than the Arginine. Whenever I eat eggs for several days, I begin to break out in Herpes on the corners of my mouth, but as soon as I take 1,000-2,000 mg. of Lysine, the outbreak disappears. I always try to take extra Lysine when I eat eggs.

  • 2 months later...
lulumonkey Newbie
lulumonkey
Posted
  • Author

I eat eggs all the time but I didn't worry about them because they have a little more lysine than arginine. I will start taking lysine with them. I am also suspicious of the lysine that I am taking. Lysine has always worked for me in the past but it doesn't seem to do anything now. My Doctor put me on Valtrex twice a day about 6 weeks ago and they still haven't gone away. I took a vitamin D supplement the other day and that seemed to make them worse(more painful at any rate). I have increased my vitamin C intake to see what that does.

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