Dear Dr. SerVaas: The March/April issue requested input from readers using lysine for post-herpetic neuralgia. I was diagnosed with shingles inside my mouth about ten years ago and still have intermittent pain. My brother, who had frequent cold sores, told me about L-lysine, and I decided to take it when I had bouts of pain.
I learned by trial and error that I fare very well if I take a megadose of lysine (eight to fifteen 500 mg tablets) upon the start of the symptoms and then two to four tablets every two to four hours. The pain is usually gone within three to four days. I believe the initial megadose is very important, since the lysine treatment doesn't seem to work near as well without it.
Taking lysine hasn't prevented the pain from returning, but it gets me through each bout much quicker and with far less discomfort. I have never noticed any ill effects from taking lysine. Thank you for your medical articles.
Phyllis Ketzenberg
Stanwood, Washington
Dear Dr. SerVaas: I was left with post-herpetic neuralgia two years ago, and I had been taking lysine for years. So it certainly hasn't helped me. I haven't found anything that helps the intense itching in my eye and forehead.
By the way, my health-food store no longer carries high-lysine corn. Arrowhead Mills said they don't have it anymore. Do you know of any place I can get it? Thank you for a great magazine. I love it.
Labelma Gahring
Oxnard, California
Dear Readers: High-lysine cornmeal is available through the American Foundation for Preventive Medicine. To order two 13-ounce bags, send $5.95 plus $2.00 shipping and handling to AFPM, P.O. Box 1144, Indianapolis, IN 46202-1144.
The late Dr. Richard Griffith, a longtime lysine researcher, recommended that cold-sore sufferers take 500 mg of lysine per 22 pounds of body weight daily.
While Dr. Griffith was tremendously successful in preventing shingles and fever blisters, he could never report similar success with post-herpetic neuralgia. Once established, the persistant pain is difficult. Lysine, unfortunately, isn't a miracle treatment for it.
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