How to Prevent It

Shingles... If you haven't experienced it yourself, you have probably heard about how painful and unpleasant it can be. Perhaps someone you know has had it, or you've read something about it, or maybe you've experienced the agony yourself. It starts with feeling as if pins were pricking your skin, along with a blow torch. It is truly a horrible feeling....

Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus (Herpes Zoster). When you had the original outbreak of chicken pox as a kid, the virus had its hey-day, then your immune system suppressed it. The problem is that the virus never goes away completely, it just lies dormant in the nervous system.

When your immune system becomes compromised, the virus can come out of hiding and re-emerge as shingles on areas of your skin called dermatomes. This can happen when you become over-stressed, over-tired, or are not protecting yourself from temperature changes (going in/out of warm/cold rooms, etc.) A poor diet or a diet high in sugar can also compromise your immune system. 

   

The main food source for shingles/Herpes Zoster is an amino acid called lysine. As long as the virus gets plenty of this food it will lay happily in the nerve root and not come out to bother you. But when your body calls for more lysine due to temperature changes, infection, stress of any kind (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) and reserves are diminished, the virus is starved and is forced to break out of its hiding place to go on a search for food, which causes the symptoms of outbreak (pain, rash, burning, etc.).

What about the shingles vaccine?

The main function of a vaccine is to make your immune system aware of an up-coming, invading pathogen/bug so it can build up a more immediate response to it. But the Herpes Zoster virus has been in your system ever since you had chicken pox as a child, so your immune system already knows that it's there, and it's handling it. I have, however, seen dozens of patients who had their first shingles outbreak right after having the vaccine, which means that for someone who has already had the chicken pox, the vaccine could, in fact, trigger an outbreak.

I have asked literally dozens of virologists about how this vaccine works with someone who already has the latent Herpes Zoster virus, but none of them have been able to answer me. My second question is always, "Do you recommend this vaccine for your mother?" and not one has said yes. 

So how do you prevent a shingles outbreak?

Since the virus' main food source is lysine, how about supplementing with it? A general daily dose of 500 mg a day gives the Herpes organism what it needs on a daily basis. If you are under a great deal of stress, or you feel you're starting to have an outbreak, increase your dose to 2000-3000 mg a day. This gives your immune system what it needs to suppress the virus back into hiding.

There are many anti-viral plants that can work to suppress the organism as well.  Jackass bitters, lomatium, echinacea, sambucus (Elder), iris versicolor, garlic, Oregon grape root/berberis, grapefruit seed, etc. are just a few that can help support your immune system and keep viruses at bay at the same time. Melissa or lemon balm (its common name) makes a delicious tea that can be sipped as a nice preventative.  There are also many IV nutrients that can help support your immune system and prevent any viral outbreak, or can treat it if outbreaks occur.

Shingles can be extremely painful and unpleasant, but there are things you can do to help prevent it, and ways to ease your suffering if you have an outbreak. If you have further questions about how naturopathic medicine can help, just give us a call at 928-445-2900.

Blessings,

Dr. Susan Godman