READER QUESTION: “I have had perfect digestion and good diet, and perfect bowel movements 98% of the time, until sudden constipation over the last month, which has caused problems including (I believe) a fistula or fissures that affect the vaginal wall. I just read a recent Yale University study that found the herpes virus can rarely cause constipation, and can deaden the nerves in the colon. This seems to make sense, since I was just diagnosed with the herpes virus when this started (after 6 years of marriage, didn’t know I had it, but my husband’s first wife had the mouth sores, so I guess it makes sense).. So, the outbreak could be connected to the unexplained constipation which persists most days no matter what I eat – hard & painful BM’s that cause injury, and things just don’t want to move along when they should. So my question is…. will your elemental diet with the oregano oil be enough to get clear up virus in colon? Should I add a special kind of enema with raw vinegar or something to kill it? Any other ideas for this specific problem? There are others that I’ve found on a blog, with herpes and chronic constipation, that will not go away no matter what advice they follow (Besides Senna Tea which is habit forming).”

JINI SAYS: I can tell you that I also carry the herpes virus (stats show 67% of people under age 50 are infected) and it breaks out on my lips and nose. I did an intensive Jini’s Wild Oregano Oil Protocol for over 2 years (cycling on and off to kill MAP) so I’m going to surmise that, no, that isn’t sufficient to kill herpes.

However, I have found that L-lysine is extremely effective at preventing or healing a cold sore eruption. I take 500 mg/day during high stress or low sleep times for prevention. And then I take 1,000 mg if I have an outbreak. Thus far, I’ve only had outbreaks when I’ve forgotten to take the 500 mg during stress! I just open the capsule and take it with a packet of Emergen-C (as I can’t swallow pills) – perhaps the Vitamin C potentizes the L-lysine?

In addition, research shows that L-lysine helps relieve anxiety-induced diarrhea and also shows promise as a colorectal cancer treatment. So I don’t see any downside to including a reasonable dosage of this amino acid as part of your holistic treatment.

Some people take up to 3 grams per day of L-Lysine (3 doses of 1000 mg each) but it’s not recommended to go higher than that, or to stay on a high dosage for longer than a year without a break. My experience – if you’re holistically managing stress, sleep, good diet, exercise – is there’s no need to use such a high dosage. It’s much better to treat issues holistically, rather than looking for one ‘magic bullet’.

If the nerves are actually dead, then I don’t know of a therapy that can regenerate those nerves… laser therapy is the only thing that comes to mind, but not sure how you’d access the location!

I would think your best hope would be guided visualization, relying on the body’s wisdom. So then you would use this audio to lead into what you feel you should visualize (trust your body and whatever images/ideas come as your body knows what it needs).

And make sure that you’ve also investigated holistic treatment for constipation (<– yes, click that link!). Perhaps the herpes virus is the triggering event, or it may have been the ‘final straw’, but it is likely not the whole picture. So first step is to figure out which type of constipation you have: Stenosis or Peristaltic Constipation – as the treatment is different for each.