L-Lysine
 

I am having a relapse of my burning sensations in my legs and feet. Somewhat in my hands as well.

I am wondering about the following: I recently dropped L-lysine from my regimen of daily supplements. Could this be the cause of my relapse?

Also, I'd be grateful if someone would remind me of why we are taking L-lysine. My search in on Wikip. didn't tell me much, and my search of this forum only brought me two results, which turned out to be my own earlier posts.

Thanks!

There are two main reasons for l-lysine...

1) to prevent or reduce a herpes outbreak or shingles pain

2) to counter the use of high dose arginine (which may activate latent herpes).

Here is some general info on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine

If L-lysine mitigates my burning pain, should I conclude, then, that I have shingles?

Or am I taking a wildly simplistic approach here?

If you had chickenpox as a child, you can have pain, generated by the latent virus. It does not always make vesicles or rash.

I am also of the opinion that herpes can do it too, since they are related.

If the lysine works for you, I'd take that as a sign!

There is a diet to balance arginine/lysine.

http://www.herpes.com/Nutrition.shtml
One wants to keep arginine lower in ratio to lysine if one has a history of any herpes.

Is it possible that my small fiber neuropathy symptoms are, in fact, shingles symptoms? Or is shingles a kind of SFN?

Shingles is a form of neuropathy. I believe it lives in the dorsal root ganglia in the spinal cord.

It is called Post herpetic neuraglia.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pos...ralgia/DS00277

I have had shingles down my right arm, and I still get pain from it now and then.

It can occur anywhere from the distribution of the chickenpox you had when younger.

I believe it is called a ganglionopathy:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_6388067_ga...uropathy_.html

If you suspect shingles you can have blood work for the titres of the antibodies to the virus. Several ones can be done. I had both simplex and zoster run when I had my shingles because they were in an odd place (usually it is across the torso chest back area). My zoster titres were very high, but simplex low.
So I took antivirals for quite a while, and also during 2 severe pain outbreaks. That was a decade ago.

I was tested in 2008. My titres showed that I did not have simplex, and I do not recall that anyone said anything about zoster-specific titres. I had neuralgia, but my symptoms were atypical of shingles. In spite of this, and having no better diagnosis, they said it was shingles and called it a day.

Two years later, I had a new and different un-diagnosable pain in my foot. Upon examination of the foot issue, a rheumatologist diagnosed me with small fiber neuropathy.

Since the prognosis and treatment for shingles and the prognosis and treatment for SFN are about the same, I am wondering whether it makes a practical difference what I have.

Well, the antiviral drugs do work. We had a person here way back in the early 2000 on our old board with severe pain in the back/chest. She finally had testing and got Famvir for it, and it cleared the pain for her.

So if you have been tested and show high zoster titres I think trying the antiviral may give you some pain relief.
Zovirax, Famvir or Valtrex are the typical antivirals used.

Otherwise all you have is high dose l-lysine.

I was on Valtrex for a full course, without result.

How "high" a dose of L-lysine are you suggesting?

Thanks!

I would start at one gram a day, and work up to 2. Take 2 grams a day for a month and see what develops for you.