Peaches,

I don't know, but it is a possibility. If true, that would mean that the strep and herpes simplex virus are always present in certain individuals. I think that is true for herpes simplex, but I don't know about strep. We need real scientists here, but in the meantime, all we can do is theorize.

Desperate, now that I think about it, I used to have cold sores on occasion, mostly when I was very tired or stressed. I haven't had any in so long that I forgot about them.

I have been oil pulling for 15 months. During the first 2 or 3 months, I had cold sores a few times, but now I don't think I have had any in a year. When I had them regularly, I would rub goldenseal powder on them, and they would usually go away in less than an hour.

kebod

Well its something to think about...there are a variety of "things" that can lay dormant in your body without symptoms. Chicken pox virus for example. It can come out as shingles off and on in your life, sometimes flares and sometimes dormant. Stress brings out shingles. Stress also can bring on cold sores. I do know that docotors have proven that you can be a carrier of stret without symptoms. I believe there are others I am not thinking about.

Oh, and exposure to aspestos can lead to a horrible cancer (huge long name, my MIL had it) but can lay dormant for years before appearing as cancer. My MIL was exposed to aspestos as a child, died 2years ago from that exposure leading to the rare cancer that only aspestos causes and won a law suit. The doctors told us she probably had it for years and years but extreme stress triggered it.

Anyway, all that said to say, in "theory" I do believe we can have things present in our bodies that our bodies fight daily but can come out from stress or other reasons eventually.

Well, it's a working theory!

p.s.

I wanted to add, that if oil pulling did bring out a cold sore, I would say that is a positive sign. I know that would be hard to accept but really, its like my husband and this strep, it sucks dealing with this, but it is MY theory that oil pulling will eventually cure my husband of having the strep virus in his throat.

Pushing through toxin overload and such is worth it if afterwards your palate is nice and clean, so to speak. So I would suggest you push through this, it could lead to years of being cold sore FREE!

Love those no-see-ums!
I've been oil pulling about 6 months and only recently had a cold sore. In my situation, I suspect hormonal fluctuations - complete drop offs! - and the start of cold weather more than stress or oil. BUT since I imagine the oleic acid in the oil carries various things into the body, you might want to watch your lysine to arginine ratio:
Herpes - Nutrition
Yogurt, cheeses, goat's milk cheese too, and fish all have higher lysine content and might prevent outbreaks. Following this chart, coconut, almond and sesame all have poor ratios but Avocado is quite good so you might want to do avocado oil more than coconut. (I think I'll add it too, maybe that's part of kebod's success.) I don't know about sunflower exactly, it doesn't seem to be on the list but I didn't have any breakouts when I used it or flax and I have had my hormonal issues during that time also. Lately I've used pumpkin seed and it has a poor ratio () so I am going to bet that it is contributing with my other probs to creating a herpes-friendly system - ick (your stress combined with oil and who knows what else may tilt your system's balance in the wrong way too).
I might try the goldenseal powder thing. Tea Tree Oil applied several times a day knocks them out very quickly for me and I take a Lysine supplement at first sign also. I'll be curious to know if you switch or alternate with a different oil with success - bd

I dont know guys, I am thinking about giving it up. I absolutely hate cold sores. I mean it is bad enough to have red chicken skin and 10 pounds underweight, but then to have big sores on your lips, it is all too much. Peaches, your therory sounds great, but how do we know if it is true or not. Maybe this herpes virus lays dormant in me and the oil brings it out.

I guess I am having a bad day. I have been trying so hard. Eating so healthy. Raw, organic, loading up on EFAs.

Anyway thanks so much, Peaches, BunnyDay and Kebod!!!!!! You guys are great!!

Desperate,

I feel for you and I sure hope your situation improves. Stress is the key element to many, many thing, cold sores being one of them.

We/you have no idea why you have a cold sore right now, it could be purely coincidental. Maybe not. Either way, if you are going to work so hard for good health, eating raw, organic things, that are not cheap, then dont give up on oil swishing yet, it could be what you are looking for and you dont even know it yet.

I dont remember which oil you are using but try a different one if you want.

Most importantly keep a positive attitude, because as a man thinkith in his heart is what he is. Think great and positive things and believe you can achieve them. If you are doing healthy things for your body you will eventually see results.

Im praying the very best for you!

Baronster,

Hadn't checked the forum in a couple of days and just saw your post on diet suggestions. Thanks for the tips! Once I start this diet, I will definitely be very committed.


Kebod,
I didn't have time to oil-pull this morning (the first time I haven't). Is it okay if I do it in the evening instead, just for today?

Thanks,
DtoB

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Annuu's instructions on how to resize pictures, I was (Finally!!) able to upload my pictures in the Gallery. They are under "Before and After Pictures." For the moment, mine are just the before pictures, but hopefully I will be able to post some successful afters in the next few weeks. Feel free to check them out - there are 18. It is hard to accurately represent the bumps and redness in photos (as anyone who has tried to take photos of their kp knows), but I did my best. Just keep in mind that my kp is more severe than it looks in these photos.

DtoB

where is this gallery?? i cant find it??

If you scroll up to the top of the page, there are three tabs in the right hand corner, just under the rectangular Keratosispilaris.org box: Gallery, Blogs, and Arcade. Click on "Gallery."

D - I'm sorry you had a bad day. It does suck when we try so hard and it seems like something sets us back.
Yeah, that's exactly what the med community believes it does, lies dormant and hidden from the immune system in the nervous system like a Trojan Horse as it were. from: Cold Sores: Facts and Triggers
"Does the virus disappear from the body when the cold sore is healed?

No, the virus will remain in the body forever.
Why do I get cold sores and some don’t?

Little is known about this but some patients may be genetically predisposed to get cold sores.
What triggers a cold sore?

Exposure to extreme sunlight such as skiing, sailing, or tanning on the beach. Stress, menstruation, depression, and skinlaser treatment may also trigger a cold sore."
so, there we are. I find it really horrible that strep might do the same thing? I'll have to check that out. For a big cold sore I find that usually two or three triggers have to happen for me (sunburn, lack of sleep, stress, too much chocolate and no other food one day, too much caffeine not enough protein, grief, etc...) to get one so I'd bet that your recent stress didn't help plus maybe a couple other things hit you, maybe the oil, and voila - the yucky sore. Sorry. I'm definitely getting some avocado oil to pull if I feel one coming on. Probably it's great for the skin too. - bd

Hey, that proves my theory was correct about it laying dormant. Well, ok it wasnt "my" theory first, haha, but bunny confirms that the cold sores virsus does lay dormant and so does the strep virus.

Desperate, I maintain that even if the oil pulling did trigger the cold sore, keep doing it and push on through. Things always seem to get worse before better. My husband was dealing with much worse than a cold sore with this strep (his uvula grows andcan be life threatening) and he did have to go to the doctore but are continuing to push through, adding oregano and I believe things will indeed get better. And hopefully when we are done he wont get strep as often.

Keep trying new things, you cant give up!

Desperate,

It's fine to do OP in the evening, as long as it has been about 3 hours since you ate. I have tried OP twice in the evening, and both times I couldn't fall asleep when I went to bed. Some are affected this way, others have no problem falling asleep when they OP late.

Desperate, I hope you can stay with OP. I really think it will help you in the long run to achieve a level of health so that you won't have cold sores anymore. In the meantime, keep some goldenseal powder by your bed. When you go to sleep at night, rub some on the sores. In the morning, they will be gone. A doctor told me about this -- a regular allopathic m.d. (I love it when allopathic doctors borrow from alternative medicine and aren't afraid to recommend an alternative remedy.)

BD, I used coconut oil in the beginnng to get rid of KP, but I notice it now stays diminished, regardless of what type of oil I use.

Peaches, Desperate, BD -- I've learned a lot from all of you with the discussion concerning latent viruses. And I'm thrilled to see you supporting each other here.

kebod

Well just now i've been oil pulling. I worked up an INCREDIBLE amount of saliva in my mouth today while oil pulling, so much so that my mouth felt.. tart.. not sure how to explain it, but its like when you get the drooling sensation after eating spicy foods and you salivate more than usual - thats exactly the effect the oil is having on my mouth, and its extraordinary. I had to spit out the last bit of oil i had in my mouth and start again (10 minutes both times). Right now i have the second set in my mouth.

Now here's the funky part..

When i spat out the first set into the sink, i looked closely and noticed the oil was about the same in amount as the saliva.. slowly they seperated into the saliva and oil bubbles (as i like to call them). But they weren't normal oil bubbles. They looked much much smaller and they sparkled, like there was something in them. I know its not the lighting in my kitchen because the lights are at the edges around the room and buffed by the cupboards, so we get the "soft glowing light" in all parts of the room, not the dominant light from the middle of the cieling. So it was not just total glare by the light.. it was as if the oil enclosed in its bubbles heavy metals or something.. just like it felt metallicy in my mouth.. and the little silvery beads split and floated down my drain. I've never had this happen before - but i'm thinking it might have been from the candy I had on halloween when my friends were over - it would definitely amount to higher levels of toxins in my body. its only been about 5 minutes and my mouth is already EXTREMELY full from the saliva my body is creating. I might have to do a third set? Who knows.

Any thoughts, kebod?

Hi EW,

I have noticed the same appearance of the little bubbles, also, but I thought it was because the swishing had broken the oil globules into such tiny bits and oil has a glowing quality anyway. It is frustrating that we don't have any experiments or research to tell us exactly what is happening. All we can do is make our guesses, and I would say you have a good guess.

I have noticed that what I eat the night before, especially if I have any dairy, changes the pull experience. For some reason, every day for the last week, my mouth has seemed overly full with saliva, even though I haven't changed my diet. Maybe it is due to some change my body is going through as I deal with candida.

I look forward to the day when research will explain this to us.

kebod