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Cold sores?


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A while back, I spent several months battling cold sores that would go away and then come back a week or so later. (During this time, I completed my 5th W30 in June - saw no change in the cold sore occurrences during that.)

In early August, the cold sores finally went away and seemed to be gone for good. I was still eating mostly W30, but with some kind of sugary indulgence most nights, damn that dragon. And maybe 1-2 SAD meals a week.

Now I have started the Sept. W30. (I'm a day behind, so today is day 8 for me.) On the 4th day or so the cold sores came back! 

What's up with that? Is my body revolting against me taking away all the junk?

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@PopQuizKid - it's possible that you are eating foods higher in arginine? Do you eat a lot more nuts/seeds when you're doing a Whole30? 

Many nuts, seeds, coconut etc are very high in arginine and low in lysine. You want to make sure you are regularly eating foods high in lysine: fish, chicken, beef, pork, eggs etc. I used to get cold sores a TONNE until I started avoiding higher arginine foods, especially around my period. So on Whole30, try to avoid the nuts, seeds, dried fruits etc and off Whole30 avoid all that and also chocolate and peanut butter. My flareups are always way more likely the few days leading up to and of my period so that might be worth looking at for you also.

Sorry you're dealing with that, it's awful and stressful and so disheartening. Plus you basically feel like garbage because you have a virus. :(

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28 minutes ago, ladyshanny said:

@PopQuizKid - it's possible that you are eating foods higher in arginine? Do you eat a lot more nuts/seeds when you're doing a Whole30? 

Many nuts, seeds, coconut etc are very high in arginine and low in lysine. You want to make sure you are regularly eating foods high in lysine: fish, chicken, beef, pork, eggs etc. I used to get cold sores a TONNE until I started avoiding higher arginine foods, especially around my period. So on Whole30, try to avoid the nuts, seeds, dried fruits etc and off Whole30 avoid all that and also chocolate and peanut butter. My flareups are always way more likely the few days leading up to and of my period so that might be worth looking at for you also.

Sorry you're dealing with that, it's awful and stressful and so disheartening. Plus you basically feel like garbage because you have a virus. :(

I have been eating an apple with almond butter maybe every other day. Other than that, no nuts! (this time)

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Similar to @foursimplewords, my psoriasis flared but is calming down. I was on a major carbapalooza in the days leading up to this #septemberwhole30.

Hoping you have relief with the cold sores soon. My husband gets them on the regular and I do about once a year. Have you noticed that you're under any particular stress? If Whole30 is a big change for you, even though it's a positive change and you have done several before, change is still a stressor. Stress is what sparks my husbands each and every time.

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I used to regularly get corner mouth sores (a little bit different from cold sores as they would also happen underneath my earlobe too)  It was like my skin would split open where the crease was, or it would look "cut".

Apparently they are a sign of low iron.  

recommendation: cold water fish, liver (or other organ meats), dark leafy greens, beef, bison

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18 hours ago, Carlaccini said:

I used to regularly get corner mouth sores (a little bit different from cold sores as they would also happen underneath my earlobe too)  It was like my skin would split open where the crease was, or it would look "cut".

Apparently they are a sign of low iron.  

recommendation: cold water fish, liver (or other organ meats), dark leafy greens, beef, bison

As a mom working full-time who tends to take on too much, yeah... stress is a given.

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  • 11 months later...

I'm glad I found this thread. I just started my first Whole30 on 9/1/17 and as today is day 3 I now have a cold sore. I usually only get them about once a year at most so I wasn't expecting this to be an issue. Hopefully it clears up soon. Really unpleasant and unfortunate side effect. 

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I also got cold sores right when I was starting this! I'm on day 17 now... I took an L-lysene supplement and it went away pretty quickly. I haven't found a correlation to when I get them. It could be low immunity due to stress or lack of sleep, but I don't remember either this time. All I know is that as soon as I feel one, I take L-lysene, and sometimes if I take it soon enough, it doesn't even fully emerge and goes away in a day or two.

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  • 2 months later...

I only get cold sores about once a year. So when I had one back in September, I thought I'm in the clear. Started Whole30 on Oct 15th, and two weeks later got a cold sore. For me, usually they come in winter so my guess was low vitamin D because last year i hiked throughout the winter - spent way more time outdoors - and didn't get one. With that said, there was definitely stress involved as i would obsess what my meals will be the next few days even though I meal prepped. I also had nuts every day. Never heard that tip before that nuts can cause them and will keep it in mind. But also I had eggs and chicken often during those days. Now on day 28 it's like second nature what I can and cannot have so the stress is gone. So is the cold sore. Who knows why they pop up at the most unexpected times. 

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On 9/13/2016 at 3:44 PM, Carlaccini said:

I used to regularly get corner mouth sores (a little bit different from cold sores as they would also happen underneath my earlobe too)  It was like my skin would split open where the crease was, or it would look "cut".

Apparently they are a sign of low iron.  

recommendation: cold water fish, liver (or other organ meats), dark leafy greens, beef, bison

This is actually called angular cheilitis, not a cold sore. I used to get these a lot. It can be caused by several things, low vitamins, lots of saliva, etc. Here's the WebMD on it: https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/angular-cheilitis#1

Cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex virus. 

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