I tested positive for Bartonella (infection similar to Lyme), and Epstein Barr (mono) in early 2019. I want to get retested again soon, but I have been trying to find things recently to combat the Epstein Barr virus. Coincidentally, I have been eating a lot of chocolate and sunflower seeds recently (love them and generally feel good eating them). Then I looked into the Epstein Barr, and found that it was a herpes virus, and found recommendations for combating herpes. I came across things that said for combating herpes, to avoid foods high in arginine, because arginine helps herpes replicate. The foods to avoid that were high in arginine included nuts, seeds, and chocolate. So I decided to try and stop eating my beloved sunflower seeds and chocolate. I also came across something that said lysine helps combat herpes, specifically having a higher lysine:arginine ratio, as those amino acids act via a similar pathway and lysine can cancel out the bad effects of arginine on herpes viruses. So I ordered some lysine. I have taken it for about a week now (I also added in another new supplement, olive leaf extract for a couple days while on lysine also and didn't like olive leaf either), and I decided to stop taking it because I was quite uncomfortable.
The effects of lysine for me were that it did lower anxiety, like a sedative effect though. It did not make my thinking clear though, it definitely added to my brain fog. At first the anxiolytic and fogginess seemed okay considering the possible good effects of lysine, so I took them in the context of lysine working (possibly making me a little bit sick and displaying more symptoms of epstein barr because it was helping my immune system fight the virus again). Now after a week or these sedative and brain foggy effects, I can't really take it anymore. I feel in a sedated haze. So I gave it all up, and ate some chocolate and felt better, lol (not all the way better).
I'm sure some of the bad effects were from the olive leaf I took also for a few days in the middle of my lysine test, which I don't think works well for me (activates the wrong side of the immune system for me, th2), but I feel fairly confident that the effects lysine had on me that I've laid out are pretty accurate, as those were the effects for the few days before I tried olive leaf also.
After these bad effects from lysine, I looked up some more about lysine, and found that it is a serotonin antagonist, and decreases NO (nitric oxide) by cancelling out the effects of arginine. Keep in mind that increasing the right kind of nitric oxide seems important for combating another one of my illnesses, Bartonella, as I've read that arginine supplementation is recommended to help fight Bartonella.
What I'm wondering is if the effects of lysine on me had to do with the serotonin antagonism and NO inhibiting and overall sedative effects, or did it have to do with the lysine helping kill the epstein barr virus, which worsened my state because of die-off or activation of my immune system against the virus (a good, temporary thing)? I'm thinking it's the former, but I thought the effects were noteworthy, so I wanted to write it down.
Edited by Sicko, 19 November 2019 - 06:46 PM.
