herpes cure

Tag: herpes cure

Overcoming Herpes Depression with Passion

Herpes depression is a real thing for many women. It can be overwhelming and leave women feeling all alone.

It’s not that you don’t have enough Zoloft running through your veins, it’s just that you are believing your thoughts about what it means to have herpes.

Most of you are thinking that…

No one will ever love me OR

My symptoms will NEVER get under control OR

People are going to think of me differently.

While these are all common thoughts, they do not need to be your TRUTH.

The truth is that you CAN overcome these thoughts about this diagnosis and rediscover hope, healing, and happiness.

If you are tired of feeling depressed…here is what you need to do.

You need to get out of your head and back into your heart!

While you probably haven’t felt like doing the things you love to do and are passionate about….I’m here to kick your butt and tell you that it is time to return to your passions, even if it is just for 30 minutes.

Here is a quick video from me to you from the beautiful mountains of Colorado. I wanted to send it to you yesterday, but I guess it was meant to happen today.

You know why? I just found out that Warren Miller, a ski movie icon, at 93 years old died today. He created a whole industry and lifestyle around his number one passion, skiing. I was introduced to him and his ski movies at the age of 8. Here is a video that I dedicate to him. May you rediscover your passions and not give up on happiness!

Home Remedy for Herpes: As Simple As Tea

The Healing Properties and History of Tea

I was diagnosed with herpes many years ago, and as a doctor and woman with herpes, I have learned how to manage and treat herpes all naturally. Tea is at the top of the list for an effective home remedy for herpes. Not just any tea will do. After a brief background on tea, you will discover some great ideas for healing herpes lesions using tea. Did you know that tea is the number one beverage consumed globally?

Tea was first consumed in China around 1500-1046 BC, when a Chinese Emperor was sipping hot water and some tea leaves blew into the water. The emperor was pleasantly surprised by the taste and later he discovered its medicinal properties. I have always been intrigued by the medicinal properties of tea and other all natural substances. Not only does our body know how to better assimilate natural remedies, but one doesn’t have to be as concerned about the side effects.

Since coffee is very high in arginine, an amino acid that is a known trigger for herpes, I have always encouraged people with herpes to switch to herbal tea. The lower caffeine content of tea is preferable to coffee for creating a more conducive environment for healing. Caffeine is very hard on the adrenal glands, which are our glands that respond to stress. Most Americans are stressed out enough and adding caffeine to their bodies places their immune system in a state of overwhelm. Stress depresses one’s immunity and also increases one’s risk for frequent herpes outbreaks.

The active ingredient in tea, specifically Black Tea, is tannins. This is what gives tea its bitterness and its effectiveness for inhibiting the herpes virus. During your next outbreak, follow these easy steps. (Do NOT drink the black tea, for the caffeine content is too high. Instead, choose an herbal tea.)

1. Steep an organic black tea back in water for an hour

2. Allow the tea bag to cool

3. Place warm (not hot) tea bag on herpes lesion for several minutes

4. Pat dry and apply a topical salve or solution that is known to inhibit the virus and heal the lesion

5. Do this several times a day. You can also break the tea bag to expose your sores directly to the tea leaves

6. Dispose of the tea bag once it is used

Sipping Herbal Blends- Please check with your doctor first

There are several herbal teas known to boost immunity, support the liver, and calm the nervous system, all of which help to decrease the severity and intensity of a herpes outbreak.  A herpes outbreak suggests a depressed immune system and a stressed out nervous system. What stresses the immune system? Everyday life, lack of sleep and a poor diet. Sip these supportive teas as a preventative and during outbreaks.

  • Valerian root– has calming properties to de-stress the nervous system
  • Lemon balm, Pau D’arco Dandelion, Licorice root, Goldenseal and Echinacea– antiviral properties to inhibit the herpes virus and boost immunity
  • Burdock root– supports the detoxification of the liver

To prepare the herbs: Take 4-6 Tbs. in 1 quart of cold filtered water. Cover pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Remove from heat for 20 minutes or more. Strain and drink 3-4 cups per day.

Live. Love. Thrive.

Dr. Kelly

Birthing A Book- The Final Push- 8 hours Left

Birthing A Book- The Final Push- 8 hours Left

indiegogo_logo_detailI am in the last 8 hours of my Pink Tent campaign, an effort to eradicate the stigma of herpes and to support and empower women on their journey towards wellness. This campaign has been a long 6 weeks, moving at the pace of a snail, but I do believe that I have learned a great deal.

The evening before we launched this campaign, I found out that I was pregnant. What a surprise! I couldn’t believe that 2012 would hold the blessings of birthing a book AND birthing a baby. I knew that 2012 was to be full of surprises, but I had no idea that they could be this magnificent. While the project appeared to be a failure, it forced me to turn inward toward the new life that was growing inside of me.

My focus on marketing my project and “making it happen” quickly shifted to a state of utter surrender and non attachment. Of course I wanted the campaign to be successful, but the health of our baby and our growing family was the most important thing to me. I will never forget the feeling I had when I found out that I was pregnant again. I felt whole, like a huge part of my life was complete. This baby spirit was a brilliant, loving presence in my life. I felt like my journey as a mother was complete, for in 9 1/2 months I would be holding the new edition to our family. Just as fast as this spirit came in, it left.

One week ago I miscarried our 10 week old baby. We were devastated! How could it be? Why? I have spent the last week grieving and exploring the spiritual lessons at hand for me. I had never even considered this to be a possibility for us and I guess no one ever does.

Here we are now with 8 hours left in the campaign. At this point, we have raised $1615 and we are grateful for every bit of it. The reality of it is that we took this project on and thought that that it would serve women around the world. With such a huge vision, we spent tens of thousands of dollars to bring this to market. I have spent the last year and a half writing this book and have spent the past 10 years learning about best practices in business. With so many women in the world suffering from herpes, I would have thought this campaign would have been better supported. I guess I never realized how radical our vision was to support women with herpes, despite the fact that 1 in 4 have it.

I have written the book and all I need is enough money to do a final proofread and layout. I am driven to complete this book and to be a light unto a suffering world of women who question their ability to ever find love again, including self love, a gift beyond measure. We still have $1800 in accounts receivable, $1400 in editing costs and about $2000 for a final layout. This does not include the funds needed to market the book. I have promised the completion of this book to several women and I need to complete this birthing process. This book has been growing inside me since 1997, when I contracted herpes and even then I knew that I would turn this tragedy into something positive. I want women with herpes to learn how to reclaim their lives, learn radical forgiveness and to discover self love and intimacy. It would be very easy for my husband and I to give up at this time, refund our Indiegogo supporters and pay off our accounts receivable.

Bottom line is that I need to birth this book and make a final push. I still don’t quiet understand why we lost our child during this process, but I will not lose this book that has been growing inside of me. I want to contribute to the world of women who are suffering and I am determined to make this happen. Please help me make the final push by contributing to www.Indiegogo.com/PinkTent. I need your help!

Live. Love. Thrive.

Dr. Kelly

www.PinkTent.com    

What Is Herpes?

What Is Herpes?

Many people have been diagnosed with herpes, and yet they do not know what herpes actually is- so let’s define it

herpesHerpes is a virus that has been around for 140 million years, infecting humans and animals alike.  Over twenty-five centuries ago, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, coined the term herpes from the Greek “to creep”. Aptly named, herpes has the ability to creep along any nerve and infect skin cells at more distant sites. Herpes is so common globally that it has the second largest incidence rate worldwide, trailing only behind the common cold.  Chances are you have been exposed to the herpes virus at some point in your lifetime.

When I was a child, parents would throw chickenpox parties so that all of the children would become infected. The idea was that it was better for the body to build up immunity and “learn” about the virus so that the chances of developing a reoccurrence from the painful condition of shingles later in life was not as high. Can you imagine if we could get over the stigma of HSV (Herpes Simplex Virus) and have a neutral, educated perspective on it? Now, don’t imply from this that I would encourage sexual parties to spread the love, but seriously, it does show how ostracized our viewpoints are of one strain of the herpes virus and not the other.

HSV is as common as the chickenpox strain and yet people associate herpes with being dirty or promiscuous. Why is it that most people don’t think twice about a cold sore, but would feel embarrassed about a genital outbreak, when in fact, it is the same type of virus. Cold sores are so prevalent in our culture and their location during cold and flu season make them challenging to hide. I am certain that you know of family and friends who are prone to these outbreaks and yet, you would never associate anything negative about their character for being a carrier of the virus. A genital sore; however, is hidden and found in an area that for most is very private and secretive.

As a culture, we have not been raised to talk about our sexual health, nor have we been encouraged to embrace our sexuality. Add an infection to our privates and we become extremely uncomfortable, shameful and embarrassed. This is why, I believe, that although a herpes infection can be detected in the blood of the whole body, our culture views the location of the outbreak differently. If a person has a genital outbreak, then their sexual practices are often wrongly, and presumptuously judged. This is something that most people are not comfortable talking about.

My opinion was reinforced by an experience I had, while I was interviewed on the morning show, Connections, on KGNU radio 88.5 FM (1390 AM) on the topic of Women and Herpes. The interviewer was shocked when she found out that chickenpox and Mononucleosis (the kissing disease) were both part of the herpes family. I could see the fear in her eyes when she asked me if by having either chickenpox or mononucleosis, did it mean she had HSV I or 2. I was happy to share with her that one did not preclude the other, but I do think that it drove the herpes conversation a little closer to home.



[1] Shingles is a member of the herpes family, also known as Herpes Zoster.

Are You At Risk For Herpes?

Are You At Risk For Herpes?

1in4peopleStatistically speaking, one in four people (a very conservative number) has herpes. That means then that for every four Americans you know, at least one of them has herpes. Are you ready to look at reality for what it is? Let’s create some compassion for those who have herpes and are suffering in silence. And for those of you who think you are so “pure”, if you get cold sores, you have herpes!  
If not, and you still don’t think you have herpes, only a blood test can determine that. If you are assuming that herpes is included in a standard STD test, think again. You have to specifically ask for this test. Statistics have also shown that up to 90% of people who thought they did not have herpes actually tested positive.
Creative Loafing published a great article on “Getting Real About Herpes”- check it out here and share with friends and family!

What Is A Healing Crisis?

What Is A Healing Crisis?

Time to HealA healing crisis occurs when there is an increase in physical and/or emotional symptoms, during times of intense healing. In the eyes of Western medicine, in general, healing is associated with a decrease in symptoms as opposed to an increase in symptoms. 

A healing crisis might seem a bit out of the ordinary because there will always be an increase in symptoms before one gets better- Even with herpes.  Let me give you an example to further explain the process. Your body is an accumulation of life experiences and emotions. Each and every experience you have ever had, on some level, has been stored in your body. So the saying goes, an elephant never forgets; neither does your body. Your body holds on to all of your life experiences, including diseases, illness, trauma and emotional turmoil . This is all well and good when your life is a box of chocolates, but what happens when crisis strikes?

During high levels of stress, your body begins to release different hormones than it does when things are going well. As the stress loads increase and the body can no longer handle it, the efficiency of your system as a whole begins to break down. Muscles get tight, immunity decreases, digestion slows, toxins begin to build up, brain function diminishes and your body goes into a break down mode, much like a car can break down on the side of the road. Each person responds to breakdown mode with different emotions.

This breakdown or crisis might lead to high blood pressure, low back pain, bouts of diarrhea, head aches, cancer or any number of illnesses. The breakdown could also be a mental breakdown or a bout of depression. Breakdown mode is like the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. In these situations, the body can no longer function as normal and the goal of the body is to have you do something different, eat better, sleep more, get more nutrients in your diet, change your body mechanics at work, decrease the stress in your life or whatever else has been accumulating as a stress in your life. During crisis mode, you can no longer ignore your symptoms and just put tape over your engine light that is blinking. This down time in crisis is often exactly what the doctor ordered for you to stop and begin listening to your body and healing.

Each major crisis in your life is stored like the layers of an onion, where the core is the beginning of your life and the outer onion ring is your most recent year. A good healer will begin working with the outermost, most recent layer of your life. This is often why you sought care in the first place.

If your symptom is something that has been chronic, it is most probably linked to an imbalance from times past. During intense holistic healing, the body begins to re pattern itself, so that new neural connections are made and balance is restored. These healing crisis symptoms are revealed in a reverse chronological order, much like pulling back the layers of an onion.

Let’s say that five years ago you had a bout of cancer and 15 years ago you broke your arm. In this case, a person might re experience the symptoms of cancer as the body completes that layer of healing. During this new layer of integration and healing, the body will begin to release toxins and emotions associated with the original trauma. In this case, maybe a rash might form as the body releases stored toxins from chemotherapy.

The next major healing crisis in your journey might appear as an increase in pain in your arm. Maybe your arm never fully repaired itself and now the body wants to address this injury because it has the available nutrients and energy. As the body build new neuronal pathways and breaks down scar tissue, you are left with an arm that is better than ever. The good news is that these healing crisis symptoms generally do not last for more than a few days or up to a week. It is not uncommon for emotions to also be released as the body reintegrates and heals. Unfortunately, there are no guidelines I have for you to distinguish a healing crisis from a new injury or a formula that does not work for you.

If you are just beginning to heal your herpes, be sure to give a remedy some time to work and don’t be surprised if your symptoms get worse before they get better. It is quite possible that the remedy or exercise might be causing the virus to be killed off in large numbers. This could lead to an increase in symptoms as your body attempts to push the virus out of your body from a dormant state. This COULD be a healing response, depending on your comfort level, make a change if you feel the need to try something different.