A legacy of my misspent use was Herpes, contracted at age 18 (now 48) I also have had coldsores since I was a child - great! a double whammy! Over the years I have tried all kinds of things to ease the outbreaks. Results were either non-existent, negligible, sometimes very good (as in Zovirax, but after a while I seemed to become immune to it, and it stopped working) The cold sores were terrible, at its worst I got 13 at the same time:( Life was hell Genital OB's were usually about every 6 weeks, unless I was sexually active (friction causes OB's) stressed, run down etc in which case they were back to back. I have to say that over the years, H has cost a great deal in my life, financially, but more especially, emotionally. I have had to tell several partners that I have the virus - it has been hard 2 years ago a friend recommended something he uses, a natural product called Virasoothe. I am astounded at how good this product is, and can't understand why not more people know about it. I have not had ONE cold sore since I used it, and after my personal history of OB's that is a miracle. It has not stopped entirely genital OB's BUT they are definately less frequent, less severe and more contained. The most amazing thing tho, is the relief. It cools, soothes, takes away the itch, throb tingle and truly minimized things till it is no big deal at all - OB's now are nothing more than a kind of benign lump. I am aware that I am still contagious, and take due precaution, but this product has changed my life. For those of you who get cold sores, you can imagine what it is like to NOT have them. This is an excellent product, I happily sent them testimony as it seems, many, many others have done. Well worth a look http://www.essential-nz.com/virasoothe.htm I have no commercial interest in this product - just a big fan