Question:
5 years agor, my primary infection and L-Lysine or any amino acid was available only (UNDER THE COUNTER) in Canada. Not on the shelf you had to ask for it and they quietly brought it from out back.

I was so obsessive about L-Lysine and supressive therapy that I bought several brands just to have them, took them every day for 5 months than stopped. I didnt have an outbreak for 5 years.

Now my old bottles -- ALL EXPIRED.

Went to GNC today and after I bought a bottle realized it was L-Lysine (synthetic) thats exactly how it reads....

It there a difference between L-Lysine (synthetic) versus L-Lysine (pure).

Anybody have experiences they can share?

I was MAD when I read it was synthetic and wanted to return it...

Druid

Answer:
on your comment I looked on line at Lysine and read the back of the bottle I have for daily use. Mine is pure l-lysine. I picked it because it was, among other things, vegetarian.

I'll give you my understanding on vitamin supplements as a whole. Real food is going to be better tolerated and used by the body than supplements whether they be synthetic or not.

I'd be pissed about the synthetic form but can't rightly tell you if it is not as effective as the pure form.

Other supplements recommended to help with hsv are vitamin c, olive leaf, zinc and b vitamins. I also use calcium, magnesium, vitamin d, vitamin e and probiotics. Especially the vitamin c because it helps the body to naturally produce interferon which kills viruses.

Answer:
if u still have the old bottles you can compare labels- see if they added/took out anything

Answer:
This is an interesting issue. I once read about a study that was done on Vitamin E (synthetic Vs pure).

In the study, the synthetic initially appeared more effective. It was more potent and the body was absorbing it twice as effectively.

After a short period of time, the body began to reject the synthetic Vitamin E and found it useless. The pure Vitamin E on the other hand was consistantly effective.

I will see if I can gather some research on this.

Answer:
I think that would be most helpful. I'd like to know what has been proven to be the most effective.