I had a very stressful couple of weeks recently and I think it seriously compromised my immune system because I developed herpes in the form of my first shingles episode! I know this because this virus likes to attack when you’re down and your immune system is at an all-time low. WebMD confirms this: Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons.

In spite of this being my first outbreak of shingles, with the help of Dr Google, YIKES! (don’t worry I have some reliable sources) it didn’t take long to self-diagnose and find out how to treat. Here is a useful site: How to eliminate shingles quickly and naturally using alternative holistic methods.

With no time to waste I threw the book at my shingles, swallowing everything that might support my immune system and improve my lysine/arginine ratio. High dose Lysine, Vitamin C, zinc, Vit B complex and B12 sublinguals, silver gel and silver solution, you name it. I paid strict attention to my diet so chocolate and nuts had to go.

My biggest regret was that I was out of Gigartina Red Marine Algae Capsules! I know that the Herpes virus is no match for this amazing anti-viral supplement and if you can start with a high dose early enough, the virus will normally not be able to gain a foothold. I promised myself I will never be without Gigartina RMA again because it is imperative that one attacks the virus from the inside at the first sign of symptoms. Gigartina is a strain of Red Marine Algae and several years of study have shown that just a few of the species of RMA effectively suppress Herpes and other viruses, especially in the initial stages of an attack. Use of the right supplemental RMA increases the length of time between Herpes attacks, alleviates symptoms, promote an effective cell mediated immune response to the virus and inhibit a step in viral replication both outside and inside infected cells. Gigartina has also been shown to reduce the amount of colonies in an outbreak, therefore reducing the severity of the outbreak. 4000mg of Gigartina RMA per day which amounts to 4 capsules is the recommended dosage for outbreak prevention and 16000mg per day, 8 capsules taken twice a day during an outbreak. It is important to note that Gigartina RMA from Vibrant Health contains at least 300mg of sulphated polysaccharides which is the ingredient with the healthful benefit.

My saving grace was that I did have some RMA ointment on hand. I cannot begin to describe the instantaneous relief this gave me as far as pain, redness and swelling goes, and with the help of all the supplements I was taking, within 2 days there were no visible signs of shingles and no pain. Considering a shingles episode would normally last 2-4 weeks, I was pretty chuffed.

Now the Herpes virus lurks in the system and has a nasty way of rearing its ugly head at the most inconvenient times, most commonly in the form of cold sores. So if you are prone to cold sores or shingles outbreaks, I strongly recommend that you keep both the Gigartina RMA and the RMA ointment in the arsenal in your medicine cabinet. Attack from the inside and apply topically the moment you feel that first dreaded tingle.

Gigartina is also very effective against chicken pox, influenza, coxsackievirus, tick bite fever, even warts!