Behavior: Snake Venom and Earwax

Since there is no cure, frustrated herpes sufferers will try almost any potion or palliative. Some herpetics regularly consume buttermilk, vitamins, herbs or lysine, an amino acid that is said to help retard viral growth. Some avoid eating chocolate, nuts and other foods containing arginine, another amino acid that some specialists think encourages viruses. Other patients apply seaweed, earwax, snake venom, peanut butter, watermelon, ether, baking soda, bleach, yogurt compresses, carburetor fluid or Instant Ocean, an aquarium product that they lace into their bath water. None of these home remedies is a cure, but sufferers keep experimenting. Says Dr. John Grossman of Washington, D.C.: "Everything from the full moon to poultices has met with failure. If enough people have the problem, ultimately someone will relate it to whether it rained last week."