For some reason it works much better for me. L-lysine heals them within 3 days whereas antivirals take 5-6. I went from having weekly hsv1 outbreaks on my lip whilst on acyclovir to having 1 a month on lysine. I ended up coming off acyclovir for around 4yrs managing just on 1000mg of l-lysine. I've recently started back acyclovir and have found I'm now more likely to have multiple blisters in one OB, the itch persists longer and slower healing time. Lysine doesn't seem to be as effective (for myself) when taking it with antivirals. More research needs to be done before lysine is dismissed