Dr. Lark Lands, POZ science editor and author of the upcoming book Positively Well: Living with HIV as a Chronic, Manageable, Survivable Disease, has found that nutritional supplements—particularly zinc, vitamin A and fatty acids—help combat warts and the seemingly intractable molluscum by improving overall skin health. To counter the rapid vitamin and mineral depletion caused by HIV, Lands suggests the following daily regimen:

Breakfast: 50–100 mg of zinc; 5,000–10,000 IU of water-soluble vitamin A (it’s important that it be water soluble because many people with HIV have difficulty absorbing fat-soluble A); 25–50 mg of vitamin B-6 in the form of pyridoxal-5-phosphate; 400–500 IU of vitamin E; 200 mcg of selenium; 2,000 mg of flaxseed oil; 240 mg of GLA, found in evening primrose oil and borage oil (the latter is cheaper and just as effective); and a good multiple vitamin/mineral.

Lunch: Two capsules of flaxseed oil.

Dinner: Same as lunch, along with 400–500 IU of vitamin E; 200 mcg of selenium; and 4–5 mg of copper sebacate to keep your zinc/copper ratio in balance.

In addition, anecdotal reports tell of great success in treating warts by daily topical application of vitamin E (squeezed from capsules) for several weeks. And after repeated treatments of cryotherapy, a PWA in Toronto reported complete success—this one sounds almost miraculous—with persistent facial molluscum by crushing Isoprinosine pills (prescribed for viruses and colds), mixing the powder with rubbing alcohol to make a thin paste, and applying to the affected area once or twice a day. He then dabbed the few that reappeared with a 2 percent solution of DNCB; in the four years since, he has had no recurrence.