Swear warning
I hate them! I despise them! They are the bane of my existence! I’ve had them at different times throughout my life. They have affected crucial times in my development, I can remember dates when I was 15 when one would appear and I’d have to call and cancel, I remember the anxiety before my wedding hoping beyond hope I wouldn’t get one for that day [ and I didn’t] and countless other times when I was embarrassed to have one appear.
Thank Og it’s been over 2 years since I have had one, I got a taste of what it was like to live without these nasties surfacing. Then this morning I awoke to that God aweful tingle. You know the one. The tingle we never forget!
There I was thinking to myself as I walked over to the mirror FUCK! I get to the mirror, and … FUCK! There it is.
So I called my internist, who is a friend of mine this morning at 8:15…Heh, he was just arriving to his office, and asked him what I should do. He was slightly ticked off I called his cell, but I know him well enough to call it. He called in a script for Denavir. I guess it’s the new great thing…so, here I am, I’ll try it and hope.
Have you tried the OTC stuff that’s supposed to make them go away faster? I’ve heard pretty good stuff about it (Abreva in particular, has been mentioned).
I can really sympathize about the wedding thing. . .I almost never get cold sores, but I got one about a month before my wedding. Then, with all the stress of the wedding planning, my mother being terminally ill, having a small baby (yeah, we did things backwards), the one spread, and I ended up with hundreds in my mouth and throat. My gums were so swollen that all you could see of my teeth were little white bumps at the bottoms of my gums. My throat was so sore I couldn’t eat anything but Campbell’s Country Vegetable Soup and Healthy Choice Berry Swirl ice cream (yeah, it’s been 18 years, but I still remember it that clearly). My MIL, who had made my wedding gown threatened “If you lose so much weight I have to alter your gown, I’ll kill you!”
A week and a half before the wedding, we went to see a doctor. She said there was really nothing she could do, I just had to wait it out. When we told her we were getting married in ten days, she said “Well, there is something I could try, but it’s expensive, and it’s experimental” and we said “Give it to us! Please!” Expensive? Hells, yes! Something along the lines of $3.00 a pill, 4 times a day! But it worked! I was healthy in time for the wedding. The “expensive, experimental” drug was Acyclovir.
I about started a pit thread last month, but I couldn’t get a coherent rant going. Had one right before we went to Mexico, was sick and that occasionally triggers them, and was relieved when Abreva managed to get it down before the trip. Whee! I thought (well, not really. I almost never think “whee”) got it over with for another year. Except sunburn sometimes will bring one on and, as a pasty-white guy in Mexico, guess what I got? Right! A sunburn. Cold sore number 2 cleared up pretty fast (perhaps because I still had Abreva and got on it quick). Two weeks later, outdoor event with my Cub Scouts, sunburn, cold sore number three and this one made it all the way to the crusty scab stage.
BIng the sun shines all day, i have a cold to begin with and then a few hours of rays and there it is a blister on my lip, it stings! The first one in a couple years since.
The usual coarse of campho dries it up, scab lip, a little bleeding, more scab. Finally it is flaking off. I take it serious that it heals quick and completely. I fear the melanoma scab.
ANd what do you know, but while waiting at the soccer fields, trying keep my scab lip in seclusion, a youth group with camera comes up to the lady by herself on a bench in the corner of the park and asks if they could interview me on “what does it means to be a woman?” :dubious:
I lift my head and smile suuuu-uuure. They all stepped back, (kidding). So the camera rolled and i gave my off the cuff very adjectivey .02
Zovirax is my medication of choice, backing up an Infrared ColdSore zapper. I don’t know if that works well or not - I just throw everything I can at the tingle.
I know I get them inside my nose, and I am really paranoid about viral encephalitis.
One day, I’ll push for a course of antivirals to deal with my Hep B, and maybe that will take out the Herpes virus as well. I can hope.
I got something in Italy once, it’s called Pyralvex. I’m almost certain it’s not here in the states. I can say though that it’s faster then anything I’ve ever tried, so much so that when I felt one coming I used it and it was gone almost right away. They have some good stuff in Europe.
If they are inside your mouth then what you have are canker sores. I get those things when I bite the inside of my mouth.
Here’s a remedy that works well for me. After each meal brush your teeth and rinse with antiseptic mouthwash. Then take a sip of Maalox (or any liquid antacid) and swish it around your mouth and hold it over the sore for about a minute. This neutralizes the acidity in your mouth and coats the sore.
I can get them to not swell as much by icing them immediately, and abreva does speed healing for me. But the whole idea of this thing living in my spine waiting to pounce because I get some sun…urgh. I have one right now that’s in the final scab, fall off, scab, fall off stage.
The good part is they have made me feel more sympathetic toward my fellow man and like part of the brotherhood of the 90% of people who carry this thing.
I don’t use the product pitched in that second link, but I can attest that switching to a non-SLS toothpaste has made a world of difference for me. (I use Rembrandt Canker Sore toothpaste - which is pricey and hard-to-find, but I refuse to brush with anything else now) I’d say, from that move alone, I get about half the number of canker sores that I used to.
I just had a nasty one, which annoyed me for two reasons. First, I JUST had one not a couple of months ago (usually I get them about once a year), and second, I am nursing a baby now, and I THOUGHT that meant I would have a little extra immune boost, but I guess not.
I am also worried because it seemed like there were 2 blisters next to each other this time…I am hoping the damn thing didn’t spread!
I used Abreva, and it didn’t seem like the cold sore went away faster, but it did seem as though it didn’t get as big as it usually does.
I think I’m going to talk to my doc about one of these antiviral drugs you guys are mentioning.
I’ve never had them inside my mouth and throat since that fateful bout just before our wedding, more than 18years ago (thank goodness!)
My middle daughter used to get frequent cold sores. Then we switched her from the toothpaste the rest of the family uses to Tom’s Of Maine all-natural, and she gets them a lot less often now.
Oh, GOD, I’m right there with you. I get them all the freaking time (well, maye 4-5 times a year). Nose? Check. Lips? Check. Once or twice on random parts of facial skin? Check. Fortunately, mine tend to be relatively small. Painful as all get out–ah, nerve pain!–but small.
Since “cold sores” are oral herpes, would something like valtrex work for them? I only get them once every year or two, but I hate them so much that I’d be willing to take something to keep them from ever breaking out.
I use the amino acid L-Lysine when I get cold sores. If I take it when I first get a tingle the cold sore is usually just a red spot in 3 to 4 days. It doesn’t even scab.
I started to get one yesterday and took 5 500 mg caps scattered throughout the day (I don’t exactly know how much one is supposed to take- consult you doctor!), and today the blister is starting to go down. It totally works, and it’s $10 for a hundred caps, which will last years. It’s the only thing that’s ever worked for me, anyway.
I get them on my lips once or twice a year and my remedy of choice is a nice hot cup of coffee.
It seems that the virus responsible is very susceptible to heat so about a 30-60 second application of hot ceramic to the affected area kills off the little buggers. Applied immediately when you notice that first tingling and no one else will ever know.
Note that paper or styrofoam cups are not acceptable generic versions.
L-lysine is a good idea and I suggest taking one a day if you are subject to Herpes outbreaks. And then upping the dose if you think and outbreak is near or on. Stay away from peanuts, too.
A daily intake of Probiotics will help keep both “cold” (Herpes) sores and canker (mouth ulcers) sores away.
Please note that “cold sores” are Herpes oubreaks, nearly always on the outside of the mouth- the virus is communicable. Canker sores are mouth ulcers, nearly always on the inside, and are not “catching”. Some dudes are sensitive to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, found in most toothpastes, and this is what cause their Canker sores. Biotene is a great toothpaste and helps keep canker sores away- no SLS.
Pardon me, it’s genital herpes that’s in the base of the spine; looks like type 1 hides near the ear.
<<There are two main types of the virus. The first is Simplex Type 1 or (HSV-1) which causes Cold Sores. This virus, in its dormant state hides in nerves near the ear and usually cause cold sores on the lower lip. In rare cases they can cause damage to the eyes including causing blindness.
The second is Simplex Type 2 or (HSV-2) which is responsible for Genital Herpes. This virus in its dormant state hides in the nerves at the base of the spine and outbreaks are usually contained to the genital area. >>
Well, as I said upthread, acyclovir was prescribed for mine, and that’s commonly used now for genital herpes. So I’m guessing yes. Obviously, IANAD, YMMV, and whatever other letters you wanna throw out there.
