Cold Sores - your best remedies please.

[TBJP]

Coming down with one right now - I've stuck a patch on, but am dreading it developing, so any tips to nip it in the bud please?

And anything you do/take in general, to not get them in the first place?

(I am not especially stressed, though do have a five-month old baby, so lack of sleep etc, but generally ok).

Why haven't they found a cure yet? Aahrggh!

Also I have found the patches to be amazing at keeping them from cracking/splitting and they defo heal better once peaked.

Gawd, !

I would be so devastated if I passed this on to DH or DS (or anyone!). I know who I got them from, it was my lodger, she must have used my toothpaste or something, with a contaminated toothbrush, or not washed up a mug/fork properly, as we had no physical contact. I am SO careful with everything I touch when I have a coldsore.

I've tried the light zappy thing with minimal success, and zovirax, and patches - none of them are great. The only thing that has ever worked for me (sometimes, if I catch them in time) is a really thick paste of instant coffee granules, left on for as long as poss while you skulk in the house. Worth a try since it's essentially free.

Not heard of the coffee one, and disappointed to hear you didn't get success with the zappy thing. Oh no!

Not actually 'free' for me, as we don't like coffee in this house, so have none in! :) But I get your gist! :)

I don't think I've got the high powered zapped that other posters are going on about, I've got one from Boots which may not be as good.

TBJP you have all the products I think are really helpful.

I think the ice treatment does help as an anti-inflamatory measure and helps with pain too. Nurofen is useful when it's aching/throbbing and keeping you awake at night. Lysine Plus ointment/cold stick is the best natural product I've come across and it receives excellent reviews on all the US sites. Froma hygiene perspective I wouldn't use the stick direct on a sore, I squeeze out the ointment and apply with a cotton bud. That same company (Quantum) does a Llysine immuse booster tablet which was some other bits it, that is also very good but after I ran out ages ago I have not repurchased. Lysine it's this one

For some reason Zovirax cream (aciclovir) does not work for me but the Fenistil (Penciclovir) is a lot better and has stopped some cold sores in their tracks.

Why haven't scientists come up with a herpes vacc??

Sorry my link didn't work. Scroll half-way down the page.

Thanks, Dilys, am getting hopeful again then that my zapper will work.

Thank you, Hoover, yes, had a splurge on the credit card, just hope it works. I know people suffer with worse, but I feel so down and grotty when I get a coldsore, it is so horrid.

I too think they should have come up with a vaccination/cure for herpes by now, I would honestly pay loads for that, or donate somewhere to help fund the cure. What I have spent on creams and patches over the years, well, it's a small fortune.

I am a life long sufferer of cold sores though less frequently now I am older. My best remedy is vinegar or cheap aftershave as soon as you feel the first tingle. Anything that softens it can spread it. I once had cold sores all along my bottom lip and half of my top lip - had to eat and drink through a straw!

Exit, I am drinking through a straw. Actually, I usually drink through a straw, even when I don't have a coldsore, as I believe it means less chance of infecting someone else, even if the glass has been washed well. Paranoid, much! And I drink with a straw if we go out, just in case I re-catch it from someone else from a used glass.

Thanks re vinegar/aftershave.

The coldsores you had all along your bottom lip and half of your top lip, OWWWW, that sounds horrendous. I feel lucky now, mine have not been that bad. But still agony, still unsightly and I feel hideous all over.

Hoover, any chance you can link to the exact supplement you take:
I too suffer from recurrent cold sores but find if I take a multivitamin with probiotic (the probiotic is important) and 1000g of vitamin C (the slow release Redoxon plus zinc one is good) I only get about one outbreak a year or less.
Thank you.

TBJP the multivit I take is this one by Boots

Here is the vit c one you take 2 per day which adds up to 1000mg.

Boots 3 for 2 is my friend!

Any type of proper live yoghurt is beneficial too as it supports the gut which in turn supports your immune system.

Thanks so much. If I can bear to leave the house tomorrow, I'll get it. I am going to bombard this damn herpes to smithereens!

TJBP - sorry for delay; kids eh! Rhus Tox would be one approach, chat it through with a hpath. Worked for me, I had cold sores on and off for about 5 years, went down with shingles, had remedies for that and no cold sores since, not even a tingle and that was 2 years ago!

Thanks, eyeofhorus, two years coldsore-free is great!
Did you take one batch of rhus tox two years ago, or do you have to keep taking it?

One batch, had some flower remedies aswell

Thanks, eoh. Glad it worked for you.

The virulite machine used invisible lighht to stimulate the bodies own natural defence. Using the machine at the first sign of cold sores will in almost all cases prevent the flair up. The Virulite can be used when pregnant too it is non invasive and uses nothing but light.
Thier website www.virulite.eu has all the technical info. I have also noted there are many brilliant reviews that backup my own experience with this.

I've tried the light zapper but only semi good results.
At first sign of a tingle I always eat a load of live plain yoghurt. Its not just the immunity support it gives you, it contains the amino acids that fight the virus. I also take lysine supplements which is the same thing, but concentrated. This page explains how it works and what else you should eat/avoid during an outbreak
healacoldsore.com/top-10-best-natural-cures-for-cold-sores

If you have had a cold sore how long does it take to completely heal and the skin to return to normal? I had “something” appear in January but that area is still slightly pink and goes dry now and then… does this match how cold sores heal?