Coldsores!

[Bellyrub1980]

Asking for my DP really. He first contracted them only 7 years ago (just before I met him). His first attack was apparently very severe and covered his whole chin. Since then he seems to get a run of them every 6 months, lasting a few weeks, in the corner of his mouth and sometimes more centrally on his lower lip. They last around 10 days.

He feels their frequency has reduced quite a lot since leading a healthier lifestyle, eating well, exercising regularly and giving up smoking. However, when he does get them he gets so depressed, his job involves public speaking. I really feel for him :(

Another thing is that we are about to have a baby. He's really worried about getting one just as he/she is born (not that unlikely when you consider lack of sleep/stress) He won't be able to kiss her and will be so paranoid about washing his hands before touching her etc. He is also applying for new jobs and hoping to attend interviews soon, I just know a cold sore will wreck his confidence.

He takes 1000mg of lysine everyday (is that a big enough dose?) he is absolutely convinced creams like Zovirax make it worse. He has asked the GP about the anti viral tablets but was basically told his problem wasn't bad enough to warrant the NHS paying for it. (Is there any way we could pay for it instead?)

I'm going to go to the chemist and holland and barratt later to see if I can get anything. I've heard that infrared light gadget might work? Maybe some lysine cream?

Is there a new fancy cream that might work.

He has use the patches in the past but because of his beard they don't stick on properly and actually look a bit worse.

Any ideas gratefully received :)

I swear by tea tree oil dabbed on the area as soon as you feel the tingle. I usually over kill for the first day dabbing every 45 minutes or so then every couple of hours the next day. I used to suffer every month without fail but with a better diet and stress management they are few and far between. However the tea tree oil really does work for me, they hardly ever break the surface now. The down side is he will stink of tea tree for a couple of days.

I got bio-propolis from a independent health shop and if you got the coldsore really early I found this worked otherwise it made it heal a lot quicker. I got coldsores frequently for a few years but haven't had any recently and I think that's down to changing job before I used to have a long commute and a stressful job as well as eating a lot more healthily now.

His coldsore is in full on blister mode now. (He won't put anything on it during the 'tingle' phase which really frustrates me as I thought that's when most of remedies work best!)

Can you put the tea tree and propolis stuff on at this stage?

I agree about the job. Unfortunately he's currently applying for promotions!! Probably more stress!!! And a baby on the way.... Oh dear!!

He needs to go and see his GP and get antiviral treatment.
You can buy zovirax cream over the counter I think, but really - if it is that severe he needs proper medical advice.

Yes tea tree on throughout it shortens the whole breakout for me. Nothing over the counter or doctor prescribed ever worked for me.

3littlefrogs He went to the GP who told him his symptoms weren't bad enough for the tablets, that they are very expensive and reserved for the most severe cases. We'd like to pay for them ourselves but not sure if this is possible. He won't touch Zovirax anymore, he's convinced himself it makes it worse and that he must have an 'unusual strain' of the virus. However he's open to trying anything else!

rainbowgeorge thanks for that. I'll buy some today for sure.

Fenistil is a cream which is good.

Your DH sounds a little fixated. It's unusual to be so worried about 'what ifs'. Plus, if he won't put on anything at the first sign of a sore then frankly the massive blisters are always going to erupt aren't they? That's the point of starting treatment immediately.

There's no need to suffer so :)

tiny bit of earwax
disgusting but effective

I have a sort of electronic zapper thing which zaps the sore with light. It's clinically proven to help. I find it stops them developing badly and makes them go faster.

Incidentally, zovirax did make my cold sores worse. I think I was allergic to something in it.

I have the light thingie as well - it's difficult to judge how well it works but I previously would get horrendous outbreaks on my lower lip that are really painful and huge. Far too big to be covered with the patch. When I get a tingle now I zap it often with the light device. I had an outbreak last week which was quite big, but nowhere near as bad as I would normally get.
If he won't treat when he feels the tingle though, there's not much point doing it at a later date - the coldsore is effectively over by the time it's crusted and it's just skin healing. He needs to get in as soon as possible and blast it.
I also discovered that you can now get a liquid patch, (herpatch I think it was called?) which you paint on and it dries into a sealed covering like the stick on patches. I used that too - I always cover them up as well as using the light device to reduce the chances of my children catching them from me. That might work better for him with his beard?

neolara is that the infra red thing? I'll see if boots have one later.

juliascurr sounds disgusting!! But cheap I guess!

fuckynell He does worry about them a lot, far more than anyone else I know and, in reality, they aren't as bad as some I've seen. He totally isolates himself when he has one. Kind of reminds me how my acne made me feel when I was a teenager, a bit ashamed and embarrassed . It doesn't help that he caught them so late in life so I imagine it was due to an ex girlfriend or one night stand or something that he regrets and would rather forget!!

And yeah, he just won't touch Zovirax now. But maybe I'll be able to tempt him with the fenistil cream.

Guess I should be careful not to bombard him with too many different treatments at once....

lizziemint that's great! I've never heard of the liquid stuff, that sounds perfect with his hairy face! The patches work well, but definitely make it more visible so perhaps that's just the thing he needs.

That's what he says neolara that it makes it worse. He's put it down to not having the 'usual strain' so maybe he's just sensitive to the ingredients!

Ok, so I've bought the electric thingy (35 quid) and tea tree oil and fenistil (will remember next time not to ask for fentinyl which is apparently something very different!).

Nowhere had the herpatch liquid unfortunately.

We used the machine and the tea tree tonight. He had 5 raised blisters and already these have gone flat which I think is a pretty good result. Who knows which treatment did that.... either way I just want to thank you for all your advice. We're saving the fenistil for the next one at the earliest sign.

Hopefully, this one will heal up quicker than the usual 10 days :)

Hi there, my husband has coldsores and had them almost continuously for a few months following our DD's birth early in the year (my mother had one too... it was awful). We were very careful about hygiene etc. as the risk is very real.

My GP is very happy to give my husband the anti-vitals so I am sorry yours isn't. He actually suggested that my husband should have taken them from around the birth to keep them at bay (and reduce infectiousness) while the baby was tiny (we didn't know about them until the baby was a couple of months old). In retrospect, I wish he had taken them during that time.

Since then we have had a lot of success with the light (Boots Avert). I have heard you can get it on prescription but am not certain of this.

This is the Lysine advice we follow:

"When it comes to preventing outbreaks of cold sores, a dose of 500 to 1,000 milligrams daily is frequently recommended. When outbreaks occur, doses of 1,000 milligrams three times daily may speed recovery"

My husband is also on a low arginine diet (there is lots of info. on this online).

The most success we've had is doing everything altogether including the anti-virals but the light is just brilliant.

Could you see a different GP?

Zapper's magic.
Kills the buggers dead.

That's good to hear thank you. Yes he could definitely see a different GP. I will see if he can make an appointment with this current cold sore (so they can see how big they get) and tell him to make a point of saying I'm due in less than 5 weeks so more than anything we want to protect the baby.

My DP is a pretty normal guy, he's not a moaner and he's pretty stoic about life generally (he wasn't even registered with a GP for well over 10 years!!) but for some reason the whole subject of his coldsores really touches a nerve (mind the pun!!) and I have to broach the subject quite carefully otherwise he shuts off and won't listen. I think he's basically just embarrassed.

Good to hear you had a positive experience with the light. Fingers crossed!

Zapper as in the light thingy? :)

Yes.

Just wanted to say good luck & thanks for the post-it's a difficult subject to find info for & glad the light etc seems to be working.

I'd also go back to gp & ask for even 6 months of drugs just while baby is newborn-there's enough unknown stresses without those you can avoid. Congrats on pg too :)

Thankyou. I've just done a bit of online reading (good old pregnancy insomnia) and the advice is pretty clear. No kissing or being in close proximity to a new born baby if you have a cold sore. I must admit, this has got me panicking somewhat. What if DP has one when she's born? It will be unbearable if he can't cuddle and kiss her. Is it just a case of washing hands and avoiding kissing? Surely he can still hold and cuddle her?! The advice is also to avoid kissing pregnant women both because my immune system will be lower and if I catch it now I can pass it into the baby... I must admit I cried when I read that... we've still kissed each other (in all these years I've never caught one so always assumed I must be immune) but I kiss him on the corner of his mouth that isn't effected if that makes sense. Not any more though.

I'm so angry with his cold sores!!! I know in the grand scheme of things they're nothing serious (blimey, I can think of a lot worse) but why are they so reluctant to give out the tablets if they're so effective?! Especially in these circumstances.

I'm going to have to be really careful about how I ask him to see the GP. He's really sensitive about the whole subject, but I'm in panic mode now. Can't sleep and have a full on day at work tomorrow :(

I would give him oral acyclovir for 6 months. I think 400mg bd. he needs to have the outbreaks suppressed for his comfort as well as the reduction in transmission.

Just checked on the british national formulary. 400mg twice daily of aciclovir only costs 4.30 now for a month. It used to cost nearly £100 for the standard week's course of aciclovir which was 800mg 5 times daily. I knew it had dropped in price but that is quite substantial. So you can reassure your GP. Oh and to make sure I am not giving you incorrect information why not ask your local pharmacy what the price would be. Good luck

@ fentanyl