Cold sores - end of tether

[Ilikeviognier]

Just that really. I had:

One in august
One in September
One in November
One In December

And now I have another.

I take lysine daily.
Ive had acyclovir from the GP - only one course though as they wouldn’t give me any more.
Ive got liquorice balm, and I’ve just bought some Lysine gel.

WTF else am I meant to do here?

Background is Ive only had them since having children and they seem to be increasing in frequency as time goes on. I really can’t go on like this with them . All I can think is that i must be knackered basically all the time…..

Help!

Buy some Aciyclovir online and take it daily.
I tried various things for years, this is the only thing that works for me.

Is it the LipQ brand of liquorice balm you use? That, and the l-lysine supplements, are the only thing that’s helped me.
I haven’t had an outbreak in months (touches wood).

You have my sympathies - when I get them I get about 3 or 4 at the one time.

Yep - lip q.

GP would only let me have one course of acyclovir -something to do with side effects and kidneys?

Lysine doesn’t appear to be working for me 😥

Isn’t acyclovir really pricey if you have to keep buying it?

Mullien herbal tea might help. DH & I haven't had any break outs since we started drinking it 18months ago

Acyclovir would be about £100 for a year to buy. I've been taking it daily for months due to having a terrible few months of them, but may now stop and just take at the first sign of a tingle and see how I get on.

When I was a child and had them my parents used to hold me down and out iodine on mine and I now don’t get them as an adult.

Acyclovir sounds promising - however - any side effects? The GP gave me a speech about kidney damage (I think that’s what it was) which didn’t sound appealing

Get your iron levels checked. I had this a couple of years ago and had bloods done and been on Ferrous fumerate since as my ferritin levels were low.

Iron levels? Really? Thanks I hadn’t heard of this!

I have one of those little light machines and they do seem to help - I’ve also heard good things about the herpotherm device but haven’t tried it myself. I now use the light device plus patches rather than acyclovir cream and find it works better and faster to clear them when I get one. Also take a multivitamin with vitamin D every day and that seems to help too. Sleep is massively important. Good luck with them OP, it’s not nice is it

You need a light pen. I used to be plagued by them. Haven't had one In years since I've had one of these. Apply the second you feel a tingle and it never appears. I don't have this particular one (mines so old is discontinued) but this is the kind of device you're looking for

OP

£12 on ligols iodine from Amazon will get rid of them

I promise

I used to get them twice monthly and haven’t had one for well over a decade now

Dab some on it before you go to bed - it will be gone in the morning. Iodine is a major antiviral

Yeah that’s the Herpotherm - it works by heat. The light ones were a slightly different device that used a non-visible light wavelength. But both are meant to do something to the viral proteins to stop the virus replicating.

I find that wearing lip sunscreen really helps avoid them. If I don’t wear it in sunnier months then I nearly always get them. In France they are called ‘boutons de soule il’, ie sun spots.

A bit of a weird one but if I eat any oats at all I get cold sores. My husband is the same, we don’t get them anymore but if I give in and have an oaf bar for eg I get ones within days

Light pen - never get a tingle sadly so can’t stop it coming- it simply appears.

Iodine - interesting idea. Will look it up - thanks!

The light/heat devices still shorten it when it appears, I find (I don’t get a tingle either) - cuts it down from about 7-10 days to gone in 5-ish.