Dealing with cold sores is painful and embarrassing. You have a gross swollen lip, you feel nauseous and just bad overall. Oh, and it ends up scabbing and lasting for two weeks, joy. There is light at the end of the tunnel though.
I started getting them when I was about 12 years old; 50 years ago, yes, I said it 😬. My parents never realized it was an infection and would give me Blistex, which didn’t do much. I wasn’t made aware that it was an infection until I was 30 😱and prescribed valacyclovir. Finally some actual relief!!! I was told to take 1 pill (pills are 1g each) every 12 hours at the onset/tingle until healed. Even better, I was very recently told that you can actually take 2 pills at the onset and might not even get the actual breakout!!! WTF?!? I could’ve used that information MUCH sooner!!! AS ALWAYS, CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST!
For those that get the blisters underneath your nose, I started getting that too some years back. Seemed like whenever I had a cold they would form there from blowing my nose. The sun is also a big factor for me. When I’m on vacation and out in the sun a lot I’ll just take a pill here or there as a preventative measure. Over the years I’ve been getting them less and less though so yay!! All this being said, I hope this information helps people that suffer with cold sores. They’re beyond miserable. 💋✌🏻.