Coldsores! Yikes

OK so my first blog is this one...all about cold sores.

Thanks to an amazing ex boyfriend I have suffered from these nasty little critters for about five years. I get a BIG outbreak at least once or twice a year and I mainly get them from stress or when I'm run down.


So what I thought I would do is share some advice on how I tackle these outbreaks! Please note I'm in no way a medical practitioner and these tips are simply a result of MY experiences.

OK first things first. TINGLING-ITCHING-BURNING- get yourself to the chemist ASAP! So many times Ive been at work,out on the town, or at dinner with my boyfriend and Ive felt these symptoms and have bolted out the door to the nearest drug store! The trick with cold sores is catching them EARLY.

What should you buy?
Get your hands on some Zovirax! Tube or pump, whatever you can find. There are so many other creams out there however at this stage Zovirax is your best bet. Apply this immediately and please DO NOT rub your lips together. I made this mistake on my first outbreak simply because I didn't know what they were and I regretted it. 15 cold sores top and bottle lips! GROSS!

Next item you need. Lysine tablets! I didn't discover these until my second year of outbreaks and they are amazing! I have been known to take 10-15 of these per-day and I can say they change an outbreak from 10 days to 3 or 4 days. My GP told me about these during an outbreak I had during a stress attack before jetting to Europe however he only told me to take one a day.... this does nothing! I can say in my experiences and from the research Ive read, many cold sore suffers consume a high dosage during a outbreak and risk only occurs if you continue this high dosage for a long period of time (months on end). So once your outbreak is nearing an end stop the lysine.

Now! There have been those times when Ive been at work, cant take a break, cant get out to grab some of these items OR everything is closed except the super market. Now you need to opt for... hand sanitizer.. I know it sounds crazy but the stuff is designed to kill germs and if your getting a cold sore your getting germs! I normally just dab some onto my lip and then I get to the drug store as soon as I can. But this works and helps hold off the outbreak.

Zovirax for me I find doesn't really do much once the cold sores are in full blown scary mode. If anything I find it only makes them stand out more and look yellow and yuk! This year however Compede patches were distributed to the market and I found these were a help to conceal the sores. I must stress they are not invisible as advertised, but look, Id rather look like I have a piece of tape stuck to my lip then a volcanic eruption of puss!


Then my last tip is, find out what it is that is causing them. For me I work days and then I also work at a bar at nights so after 4 hours sleep through a weekend I can be really run down and after doing this a few months Ill get a nice crop of cold sores on my lip. So during these stressful times I normally take 1 or 2 lysine a day just for prevention reasons.


Hope this helps
Any questions..email me and Ill get back to you!