I've had cold sores before, very infrequently, just one in the corner of my mouth that crusts over and doesn't last long.

A couple days ago however, I got four, on my lips, two of which grew, popped, then joined, and have left a hot pink shape on my very swollen lip. The other two remain two tiny bumps. I awoke this morning to both lips being swollen, and about 5-6 more tiny bumps on my lower lip. I'm PRETTY sure this is what is considered a bad herpes outbreak.

I'm going to go to the campus health clinic in a little bit in hopes they can give me something to shorten the duration, and maybe something to help prevent future outbreaks because I have a feeling this is a sign of a doozy of a problem.

Anyone have any experiences with this?

I've recently caught it from my husband...we can't quit kissing for 2 weeks..HAHA! I'm lucky though because all I get is a little bump that looks like a pimple below my lip. My husband gets horrible ones that swell his whole lip and take forever to go away...like 2 weeks!!!!!!!! We can't find anything that makes them go away, he's pretty much tried everything that we've read helps except for prescriptions. He puts Neosporine(sp?) on them so they won't get infected. Sometimes if he catches it as soon as it comes up and he puts Carmex on it, it will go away before it gets inflamed. He tried Abreva and that didn't do anything for him at all. He tried it for 2 different OBs and finally got his money back. Maybe an ice pack will help the swelling, I cannot get my husband to try that so I don't know if it works but I see it suggested all the time when I research it. I think that about the only thing that works is if you catch it when you first feel it tingling and put Carmex on it. This didn't even help my husband the last time..he felt it tingle and put carmex on it every hour and still got one HUGE one! And yes, this is herpes! I'd like to warn you also that this can be spread to other parts of someone(bf/husband) else's body (if you know what I mean) so please abstain from you know what...:eek:

When I was little I used to get cold sores a lot but rarely do now (knock on wood). Maybe because I always had chapped, irritated lips and didn't know to put on lip balm. :confused:

They have a product out called Abreva, which is supposed to shorten the duration of a cold sore. You can get it OTC at the drugstore. I think you put it on at the first tingle so I'm not sure if it's too late after it breaks out.

You should go to the doc and see if they have any antiviral medication. I think I had to take it once for a cold sore, but it was a long time ago and I'm not 100% sure.

There is the supplement lysine that I have used when I got canker sores and they worked great. Its supposed to be for cold sores but I never get them only cankers. I used the one from Quantumm but I am sure there are others you can use. You can get it at the health food store.

I have tried Abreva when I got one nasty cold sore outbreak on my cheek. I don't think it did much. I was so desperate to get rid of it that I dabbed Tea Tree Oil on it. It was a disgusting cluster of oozing pustules that took a month to heal and a few more months for the dark spot to go away. I had to wear a bandaid on my face it was so bad.

Some people say that the prescription cream does more than the over-the-counter creams. Fortunately I don't have many cold sore outbreaks so I don't have a lot of experience. If I ever get another nasty one I am going to get the prescription.

I don't know how well it works, but I heard a lady talking the other day in the drugstore about how peppermint oil works well for cold sores. Just thought I'd throw that out there for what it's worth. I thought it was interesting.

Oh man, when I was a little kid, I used to get them so bad. But after I hit puberty, I think I've only maybe 2 or 3.

What used to work really well for mine was this antibiotic ointment called Mycitracin. (This was before the days of Abreva.) I don't think they sell it anymore... but, I think it was just Neosporin, ha. But for some reason, maybe it was the certain formula brand?, it was the only thing seemed to work for me.

I also have a friend that swears by Lysine bc he tends to get them a lot.

Good luck.... I feel your pain!!

My co-worker just got over one (she gets them right before she gets sick), and she swears by Lysine too.

Abreva and blistex have always worked for me (i CAKE the stuff on). However, nothing ever seems to work for my bf so you may just need to experiment or see a doctor.

My mouth is in muuuuch better shape now but I thought I'd post on my experience in case anyone ever goes searching the boards for this topic.

I went to the urgent care near campus and was prescribed Valtrex (yup, they use the same medicine for people with both types of the herpes complex) in large doses to take just twice. He also gave me a refill for if I get another bad outbreak. A friend of mine who has reocurring bad outbreaks gave me her prescription topical cream to put on as well. From start to finish the whole ordeal was about a week... crossing my fingers it doesn't happen again.