Hi
I have been tormented with cold sores for most of my life. I do not travel anywhere without my Zovirax.as soon as "the tingle" appears I am ready for it........
I also use Boots own cold sore loition, it is quite effective,and it is more gentle than Zovirax.
I use high factor lip balm everyday, whether at home or on holiday, and I reapply it regularly.
I am paranoid about trying to prevent a full blown cold sore.
The only time I seem to get one is if I am a bit unwell, as I write this I have one sat on my lip......
M

hi there all you coldsore sufferers!!! i still havent had a coldsore since months before my wedding in 2003 due to taking lysine tablets if you go in to holland and barratts they will show you the book about what foods react to cause coldsores and treatments. lysine have done the job for me as i have been well and trully plagued with coldsores since i was a baby!!! i always have a break of a month between bottles though so i dont become immune to them. i cant rave about them enough. lindsay.

What is lysine, is it a herb? I've never heard of it.

luci

i think it is classed as a vitamin supplement but hey its worked for me for 5 years now so i dont care what it is as long as it keeps those ugly coldsores away. holland and barratts also recommend taking vitamin c alongside it but i dont bother and it still works!!! lindsay.

well............can you bloomin well believe it. i havn't had a cold sore for ages. came on this thread the other day and...yes...you guessed it...i'm getting a coldsore!!!!i woke up this morning with a stinking cold and the dreaded "tingling" and a little blister. just unbelievable......

Hi,

Just for info, anyone who uses Zovirax & goes to Majorca, I buy mine out there every time I go, it is so much cheaper.

I can't remember exactly now as I haven't had to top up recently, but it's roughly around the equivalent to £3ish mark.

I have 4 tubes in my medicine cabinet, it's about £6.00 here I think.

Deb.

Every holiday I'm guaranteed to have a cold sore. I also sometimes get them at the entrance to my nose - very painful. Throughout the year I carry a tin of vaseline and lypsul with me. I buy the highest lip sunscreen I can, yet I still get them. I remember reading somewhere once that the lips are the only part of the body which don't lubricate themselves.

i never ever put anything on my lips unless they are sore and dry and then i use factor 25 lip balm. i find vaseline is a great coldsore spreader!!! all the coldsore creams tend to spread mine rather than get rid of them so i am only to glad i found out about the lysine tablets. lindsay

The last time I went to the doctors with cold sores he told me it was the Hermes virus!

I asked if he meant Herpes and he said, "No, it is definitely Hermes...... you are a carrier."

i read this tip on a website when i had no zovirax and i was amazed it really worked- hold and ice cube on your lip, then dip a cotton bud in nail varnish remover-it went down instantly, however going overseas i always have 2 tubes of zovirax just in case

believe me i have tried that, bleach, acetate, banned cleaning products!!!, coffee, toothpaste, perfume and aftershave, window cleaner (after watching my big fat greek wedding!!!), vinegar, salt and even put my lip on a sunbed tube before it got too hot to see if the uv light would kill the virus!!! none of them worked although some did dry it out before another one appeared thats why i rave about the lysine tablets they are brilliant.

I got back from India last Wednesday and sure enough the next day I felt the tingling before the cold sore appears. I immediately applied Zovirak. IMO this doesnt prevent the sore coming out but perhaps makes it not as huge or sore as they can be.
I dont get lots of cold sores, but 9 times out of 10 after a holiday I will get one

Anybody with bad reacurrent cold sore can ask their doc for a 6 month course of zovirax 400mg twice a day. The cold sore virus/ herpes simplex is very contagious and most children get the virus past onto them by parents or a relative giving them a kiss or by kissing somebody infected. The other way cold sores get passed is by using a towel of somebody with a cold sore. You can get them on any part of the body. I would advise anybody with a cold sore to use a different towel and wash their hands often so not to pass it on. The cold sore virus can be passed on even if there isn't a cold sore present, the cold sore virus synthesises in the skin which makes that area of skin contagious. Most people get 1 outbreak and never again and they don't know why some people have reguglar outbreaks through out their live. I call it the curse.

I saw some research where they found the herpes virus uses a extra receptor to enter a cell and scientist never knew why we have the extra receptor. They are hoping of way for find a antibody which will lock onto the extra receptor which will cause the virus to die. The only part of the body that doesn't has the extra receptor are the kidneys and the only place you can't get herpes.

My tip is oxy on the spot or oxy 10 as soon as anything is felt and for me its been red but after rubbing oxy on the spot in goes the next day. The immune system needs zinc and taklinf supplements regualarly will help the immune system. since using oxy on the spot my outbreaks have been kept under control. There is a treatment I have read on forums a treatment which uses copper sulfate which kills the virus on contact.

had the tablets off drs years ago and have used every spot treatment going, my dr said i have a very fierce herpes virus as nothing ever worked or got rid them quickly. i have had them since birth so they are very big and spread all over my mouth and nose at their worst!!! i used to take zinc and that never worked either so until someone finds a total cure i am sticking to my lysine tablets as i have been coldsore free since 2003!!

unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its just not fair. i have got yet another coldsore..only just got rid of the last one!!!!...have had a cold for ages and a bad ear infection and generally run down so thats probably why!!!!...this one is monstrous.....i look like i have been whalloped (dont know how to spell that word..is it even a real word??) in the mouth!!!! i put some zovirax on it when i got up on friday as i could feel it "tingling"....and put it on regularly...but hasnt made any difference.its is ugly!!!!! my friend has told me about a soloution that you can get from boots..their own brand...its just called cold sore solution. she swears by it...i swear at hear as i blame here for my coldsore out breaks (i once used her lipstick on a night out many years ago) i never had them before this and as she is a sufferer...its all her fault!i want to cry. whinge over with...gonna get the suitcases out..put a few things in them...yey..holidays. luv sue

Miss P, i did find that the compede patches took away all the tingling, sore feeling and what happens is when you take the patch off it takes the top layer of cold sore too (eeuuwww I know!) but it did help me alot. Hope this helps

thanks micky...yep....euuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! might try them though...anything is worth a try!im sure its getting bigger..great!!

Hi Guys

I too have been plagued with coldsores for years - the sun was one of my worst enemies and I used to get them very badly in the summer but for the last 15 years or so every time I sunbathe at home or abroad I use Boots soltan lip protector factor 25 - I apply it constantly whilst in the sun and I know for a fact that it works because if I don't use it I'm guaranteed get a coldsore. I always take 2-3 tubes with me on holiday and make sure I have one with me at all times.
However the lip protector only works as a preventitive in the sun. During the winter I tend to get lots of coldsores but I don't buy Zovirax anymore I just use own brands (Tesco, Asda etc) they're exactly the same, all contain the same amount of Aciclovir (which is the important stuff) Zovirax is just a brand name and is extremely expensive £5 - £6 whereas Tesco's own brand is only about £2.50 - as long as it contains Aciclovir it will do exactly the same thing.

I have had a run of coldsores since January they're really starting to get me down and I'm also fed up with having to constantly buy cream so Lordy I'm going to take your advice and buy some Lysine it sounds good and hopefully will help - thanks for the tip
Diane

hi Diane, dont forget to take a break of a month in between bottles of lysine otherwise your body becomes immune to them. i cant believe how great they are so i hope they do the trick for you too. good luck lindsay.