Thread: freaking cold sores - help

Originally Posted by cappo5150

Ok so I woke up today, I thought it would be a nice day, I find coldsores on both sides of my mouth. WTF. I know what exactly triggered it. I had food poisoning on friday. I started shaking really bad at work then the vomiting happened. I went home and tried to rest but had a severe migraine for the rest of the night. Saturday I felt much better until today. I think the trauma to my immune system from the previous days triggered an outbreak. It was not caused by any dirty sex with whores. I used to get outbreaks as a little kid. Does anyone have any tips on relieving the pain? Or speeding up the recovery process. I've tried the over the counter medicine, which doesn't really do much.

Also, I read the people that are prone to outbreaks should stay away from foods that are rich in Arginine (Whole wheat, oats, etc). Is this true? This really sucks big time.

A few things, because i suffer from this crap myself sometimes:

- Yes, try to avoid higher doses of arginine.

- Supplement with lysine and selenium.

- Don't eat stuff like grapefruits or any citrus that you have to suck on (same goes for salty things or things with a lot of vinegar) - mostly for the pain/irritation factor.

- Drink a lot of water

- Try to keep stress to a minimum

- Get as much sleep as you can

- Don't pick at them.

As far as the over the counter things you can buy to put on the sores... abreva is alright but only if you catch them before they start to "fester" when they're just tingling and nothing more than a small red bump. Afterwards, it won't do much other than relieve the pain/itching for a little while.

Lemon Balm/Melissa - you can get this at the health food stores.

Some more info here and here

Thanks for the info GG. So do you stay away from whole wheat and oats and stuff or just have it in smaller meals?

when you even first feel the tingle of a cold sore start taking asprin will stop them from ever developing. it also helps make them go away once you have them. i'm very light complected and would get them from the sun if i forgot sunscreen. but a few asprin during the day and i could lounge in the boat all day all summer without one. it really works.

Originally Posted by cappo5150

Thanks for the info GG. So do you stay away from whole wheat and oats and stuff or just have it in smaller meals?

I only eat oats once a day anyway, for breakfast, so i just keep that serving a little smaller, and then have sweet potatoes instead of brown rice and stuff like that... and i stick to vanilla protein powder instead of chocolate. skip the coffee, etc.

As for aspirin, make sure not to use it frequently.

I use a camphor based product. Like you I've had them since I was a kid, every year or two it comes back. Gotta love herpes.

Went to see the doc today because it got worse. He gave some Rx for some pills. I asked him about the aspirin, he says not to take it. It doesn't work. What a way to spend the holiday break.

god i know how bad it sucks...one year i got the worst sunburn ever and i guess it triggered a bad outbreak....horrible sight i was

Originally Posted by cappo5150

Went to see the doc today because it got worse. He gave some Rx for some pills. I asked him about the aspirin, he says not to take it. It doesn't work. What a way to spend the holiday break.

it does work. you can feel them tingle when they just barely begin and the spot on your lip even will taste a little funny if i take asprin they never develop. what can i say? experience has often proven the experts wrong.

put alumn on it.

bump on the abreva. If sores are detected early, (tingle feeling) I've found that this OTC medicine not only shortens the life but reduces the size of the cold sore. Only thing I've found OTC that actually helps.