I've had oral herpes for about three years now. Even now I'm still a little confused about it. I know that all through my childhood I would occassionally, sometimes often, get little cold sores in my mouth; on my lips or my gums. Then when I was older, I had the 'initial breakout', as they call it, where my gums were inflammed and i had sores literally everywhere, even on the back of my throat. I had to go to the doctor since I couldn't eat, drink or speak much. That's when he told me that I had the Herpes virus from kissing my boyfriend. What I don't understand is that all cold sores are supposed to be caused by the virus, so why was I given this sort of "diagnosis" then? I don't really understand the difference between the regular cold sores I had as a child and those caused from Herpes, except that maybe the virus causes more severe outbreaks. Anyway, I took Valtrex for a while which didn't help. Does anyone have any personal home remedies they can recommend? My doctor suggested swishing with milk of magnesia. I use it all the time and it does help depending on the severity of the sores. I now have a large one on my tongue, right next to my teeth where it can be irritated. So, if any suggestions, I'd be grateful. Thanks.

sara,

funny you posted your predictament. i'm in the same situation as you. i would get a cold sore about 2 every 3 years. that's it. i was used to them and knew what they were. i made out with a girl back in march. just making out. in april i got a good cold sore on the bottom front of my lip. then they just kept coming. it's like i'm a little kid all over again. now i got a couple on my gums and had a few red spots on my tongue??. i never had this. this is really crazy. i'm just waiting for these to go back to normal and get a few every 2 years. weird. i went to the doctor to see if i'm sick or strep or anything that could cause these outbreaks. nothin'. i know these can come for any reason, but i've been under tons of stress before this make out and i've never gotten them in the past. i have valtrex and popped one to see if the ones in my mouth would go away, but nothin'. some people say they go away after one pill. i'm takin' 1000mg of lysine a day. hope this will help and send this back into hiding for a year.

All cold sores are caused by herpes and are contagious. Canker sores are similar but are caused by injury to the mouth or tongue (such as biting a cheek or burning your tongue with hot soup, or eating too much acidic food) and are not contagious.

There are several possibilities. Something may be weakening your immune system, so your body cannot keep the herpes controlled. I found that as I got older and busier, I had more ob's. Another possibility is that you have had type 1 all along, and now you have somehow contracted type 2 orally also. Or you may have reinfected yourself in a different site and thus had a second primary ob. There are probably many more possibilities, but those seem the most likely to me.

But that's all academic. I don't know the best way to treat h orally, but I do know that I've skimmed over lots of suggestions on this board over the last year. Try doing a search for "Cold sores" on this board. Go to the top of this page, right under the Welcome notice, and click on "search." Choose advanced search, make sure you choose only the herpes board to search in, and enter the term "cold sore." Then browse through all the threads--you'll get lots!