My cold sores are of the mutant strain. They are so bad that sometimes they're on my entire lip area. Remember Bubba from Forest Gump? My lip looks like that when I'm in an outbreak. Not attractive at all. I just want to hide but I run a business and can't close the doors when this happens. Although I'd like to. How is everyone else's cold sores? I've never seen anyone's as bad as mine. In fact, when someone has an outbreak and they're complaining about how unsightly they are I wish mine was as benign as there's. On top of all this, I get painful swollen glands. I take ibuprofen but that doesn't help much with the pain. For those of you that have taken valtrex for cold sores, does this medicine really work? I've never taken it but I'll try anything that may reduce the severity. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Sunny,

I'm so sorry you have suffered like this! I rarely get oral OBs so I can only imagine what it's like to have really bad OBs in such a visible place. I would think you might find relief by taking antivirals (Acyclovir, Valtrex or Famvir), which can help with HSV-1.

You might also try some of the alternative treatments that are around. But please research alternative treatments well before you try them and consult a naturopath or herbalist if possible. You can get some info on alternative medicine here on this board, as well as a great article on it on herpes.org (in our Resource Links).

Please let us know if you find anything that helps. Check through our archive messages here too, as this has been discussed before and some successful ideas might have been shared about this.

TheOneInFour

I don't know that my outbreaks are as bad as yours but for some reason I get them above my lip on the left side or higher up on the cheek on the left side. Really weird, I've never seen anyone else like that. They can get pretty huge and are usually there for weeks as they grow and then begin to go away.

As if that isn't bad enough the muscle aches and headache that I get during these outbreaks are horrible. I'm in the middle of one now and just wish I could soak in a hot tub all day.

I don't get cold sores, but I do have type 2 and I usually get three or four really bad sores around my mouth. The best way to describe the pain is it just feels like someone punched me as hard as they could in the mouth. All I have eaten for a week are chicken tenders cut up in tiny, tiny pieces and drink through a straw. I can't open my mouth enough to eat normally because the pain is so bad. I know what you mean by wanting to run and hide. Having to go out in public and go to work with these open sores all around my mouth has really done a number on me mentally. There's nothing worse than trying to have a conversation with someone and all they do is stare at your sores the whole time. Sometimes I wish there was a city I could move to where everyone had our problem and understood what it was like to deal with this life changing issue. Your definitely not alone. Valtrex worked for me for a couple of years. Now it does nothing. I have been trying herbals for a few weeks now but I think it's going to be a long time before I now if they are doing anything. If yours is as bad as what you say and you have insurance to pay for the Valtrex, what do you have to lose? I would at least give it a shot.
I hope it works out for you.

My doctor just wrote me a prescription for valtrex and my insurance paid all but $22.00 for, I believe ,20 pills. So, the next time I find a tingling in my lip I'll have the valtrex at the ready. I can so relate to everyone's tales of woe. It's so hard for me to look at people when I'm talking to them during a typical bad outbreak. I'm a people person any other time except during an outbreak and then I feel embarrassed to be out in public. One time I closed my business down for 3 days during a very very bad outbreak. I said no way am I going to be seen like this. My glands were so swollen and my jaw ached terribly. I sipped liquids, especially coffee through a straw. That particular outbreak lasted about 3 1/2 weeks. They typically last about 2 weeks. You'd think that science would have found a cure for this menace already. My God, they're making leaps and bounds in so many different areas, why not herpes. What's the deal there? One in Four, if you're reading this, I'm sure this would be a question you can answer. Your up on all this research stuff. Best of luck to everyone.