Daughter Has a Cold Sore!

Lysine didn't work for me. I use Abreva when I get a cold sore-love that stuff. I also like Herpinsin. Its a lip gloss type thing but it has medincine in it for cold sores. I've gotten cancer sores and cold sores. The herpes virus that causes cold sores is NOT the same as the kind youi get from having sex. No one caused this. She has a trigger that if identified can help reduce her outbreaks. Sun and stress happen to be two common ones.

Hi S.,

Breathe! If she contracted chicken pox or ever gets the chicken pox vaccine she would be susceptible to them as well. Cold sores WILL NOT appear if the immune system is working right. This is probably a good thing so now you know what you are dealing with. She honestly never has to have one again if you get her immune system working well.

First of all teach her that good hygiene will keep the one she has from spreading. Make sure she's not kissing on any little sisters or brothers, etc and that she's washing her hands often.

She needs to be on an absorbable multivitamin. I know a good chewable one that is guaranteed to absorb and also has a money back guarantee on it. If you're interested let me know. L-Lysine is an amino acid that the body has. If she contracts a cold sore, her immune system isn't making any and you need to supplement it for her. The cold sore will start to heal immediately. Topically, a high grade tea tree oil will dry it up and actually absorb down to the root. If she ever starts to develop one again, ice will slow the metabolism and can actually stop it from appearing. Remember it is a virus and viruses are alive. Ice can slow and stop them.

Like I said, breathe. This is very manageable and if you work at good health she should never see another one.

Regards,

M.

First, I would take her to the doctor and have it checked - if it is herpes, it can be ANY strain. One of my nephews has had it since about 1yo, and it flared up very badly in the summer and when he was out in the sun (spf didn't stop it). They found a homeopathic lip balm from compounding pharmacists, and its done wonders.

I agree with others about not putting blame on anyone - there's no way to prove your assumptions.

I'm so sorry this happened - good luck!

Don't over-react. Breathe. Form the research I have read the herpes virus is rampant in 80% of Americans. It is what it is. Type II and Type I are caused by different strains of the herpes virus.

If Lysine doesn't work, then try Cataplex F PERLES from Standard Process. Also, I use Immuplex from Standard Process for viruses - even when I contracted Rubella during my 2nd pregnancy....and he turned out great. If she continues to get them, even with good nutirtion and plenty of sleep, I have friends that use USF Ointment from Standard Process, as well, which they apply topically when they feel the tingling and the sore never appears. It works well on both strains.

Remember that nuts are high in the amino acid arginine and if there is a lot of ingestion of arginine then the amino acid lysine gets depleted.

We use Sunflower seed butter instead of nut butters.

I get a freakish cold sore when my immune system gets run down or I am really stressing about something. My doctor prescribed an ointment (Zovirax - I think) that I carry in my purse as well as Acyclovir which I keep in the medicine cabinet just in case. I am extremely careful about keeping my hands washed and not kissing anyone during the outbreak. No one in my family has caught it - thank goodness.

Eating yogurt seems to speed the healing if I've got one. I'm not sure why (maybe the active cultures?) but it does help. They make a zillion flavors and my kids love it so maybe it's something your daughter would be willing to try.

You are freaking out. I have two people in my life that have herpes. It is contracted by sex. One person got it from their ex spouse who had it. The other person got it from someone who had it also. Go the the doctor and get some medicine for her cold sore. It is not your neices or MIL's fault. If some one has the virus,the type you are talking about they can be non symptomatic and pass it to the other person. They should go on valtrex to help keep the virus dormant in their body. This would also help their symptoms. Make sure to become more educated on the subject. You can also buy stuff over the counter. Tell you daughter not to touch it or pick at it too much so it heals. Good luck

I agree with Jennifer P - don't blame someone unless you KNOW they gave it to your child. Try not to focus on the anger, focus on preventing outbreaks and contaminating others.

My 1st child got "lip sores" when she was about 3. I have no idea where she got it from but the pediatrician was very clear it's nearly impossible to prevent with little kids...esp because they often have their hands in their mouths and/or don't wash their hands enough. She said it's just "luck" if someone doesn't catch it in childhood.

Yes, it sucks that there's no cure, but that doesn't mean that she has to suffer with ugly, oozing or crusty sores that the whole world will see. There's a lot out on the market now to help. Lysine is one. L-Lysine supplements is another - to prevent breakouts too. And there's a prescription for Acyclovir if she's dealing with an illness, since a weaken immune system can trigger an outbreak.

Also, as Jennifer said, if you educate yourself and your daughter now, you will know what foods to avoid/limit, and how to immediately react when she feels the "tingling" of a sore coming on.

My now 7 yr old almost never gets an open sore now. We know how to deal with "the tingling" before it turns into anything more. We keep Lysine and Abreva lip creams in our medicine cabinet.

FYI - as you know, she can now pass the virus along to others. Make sure she keeps her hands away from her mouth when she's "tingling" or fighting off an infection. This can easily be spread to siblings or parents and even turn into "eye herpes" in someone else. The lip and eye are the same strain. The private parts herpes is a different virus. Supposedly once you get it, you've got it. Period. And it won't move from lips to eyes. However, the eye one is particularly difficult to deal with as it can go into the eye and cause other complications.

My mother gave me cold sores when I was 2-3 yo. I've dealt with them since....if it were my child who walked home with cold sores from a family member who was NOT careful with their wicked little germs I'd be OFF THE WALL PISSED. That's me. I have them because my own mother couldn't be careful enough to keep her mouth off my face when I was a small child and now I'm stuck with the stupid outbreaks that happen when stress hits hard: graduation -oooh, those were great pictures to look at, my wedding day. Yeah, they suck.

Neither one of my children or husband has them because I'm very, very careful about keeping my germs to myself. I don't want my kids to have a lifelong, albeit benign disease, that always seems to rear it's ugly head at the wrong moment.

So, personally, I don't think you're over-reacting coming from my own personal self reference criteria. However, there's not much you can do at this point either, the deed is done. So get angry. Then accept and find peace in some way. Sorry this happened.

I've had cold sores all my life - I must have been 2 -3 when I first got them. I've had plenty of boyfriends, I was quite popular in school, it never stopped my from doing anything (I wouldn't even consider your daughter "slightly ill" - having an outbreak means you have to be very careful around other people, certainly, but I really hope you aren't treating your daughter like an invalid). I managed to find a pretty awesome husband and have been married to him for 15 yrs, even with cold sores occasionally marring my otherwise quite nice face. Now that your daughter has cold sores, explain to her that her lip will feel slightly tingly when one is about to start and she should tell you. Immediately start putting on Abreva (it really does cut down the duration of the outbreak) per instructions, if it's approved for kids (ask her doc about this). Then until it's totally gone, make sure she knows not to kiss anyone, share anyone's drink, have her try not to touch her own lip except for putting on any medical cream, etc. I have cold sores, but my friends, past boyfriends, current husband, and my kids do not because I'm careful during an outbreak. It is not a death sentence, it's just a minor inconvenience if handled correctly. And above all, having your daughter learn how to handle stress will help. In my experience, I get cold sores when I'm stressed out and my immune system is tired. Keeping her healthy will help to prevent a cold sore from starting. Good luck, and don't worry too much, she will still have a perfectly wonderful life!

I've had sold sores for as long as I can remember, and other than being an annoyance, I don't feel it's that big of a deal. I remember hearing a statistic at some point (biology class maybe?) that almost everyone carries the virus, but it affects people differently, some will get cold sores, others will get canker sores, but you can't get both.

Mine show up if I'm getting sick, not getting enough rest, or I'm super-duper stressed, and even then it isn't all of the time. Like others have said, there is a "tingling" that occurs before it's noticeable, and if you apply the ointments, like Abrevia, it will cut down on the size of the blister and the length of time it's "active". Some doctors will write a presciption for Valtrex if it's something that occurs frequently or with predictble aggravators.

Another thing: when I was in high school, I split my lip open, and ever since then, I would say that 99% of my cold sores have occurred in that spot. No clue if that plays a role because it was affected by an injury, but if your daughter has had an injury to mouth/lip, it could be a contributing factor.