 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Herpes / September 2003Getting a cold sore!! Anyway to prevent it?
Im getting a dang cold sore on my lip. Last time I had one of these.... abt a year ago.... it hurt like hell and took FOREVER to heal up!! Is there ANYTHING I can do right now to at least lessen its effects or make it heal faster? Should I call my doctor and have him pre-scribe anything? Or is there anything over the counter worth a dang? Like I said it just NOW starting to form.....as of this morning....and hasn't ulcerated or anything yet. But I was planning on going out of town this weekend and would like to do SOMETHING that will lessen it or kick it in the behind now. Advice? Well, there are prescriptions you can use. And there is Abreva - if you're in the USA. And I've been told that Tea Tree Oil is really good for healing the blisters. ar > Im getting a dang cold sore on my lip. Last time I had > one of these.... abt a year ago.... it hurt like hell [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Advice? >Well, there are prescriptions you can use. And there is Abreva - if you're >in the USA. And I've been told that Tea Tree Oil is really good for healing >the blisters. Well.... I called my doctor and told his nurse I was developing a cold sore. The doc called a prescription into the pharmacy and it was Acyclovir...... twenty five 200 mg capsules. Ive never taken anything like this before.... is the Acyclovir a bit over kill for cold sores? Ive started taking them anyway.... but wanted your alls opinions. Acyclovir is one of the approved treatments for herpes - therefore, it is exactly what you need for a cold sore. ar > >Well, there are prescriptions you can use. And there is Abreva - if you're > >in the USA. And I've been told that Tea Tree Oil is really good for healing [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Ive started taking them anyway.... but wanted your alls > opinions. >Acyclovir is one of the approved treatments for herpes - therefore, it is >exactly what you need for a cold sore. > >ar OK Well the Acyclovir scrip only cost me $5...... with my insurance.... so it was even cheaper than that Abreva Ive never taken Acyclovir tho..... so was a bit concerned abt side effects and such >>Acyclovir is one of the approved treatments for herpes - therefore, it is >>exactly what you need for a cold sore. >Well the Acyclovir scrip only cost me $5...... with my >insurance.... so it was even cheaper than that Abreva >Ive never taken Acyclovir tho..... so was a bit >concerned abt side effects and such Acyclovir is one of the safest meds there are, as long as you don't take high doses for an extended period, and that's not likely. Headaches and nausea are said to occur in a very low percentage of people. If either happens just stop and no harm will be done. Taking the pills after your outbreak has already begun will probably only shorten the duration of your outbreak a little. It's best if you can start it right when you feel the first tingles, or just as the outbreak starts. Still, you might be in good shape by the weekend. Best luck, Mike >Taking the pills after your outbreak has already begun will probably >only shorten the duration of your outbreak a little. It's best if you >can start it right when you feel the first tingles, or just as the >outbreak starts. Still, you might be in good shape by the weekend. Well it actually started "tingling" this time yesterday morning...... and then developed into a few small blisters on my lip. However the blisters haven't "ulcerated" yet like the last cold sore did I had abt 7 months ago. Man that one was a killer!!! Hurt like HELL..... ulcerated and took FOREVER to heal. Anyway Im hoping by taking the Acyclovir it will kick the current sore in the butt and at least great reduce it in severity. BIG thanks to everyone here for advice!! I really didn't know anything abt current herpes drugs till I posted here yesterday. I was just in such great discomfort the last time I had a cold sore (7 months ago) that when I first started getting the "tingles" yesterday I thought "Ive got to act now!!" Anyway... tanks all. > >Well, there are prescriptions you can use. And there is Abreva - if you're > >in the USA. And I've been told that Tea Tree Oil is really good for healing [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Ive never taken anything like this before.... is the > Acyclovir a bit over kill for cold sores? Cold sores are caused by Herpes SImplex virus...Acyclovir is an antiviral drug that targets Herpes Simplex Virus. Its pretty much a perfect target. THe huge numbers of pills is because the drug has a tiny halflife in the body - not because its a horrendous overkill dose. Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 >Cold sores are caused by Herpes SImplex virus...Acyclovir is an antiviral >drug that targets Herpes Simplex Virus. Its pretty much a perfect target. Great! >THe huge numbers of pills is because the drug has a tiny halflife in the >body - not because its a horrendous overkill dose. Ahhhhh!! I see now Yeah i guess that is why I was a bit concerned abt side effects. I read the instructions and it said take FIVE 200 mg pills daily. I thought...wow... that sounds like a lot of meds. Anyway.... Im clear on the "half life" aspect of Acyclovir now! Again... thanks guys! > >Cold sores are caused by Herpes SImplex virus...Acyclovir is an antiviral > >drug that targets Herpes Simplex Virus. Its pretty much a perfect target. > > Great! Isnt it just :) > >THe huge numbers of pills is because the drug has a tiny halflife in the > >body - not because its a horrendous overkill dose. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > 200 mg pills daily. I thought...wow... that sounds like > a lot of meds. ACV is a pretty benign med - the rate of side effects is very low and the extent of them is pretty limited. Most usually only kick in when its taken intravenously. > Anyway.... Im clear on the "half life" aspect of > Acyclovir now! Yes, if I remember its about 0.7 of an hour half life....this is why although you can use it to treat animal like a cat for Keratitis from Feline herpesvirus 1 you newed to treat that often to get results but try to tell the cat that.... Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 >Yes, if I remember its about 0.7 of an hour half life... Wow that really is a short half life! Definitely explains why you are supposed to take 5 pills a day! > >Yes, if I remember its about 0.7 of an hour half life... > > Wow that really is a short half life! > > Definitely explains why you are supposed to take 5 > pills a day! THis is one of the reasons valacyclovir exists. The pill load drops from 5 doses per day to 1 or 2 for the same efficacy. Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 >THis is one of the reasons valacyclovir exists. The pill load drops from 5 >doses per day to 1 or 2 for the same efficacy. Ahh.... cool! Tell me..... is there anyway to explain in laymens terms what something like acyclovir actually does to the herpes virus? I mean..... does it "fool" it somehow.... kill it...? By what "mechanism" does acyclovir help herpes? Just curious on that is all. > >THis is one of the reasons valacyclovir exists. The pill load drops from 5 > >doses per day to 1 or 2 for the same efficacy. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > I mean..... does it "fool" it somehow.... kill it...? Kill it is the closest. When the virus gets into the cell it drops the outer coat of protein and lipd and becomes a circle of DNA that simply copies itself over and over. Acyclovir is whats termed a guanosine analogue - essentially DNA has four letter in its code A,C,G and T. A guanosine analogue mimics the letter G. In this case ACV is the G without 3 extra chemical bits (3 phosphate groups to be precise). The virus has a protein called thymidine kinase that adds the first phosphate to the acyclovir, the body then adds the other 2 and it gets inserted into the DNA chain the virus is making, stopping it and so preventing the virus from replicating. It doesnt hit the rest of the body other than infected cells because the body cant add that first phosphate only the virus protein can do that so the rest of the process only happens in infected cells. Also the body's DNA making enzymes dont get involved and wont use the acycloivr when its had all the extra bits added so thats another layer to prevent it breaking your own DNA chains (as well as the basic of human biology). Unable to make new DNA chains the virus stalls and the immune system eventually clears away the infected cell during which time the virus DNA gets chopped to bits. Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 >Unable to make new DNA chains the virus stalls and the immune system >eventually clears away the infected cell during which time the virus DNA >gets chopped to bits. Very cool!! Thanks Tom (and others)...... Ive learned a LOT! Again thanks!! |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.