Fever Blister - Herpes Simplex Type 1

[OurGift]

Someone in my family may have a fever blister or a cold sore. Since they are in contact with my LO I would like to pay for a visit to a doc for Dx (they aren't insured). What type of doc could I set up an appointment with? Like a ENT specialist or?

Thanks much mamas!

[Theia]

A regular family practice doctor would be enough. I'm not sure what the doctor would prescribe, it's been years since I've been to the Dr for that. As long as the infected person and your LO don't share drinking cups, kiss face to face, or have other contact between blister and LO you should be safe. They are contagious but with cleanliness (lots of hand washing) can be managed and prevented from passing. I've not passed to my DD cuz I am super careful during an outbreak, from the moment I first feel it, and all the way until there is no evidence of it after healing. I'm picky about it cuz I don't want her to have to deal with it. As an infant my DD a few times hit my blister with her hand. I freaked out and took her to wash her hands before they could go into her mouth.

For the person who is infected there are dietary things they can do to help it heal faster as well as help prevent future outbreaks. Two amino acids to keep in mind are arginine and lysine. Arginine is a HSV promotor and lysine is an HSV inhibitor. Avoiding things with high arginine content, wheat and caffeinated drinks for example and eating foods high in lysine like most beans, fresh greens, eggs, etc. will help. It's a huge list of foods to avoid and foods to favor. If your family member is interested, you might look it up and share the info with them. Topical lysine helps and I've also had good results from using essential oil lemon balm (melissa) topically. Sorry for your family member to have to deal with this.

[OurGift]

Thanks so much for your super informative reply! I normally wouldn't be concerned, but my family is very hands on and kissy, the person in question is barely a teen, and our families are very close and see each other frequently. So just to make sure especially with the baby! I will definitely pass on the info about the lysine and EO lemon balm. Do you find that these work better than the OTC Abreva?

[columbusmomma]

I suffer from cold sores but have never passed them to my family, even with kissing!! I use lysine but do have a prescription from my dermatologist for valtrex. When I feel a first "warning" sign that I'm getting a cold sore, I take 3 pills and usually I don't end up with a breakout. I really need this vs. natural methods to actually not end up with a sore.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

FYI, for future reference incase its needed, my toddler contracted simplex from my mother a few months ago. The initial outbreak was AWFUL. I felt so bad for him. Poor little gums were all swollen, everything he ate or drank hurt, and he had two pretty ugly "pimples" above his top lip. Our regular Ped percribed a liquid form of valtrex (Complete with banana flavoring) that helped the initial outbreak to not be as bad as it could have been. (I googled Herpes simplex 1 in children, and the photos I saw made me cry)

Since then, after a stint at grammies house, (which usually involves lots of chocolate) and also a minor cold, I noticed a cold sore starting right on the center tip of his top lip. He even mentioned a "booboo" to me earlier that day, but just in passing. So I called the doc and asked what he thought of abreva in kids as small as my son. he said no problem. So I put it on every morning and night, (And inserted hi bink for a while so he wouldnt lick it off) and it was gone, and never really got bad at all, within a week!

I would also like to add that my younger son has caught it so far, and my husband and I have never had a cold sore.

[Theia]

Originally Posted by OurGift

Thanks so much for your super informative reply! I normally wouldn't be concerned, but my family is very hands on and kissy, the person in question is barely a teen, and our families are very close and see each other frequently. So just to make sure especially with the baby! I will definitely pass on the info about the lysine and EO lemon balm. Do you find that these work better than the OTC Abreva?

For me the Abreva only worked a few times. Then nothing. That was when I started looking into alternatives. Many years ago when I last saw a dr. for this, they prescribed something like valtrex, but I think it was called cyclovir or ? It worked, but then the next dr. I saw about it said that was like shooting a fly with an elephant gun and wouldn't give me a new prescription. So I went with OTC for a while. I did lots of research into it after the Abreva quit working. Something that I really liked was H-Balm. It's not cheap, but you only need to use tiny amounts. And the daily version of it worked really well in prevention when I was using it. My problem with these things is I get them literally in the middle of the night, no symptoms before bed, and so I miss the critical first few hours/tingles and wake up with a full blister. It really sucks for it to work like that for me. I also avoid (eat in moderation) the high arginine foods in my general daily diet just to help prevent out breaks.

And I would gently disagree with the other poster who said they haven't passed it on through kissing contact. Maybe this is true, but this is known to be contagious and is so horrible.... it's painful and embarrassing. Why take a chance of passing it on through close contact when you can just avoid such contact for a while and then resume? To each their own, but I just won't take chances with something that I know I can prevent. I got my infection from my Mom. She didn't know it was contagious or I'm sure she would have been as anal about it then as I am now with my own DD. Believe me, it hurts so much to not be able to kiss my DD for those couple weeks that I require personally to feel 'safe' again. But I'll do it for her health.

hth

[OurGift]

Q?-I thought that cold sores were different than fever blisters? Like a cold sore is a small wet? dent/crevice inside the mouth thats not contagious and a fever blister is usually on the lips, has little weepy bumps that scab over, usually much bigger than cold sore and HIGHLY contagious. Are they both HSV-1?

Another ? out of curiousity- Is this HSV-1 transferable to genitalia and then turns into HSV-2?

Barbie, your poor babies! I bet grandma feels awful.

You ladies are amazing! Thanks tons!

[Theia]

Originally Posted by OurGift

Q?-I thought that cold sores were different than fever blisters? Like a cold sore is a small wet? dent/crevice inside the mouth thats not contagious and a fever blister is usually on the lips, has little weepy bumps that scab over, usually much bigger than cold sore and HIGHLY contagious. Are they both HSV-1?

Another ? out of curiousity- Is this HSV-1 transferable to genitalia and then turns into HSV-2?

Barbie, your poor babies! I bet grandma feels awful.

You ladies are amazing! Thanks tons!

I've used the terms fever blister and cold sore interchangeably. Not sure if that is proper, just my habit. Here is the wiki page for Herpes. Scroll to "Signs and Symptoms and read the last paragraph. (I'd copy and paste but I think it's over the copyright limits)

I think the ones inside the mouth are called canker sores.

According to the canker sore page it is a different virus than herpes.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by OurGift

Q?-I thought that cold sores were different than fever blisters? Like a cold sore is a small wet? dent/crevice inside the mouth thats not contagious and a fever blister is usually on the lips, has little weepy bumps that scab over, usually much bigger than cold sore and HIGHLY contagious. Are they both HSV-1?

Another ? out of curiousity- Is this HSV-1 transferable to genitalia and then turns into HSV-2?

Barbie, your poor babies! I bet grandma feels awful.

You ladies are amazing! Thanks tons!

OUr Ped told us cold sores and fever blisters are the same thing. Fever blister just doesn't sound as bad to some people, and cold sore especially sounds better then Herpes Simplex 1, especially to those who dont know what it is. (I will admit to about having a breakdown when she said it looks like the simplex virus. )

The sores INSIDE the mouth are canker sores, and I am pretty sure are not caused by the herpes virus. But I can't remember 100%.

Yes, my mother felt AWFUL. She still feels awful. Especially because, before any of us REALLY knew about cold sores, herpes, and how it all worked, I told her to be careful around the kids. I mean I thought I remembered something about cold sores being contagious, but wasnt sure. So she didn't kiss anyone or share any straws or utensils. But my toddler had a little cold at the time, so his immune system was already compromised when he was exposed.