Preventing Herpes 1 blisters

[tejodouro]

I have been having herpes 1 blisters since I was a child. I am now in my 50s and they are worse than ever. I get them once a month and they are bigger and more numerous. My doctor prescribed Acyclovir 400mg three times per day when I feel the outbreak for 10 days.  It seemed to work at first to reduce the length of healing but now it seems to cause them to show up more often and worse.  I also take vitamin C and B complex. I  use Abreeva on the blisters as soon as they show up and Blistex the rest of the time.
I know that the sun triggers them and I try to stay in the shade when by the pool (kids do lots of water sports).
Is there a better medicine than Acyclovir that i could request? any other advice to prevent the outbreaks beside vitamin C, lip sunblock and sleep?Thank you.

[gracefromHHP]

your provider gave you the initial ob doses - you were taking medication far longer you than you had to. you only needed either acyclovir 400mg 3x/day for 5 days or easier yet, 800mg 3x/day for 2 days each time you got a cold sore.

many things can cause lip lesions, not just herpes. It very well could be that you have hsv1 orally and also have something else causing your current symptoms. Ingredients in toothpaste, chewing gum, lip sticks and chap sticks can all cause issues so a further work up since you get monthly symptoms is a good idea.

they typically do not test for herpes as part of infertility work ups. you and your spouse will need to check to see if you were tested or not then.

[tejodouro]

I had them since I was a child in boarding school. I also only had one partner in my life (married 28 years) and he never had a sore. I never was tested on the soars but I assumed that I got them as a young girl in boarding school with other girls (catholic all girl boarding school in Europe).  Since my husband does not have them (we always abstain when I have these) and he is my only partner, I assumed that it was Herpes 1. What else could it be? why is the medicine incorrect? my primary physician prescribed it to me. Is there another drug?  Is my OB/Gyn better for this than my primary doctor? why a dermatologist if it is not herpes? I am 99.9% sure it is herpes 1  because they last about 8 to 10 days, they tingle in the beginning, they are always in the upper lip, they crust... but I will follow your input. How could I get herpes 2 from living in a boarding school.  I must say that many years ago I was tested for STds due to inferlity and the blood tests were negative for all STDs.  I never understood why the tests did not flag herpes 1. Thank you for your help.

[gracefromHHP]

have they done any testing on these to confirm that indeed it is still all oral herpes going on? Getting cold sores monthly would be pretty unusual especially after being infected for so long.

abreeva really doesn't do much at all for cold sores and is incredibly over priced for that teeny tube. It barely got fda approval to say that it speeds healing of cold sores.  

At this point, I'd stop all antivirals and with your next cold sore, be seen within 48 hours of its appearance for a lesion culture and typing.  If it comes back as hsv1+ then you know you are just an exception to the rule and can start on daily suppressive therapy which will do a lot more for you than the acyclovir you were given ( which your provider gave you the wrong dose anyways ).   If your lesion culture comes back as negative, I'd ask to be referred to a dermatologist for further evaluation.

grace