Primary Oral OB Treatment etc.

[thankyou]

Hi Terri,
Thank you so much for your time. I am a 28yo male. I have never had any oral or genital herpes to my knowledge prior to this week. On Sunday, I thought I had an acne breakout near my lower lip/and/or an ingrown hair because I had eaten a very oily pizza. I plucked the hair with tweezers, and tried to pop (what I thought were zits). By Tuesday, I thought there could be a problem, as it looked more like an open sore, and wasn’t healing normally like an acne pore would. I went to a clinic, the MD said that it was definitely a cold sore/oral herpes. The sore is on the border of my lip and my skin. I have no idea how I could have contracted it. In fact, I’ve been hyper vigilant about cold sores for some time. I was prescribed Valtrex 4 1000mg tablets to be taken twice daily. I have felt tingling and itchiness in my mouth area, and have had intense headaches and neck stiffness. I just took my last tablet, but the sore is still there. It has gone from open white sore on my lip, to yellow crusted, to now a smaller sore but open.
Should I have the MD prescribe me more Valtrex until the sore is healed?
Should I get some sort of test to confirm that it is herpes? Should I get a test to determine if it is 1 or 2?

Thank you

[Terri Warren]

Well, if you have never had a cold sore before, then you may wish to have a swab test done but the Valtrex that you have taken may well interfere with the results of the swab test. Have you recently had a sexual contact you are concerned about? It sounds pretty classic to me but the clinician that saw you would know best.
And yes, you may need more Valtrex. is there a refill associated with your prescription?

Terri

[thankyou]

There is no refill associated with the prescription, I’m planning on calling/going to the clinic again tomorrow morning. There is no sexual contact that I’m concerned about, which is why I’m so frustrated and confused. Is it possible to get the virus, and then just have some sort of cold type symptoms without a cold sore? In another words, is it possible I got the virus a long time ago, but that I’m just now getting my first cold sore?

Or would I have gotten the virus more recently? I may have shared food and a utensil with someone with a cold sore on Saturday evening (24 hours before noticing something on my face).

I also seem to get the most intense headaches and jaw/neck tightness several hours after taking Valtrex. Is it possible that the headaches are from the medication?

I’m also feeling a lot of anxiety, sadness, anger, and shame. I looked through your handbook which was very helpful, but do you have any other advice or recommendations at all for someone like me? What do I need to do to prevent auto-innoculation or transmission to others?

[Terri Warren]

If you’ve had no recent sexual contact or kissing and this just showed up then this is NOT your first infection. You don’t get oral HSV 1 from sharing utensils or food with someone who has HSV 1.
It is certainly possible that the headaches are associated with the Valtrex, yes. Remember that is the medicine is really bothering you with this side effect that you don’t HAVE to take it. It isn’t like an antibiotic that will cure something – Valtrex is just treating the symptoms.
I also think you would benefit from confirming this diagnosis with a lab test – either an antibody test or a swab test of the lesion.
More than 57% of the US population has HSV 1 infection so if you do have this, you are with the majority of the population. Most people acquire this from an adult kissing them when they are children. If you have sex with someone who has HSV 1 already then this is not as issue to worry about in terms of transmission. And since you have well established infection and not new infection ,there is no concern about autoinoculation.

Terri

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