Coldsores

they are actually most contagoius before they come up so you are lucky you havent caught them from him already - but I would stare clear til the scab / blister has healed just incase they are oozy

MissAngel... there is a supplement you can get from a pharmacy or health shop called LYSINE and it works wonders for cold sores. 

Also.. Hubby should avoid anything high in Arginine that triggers cold sores.  Some foods high in Arginine are most nuts, chocolate and coffee, seafood and coconut....

Hate to say, but they're never non-contagious. Even when there are no symptoms, the virus is still being shed and can therefore be passed on. As said above, the virus does become more contagious when a coldsore is present.

I would guess that you actually do have the virus, but are in the majority of the population that has it sub-clinically, as you said - you probably do carry the HSV-1 virus, but don't have symptoms.

Generally, reactivation of the virus, or coldsore episodes are caused by immune system weakness, exposure to more than normal UV light (and also menstruation, but I think we can discount that one in this case ).

Hope they clear up soon - I've heard good things about those patches, which can also help prevent bacterial infection of the coldsore.

Aftershave works really well at clearing them up (drying them), stings but should be less noticeable within 24-48 hours

You might be lucky and just not get them, I get them often, haven't had one whilst being pregnant but my dp never ever catches them, he doesn't even try to avoid me when I do have one

Umm another way to dry them out is toothpaste, just a little amount.

Jelly wrote: Zovirax is a cream isn't it? Those little patches that cover the sore might be better, since then it won't be coming into contact with anything. Plus I've heard they heal them up really fast.

Probably a combination of zovirax and the patches would work well, although zovirax generally has the most effect when the tingling sensation first starts - that sensation indicates the virus is travelling back along the nerves from where it lies dormant in the spine, to the lips....the cream can then stop the viruses from replicating while there aren't too many of them that have reached the lips IYGWIM?

Jelly wrote: Is there a way to find out if you're a carrier? DP gets them (well, one in the last three years but still) and I was rather hoping I could avoid catching it... I didn't realise it was still contagious when he doesn't actually have one showing!

You could get your blood tested for antibodies to HSV-1, but you'd probably have to pay for it as it isn't a 'necessary' medical test; and then even if you have the antibodies to the virus, it doesn't mean that you're infected - you could just have immunity to the virus. There are more definitive tests, but they rely on at least some virus being present either at the periphery (your lips etc), or in your blood which isn't very common. If it helps, 75% of the population is infected with HSV-1, but most of us don't get coldsores.....so chances are that you do already have the infection, and even if you don't it seems you have immunity to them, as you probably would have had one by now if you were going to.

Sorry for the novel! (HSV was my doctorate thesis topic, so it's like talking about an old friend )

Edited by blondy

TBH, I hadn't heard about it before (my research centered on how the virus traveled along the nerves)....but having just done some quick literature searching......it looks to be reasonably valid

Arginine and Lysine are both amino acids aka the building blocks of everything, and the HSV virion structure contains a lot of arginine in it. Therefore, for the virus to replicate, it needs the arginine building blocks to build more viruses with. If you have a high arginine diet, there is surplus for the virus to replicate with. Lysine apparently competes with arginine and thus stops more HSV virions from being made....thereby inhibiting the coldsores to a certain degree.

There hasn't been much clinical data on trials, and from what I've seen there are mixed results in whether it works or not, but certainly the theory looks good.

I do think that diet alone wouldn't be enough to trigger an episode, but if high arginine coincided with a weakened immune system (stress etc), then maybe that would be enough to trigger viral reactivation? All hypothesis though!

Here is one link about the use of Lysine. and another relating to the ratio of arginine/lysine in various foods. I figure at any rate, it can't hurt !