OT: Nasal Cold Sore

Christmas Day was a great day activity wise. However, health wise it gets two thumbs down. I've been battling a cold which turned into a sinus infection. Yesterday, I went to my PCP who gave me antibiotics and prescription flonase for nose. She asked me if I ever had cold sores and I said yes, just a few. She then said, "You might have a cold sore in your nose". She then checked the left nostril which looked good, then the right nostril which was irritated. Since she couldn't spot it, she then said, "It might be more up your nose." I never knew that a "cold sore in the nose" ever existed.

QUESTION: What causes this and how to prevent it from returning.

Starlette

I suffer from cold sores in my mouth, around my mouth & yes in my nose at times. I've never had one so far up my nose it wasn't visible, but it could be possible, If so, it would be very, very painful & it would think you would have the same feeling as cold sores in other places.

Cold sores (most recurring ones) are caused by a strain of the herpes virus. These are miserable. I've taken Famciclovir, an anti-viral med and my dr prescribes it 'off label' with taking 4 pills day one 4 pills day two. She told me to take as soon as I 'feel' the cold sore starting. If you already have the sore in your nose, I think dr still should have offered an anti-viral.

Only possible treatment I could think of for having one so far back in your nose is using the nasal rinse, I'm sure you are familiar with this, in case you are not, they sell on cpap.com, but you can get this at most local drug stores. Here is what I'm talking about:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/neilme ... r-kit.html

Hope you feel better soon,
Jen

Thanks Jencat.

Nope never heard of that. Thank you for the recommendation. In the years past, I think now that I've misdiagnose this calling it "a feather in my nose that I can't seem to ever blow out." I don't know how it feels for you, for me it feels like you're inhaling knives. The irritation/pain is so sharp. At this time it is followed by a sneezing frenzy which has caused my chest and abdomen soreness followed by a runny nose. As I ponder this, this "has" been a reoccurring event for me. Every couple of weeks, I do get this sensation of a "feather up my nose that I can't blow out", which may very well have been a nasal cold sore all along. Maybe its time to start monitoring this and add this to my sleep journal.

You're comment, "strain of the herpes virus". I've always thought of ANY form of herpes what related to sex Maybe I've had my head under a rock for too long

Starlette

Cold Sores = Fever Blisters = Type one and two Herpes Simplex Virus infection = Sex Transmitted Disease:

It stays on same skin dermatome where the infection originally penetrated the skin. Repeated infections don't necessarily spread.

see here: http://www.bing.com/search?q=dermatome& ... owAppsUI=1


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_simplex

http://www.webmd.com/genital-herpes/pai ... ent-herpes

https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl ... 5vRkIJptMs

No, this strain of herpes virus is not related to sex. Neither is shingles, which is another strain of herpes, related to chicken pox. I'm not sure why, but I've always been prone to cold sores, and after surgery I usually break out with shingles, so drs now pre-treat me before surgery with anti-viral drugs to try & prevent shingles.

I know the 'inhaling knives' feeling. You might want to see if you dr would call in a rx for an anti-viral.

I hope you get better soon.
Jen

I got an RX from my doc for generic Valtrex (valacyclovir) 500 mg,
which I take at 12-hour intervals (3X) at the first sign of a cold sore.
The dosage is doubled for shingles, a souvenir of chicken pox.
Any drug with "_cyclovir", I believe, is an antiviral.
It stops the sore, but this time, I didn't catch it as early as usual, so I have a little lesion on my upper lip.
It's already drying up. I noticed it Christmas night (deep blister stage) --too busy to notice it earlier.
Only RX drugs will stop the cycle. Generic is pretty cheap compared to the misery.

CF - I believe I know what you're talking about. I remember when I went to Walmart to pickup something for a cold sore on my mouth. I asked a gentleman what he would recommend. He also stated that he had taken antiviral medication at the very onset of a cold sore, that name sounds familiar. For those that are responding, how often are you getting cold sores? Like I said, should this be a cold sore in my nose, this is happening every couple of weeks which I believe is not a good thing. All this time, I was blaming it on my apap due to my nostrils suddenly not appreciating the airflow going into the nose.

I used to have 3 or 4 cold sores a year, some on my lips, some in my nostril opening(s)
--hideous, huge, extremely painful, taking 10 days to 2 weeks or more to heal, and some leaving scars.
Now, maybe one a year, usually caught early enough to only be a little itchy the first day,
better the second, and pretty much gone in 5.

del

avi123 wrote:Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines, 2010

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtm ... rr5912a1_e

It sure is weird that something you get from having chicken pox as a child
has to be treated with the same drugs they use for a really icky STD.
Who knows; maybe the drugs would have never been developed if not for the STD.
Politicians, they got them some clout!

Quote from WEB MD.

"Lysine is an amino acid (building block of protein). People use it to make medicine.

Lysine is used for preventing and treating cold sores (caused by the virus called herpes simplex labialis). It is taken by mouth or applied directly to the skin for this use."

And yes it really works, taken in large doses it can stop a cold sore in its tracks.

del

I have to disagree with you Avi due to the fact that if I was kissed by an adult as you suggest, then I would have had cold sores since I was a youngling.
I had plenty to be stressed about then. This hadn't started till less then a year or two given a month or two with actual cold sores on my mouth.
2012 has been the MOST STRESSFUL year of my life! Check out "my" posts this year. I should have had cold sores once a month at the very least for the stress that I've been through.