More Than A Placebo Effect, Acyclovir Actually Treats My Cold Sores

For the past month, I’d been plagued by cold sores every day. It was getting to be never-ending, one area around my mouth/chin would clear only to be replaced by another spot. It was affecting my mental health, mood and self-confidence. At one point, I didn’t even feel like blogging, just wanted to vegetate and hibernate, hide myself from the world because my skin was so bad. It had never been this bad. Not even in my teens.

I couldn’t take it any more, already gone through 2 tubes of Declovir in the last 3 weeks. At first I thought the cream was working okay but it didn’t stop more cold sores from appearing even if the cream managed to treat existing sores. I needed medication to be taken orally and I needed it like last month. Actually when I first went to the pharmacist and asked about oral meds for cold sores, she said there weren’t any and I just had to treat them with the Declovir cream. I didn’t think so because I’d read online that there were oral anti-viral meds. Maybe they had to be prescribed by a doctor. Anyway I didn’t dispute her word but I wish I had all those weeks ago as my misery would probably have ended much earlier.

So I went up to the same pharmacy yesterday afternoon, spoke to a different pharmacist and told her I’d been on Declovir for 3 weeks now and asked for oral anti-viral meds. Maybe she took pity on me. Maybe she realised it was a desperate situation. After all 3 weeks is like an eternity for someone with cold sores. In any case, I tried to look as pathetic as possible.

Then she recommended 3 strips (5 tablets per strip) of Acyclovir (which I had read about online) and asked me to take one 5x a day but then she said 3x a day would be enough as it was a strong med. Finally, this was what I wanted. I could have hugged the woman. I took the first tablet as soon as I could. I would have taken it in the car but I didn’t have any water.

I know you won’t believe me but I actually felt it working within the first hour. I felt my cold sores subsiding under my skin. It might have been a placebo effect but I really felt something positive under my skin. It is hard to describe and maybe I felt this because I so wanted Acyclovir to deliver me from my misery. My weeks of utter misery. After a few hours, I could see that the cold sores had subsided. Then one more tablet at night and the next morning……

There are traces of the damage caused by the cold sores but my skin has not looked clearer in a month. I am so thankful to the pharmacist yesterday for prescribing Acyclovir as I was at my wit’s end. For the first time in a month, I don’t have to wake up with a feeling of dread wondering how many more cold sores have popped up and having to wonder how much more havoc the sores would wreak on my skin.