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Neve. My family does not get cold sores or strep.

DH does He won't kiss me or R when he has one. He is super careful, doesn't want me touching the cups he used, fork, gets a new toothbrush every time, etc.

@locavore_mama: I do! I get them when I'm super stressed. I use an over the counter medicine and it helps decrease the length of time it's there.

I had one last summer & was very, very careful to not pass it to C.

DH and I don't.

@locavore_mama: Yup, I get them pretty frequently. I finally figured out how to stop the tingly feeling (fever blisters) from turning into cold sores. Lysine! I take lysine pills and use a lysine topical balm. Also, google lysine rich foods and stay away from arginine rich foods and eat the ones that are lysine rich. I realized that blueberries have a high arginine content and that I was getting bulk packs from Costco. I stopped eating them. Well,froze then for little snacks throughout the year.

http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_rich_foods.html

Yes I got a pretty nasty one when I gave birth to LO. All the stress of the birth brought it out. I still get mad when I look at pictures from his birth.

Isn't it the same virus as chicken pox? So if you had chicken pox as a child, the virus stays dormant and you can get cold sores and canker sores? I could be making all of that up though.

@Mrs. Jump Rope: I get them when I'm super stressed/exhausted...sometimes even excessive sun exposure can trigger it is awful. I was so worried I was going to get one during out wedding but that didn't happen thankfully. Sometimes i can go years without having one and then suddenly i feel that awful tingle.

I got one the day after I had LO and I was still in the hospital recovering from my csection. My doctor prescribed some pills that can shorten it's duration (acyclovaire) and it helps soooo much!!!

@locavore_mama: my doctor told me that 90% or more of the population caries the virus and it's just dormant in some people while others have multiple cold sores a year...also, she said canker sores are the same thing just inside your mouth. I would definitely get a prescription for acyclovaire (not sure of the exact spelling)...it GREATLY reduces the duration of the cold sore and I've found it heals so much faster and doesn't get a chance to be super blistery and painful if you start the pills right away.

I have had several cold sores since marrying my husband and he doesn't get them. There is no way I haven't passed it on to him bc he will kiss me and share food/drinks with me...he makes me feel normal and doesn't care when I have a cold sore.

ETA: my dad gets cold sores but my mom does not...neither does my brother.

@sandy: Stress triggers them but I noticed recently that I've been getting them when I'm not stressed. So for me food and trauma can also do it. I freaking burnt my lip on a cup of coffee and felt those fever blisters hours later. I was so pissed because it was right before a trip. I overdosed on lysine and prevented a cold sore.

Yep I get them a few times a year! I have a prescription from the doctor that I take whenever I get one!

@locavore_mama: It's over the counter. You can find it in the vitamin section. It's an amino acid.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-237-LYSINE.aspx?activeIngredientId=237&activeIngredientName=LYSINE

I used to get them all the time when I was younger. I get them if I'm super stressed out or from too much sun exposure. I always use a high-SPF lip balm when I'm going to the beach, pool, etc.

I keep a bottle of Valtrex around and take two as soon as I feel the tingle. It almost always goes away immediately! You take two as soon as you feel one coming on, then two the next day, I think. It's really a miracle drug for cold sores.

I've also used Abreva topical, which works pretty well, but nothing like Valtrex.

My husband and I don't get them. As far as I know, they're caused solely by the herpes virus and are super contagious. I think chickenpox is also a strain of the herpes virus, but completely different than the cold sore strain. You can get shingles from having chicken pox in the past, but not cold sores. You can also pass the cold sore virus to your eye or genitals. And I do get canker sores (ulcers inside the mouth), but they're not the virus and aren't contagious.

DH gets them a couple times a year. He is super cautious so he doesn't pass it on to either of us.

I have gotten them since I was a kid, mainly when I'm really stressed and/or sleep deprived but sometimes just randomly. DH gets them, too, more frequently than I do. We try to be careful about not sharing forks or drinking glasses, kissing, etc when we have sores, but since we both have the virus we're not as careful as we'll have to be once LO arrives.

The sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) and once you have it, it's in you for life. It's not the same strain as the one that usually causes genital herpes (HSV-2), but you CAN get sores on...ahem...parts of your body other than your mouth if you're not careful. Similarly, genital herpes can be spread to the mouth. I think some crazy high proportion of the population carries HSV-1 (just looked it up and it's almost 60%) so it's more likely than not that a person will catch it at some point...but I definitely want to protect out LO against it for as long as possible!

Like @PurplePeony: said - you can have either HSV-1 or HSV-2 oral or genital. So you could have HSV-1 (typically oral) causing genital outbreaks or HSV-1 (typically genital) causing oral outbreaks. It's a matter of how/what type you "catch."

@LindsayInNY: yeah, its just a supplement

@LindsayInNY: Oh, no. I avoid arginine rich foods. I noticed I was saying the wrong thing and tried to fix it in my first response. No, I load up on lysine rich foods, like oatmeal.