Valtrex for Cold Sores User Reviews (Page 2)

• Anonymous
• February 24, 2014

"I've had HSV-1 ever since I was 2. I had an outbreak then and again when I was 9 or 10. I'd forgotten that I even had the virus until a week ago. I got a new lip piercing, and 3 days into the healing, my lip blistered. It had been 25 years since my last cold sore, but I remembered what those blisters meant. I wasn't able to get to the doctor until two days later. By then, the blisters had broken open and were all crusted over. I took 2 of the Valtrex as soon as I got them and another 2, 12 hours later. Within a few hours, the pain started going away. The terrible burning was gone. It's been 2 days since my last dose, and my cold sore is in its final healing stage, with the little scabs. My lip is flat again, and the only pain is from the piercing."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 31, 2016

"I had suffered through many cold sores and spent tons of money on Abreva. When my doctor prescribed me Valtrex, I was finally satisfied because within the first tingling feeling, and me taking Valtrex most times the cold sore just disappears. I can take Valtrex at the first symptom, and it's no longer an issue. Most times not even my boyfriend will see the bump, and I have to point it out. I love Valtrex and am extremely happy with my results."

• mov...
• October 5, 2015

"I've had outbreaks with cold sores for about 10 years now, on average 1-2 times a year, the last few years primarily due to stress and weather changes. The main key to the success of Valtrex - as with any OTC, prescription, or home remedy for cold sores/fever blisters - is timing. Take it at the first tingle. I keep Valtrex refilled and keep it handy, regardless of whether I need it. I felt a tingle and a bump the other day, took it, and it has helped tremendously. It's been 48 hours now, and it has progressed past a slight red bump with no pain or bleeding. I haven't had a major outbreak in over 2 years. If you are able, keep it handy. As someone who has had some dreadful experiences with cold sores, I can say it works - but timing is important."

• Tia...
• November 1, 2015

"Suffered from cold sores since a young teen. Not only do I break out from large ones that cover half my lips, but I will get them on my cheeks. Without treatment, they will last around 9 days. I take Valtrex at the first signs. I will take 4 pills and then another 4, 12 hours later. I just had a breakout, and the bump was already big and itchy, took my 4 pills before bed and another 4 when I woke up. Bumps were gone with no scabbing by day 2!"

• The...
• May 4, 2011

"Valtrex works wonders. As a 20-year-old college student, exam time usually involves catching a cold and high stress, and the perfect formula for cold sores. Last night I started feeling one start to pop up around 8 pm. I got home around 9:30 pm and popped two 1-gram pills of Valtrex. At 9:30 am today, I got up and took two more. The cold sore did bubble up some but never got swollen, nasty, and red. It's 5:30 pm now, and it's almost completely gone! Without the Valtrex, I would be sporting a disgusting throbbing blister for a couple of days followed by a week of waiting for a scab to heal. I'll take the 24-hour cold sore over that any day. Please, if you suffer from these painful, embarrassing cold sores, try to get a prescription."

• Anonymous
• May 20, 2010

"This drug is a miracle! I woke up with a full-blown cold sore and went to the doctor, who gave me Valtrex. I was very skeptical because the cold sore was pretty big already, but 12 hours after my first dose, it looks much better and the pain is gone. Will never again waste my time or money on OTC cold sore treatments. This stuff really works!"

• mbg...
• May 28, 2015

"I love this medicine!!! I've had cold sores since I was a kid, and none of the over-the-counter stuff ever worked for me. I take it as soon as I feel that tingle, and it's usually gone in 2 days. I recently had a bad illness and broke out with 5 blisters after a night of 103 fever. I took two pills in the morning and at night, and all but one blister is gone! I would have been so miserable if I didn't have this miracle to take!"

• Und...
• January 13, 2014

"I have gotten cold sores/fever blisters since I was a young boy. I too have tried it all. I find that taking a small amount of lysine and eating a lysine-rich diet, low in arginine helps to prevent them, but they inevitably come around. I just had a cold sore, and it was a tricky one. Sometimes they don't start tingling until it has already swollen. Once I realized it was one, I had waited a full day too late, but I was still very impressed. Thirty minutes after taking one, the tingling stopped. The next morning it was half the size. I had two that day, and by the third day, it was gone. I have every hope that if I take it within an hour next time, it will stop it cold. Awesome."

• Khe...
• November 7, 2014

"I can't say enough good things about it. The difference between my fever blisters with and without the pill is truly like night and day. I started taking 1 pill as soon as I see a bump or feel tingling, and the symptoms are reduced by >60%. Definitely worth going to a doctor to get a prescription!"

• syl...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 31, 2019

"My dentist prescribed me Valtrex for cold sores I get on my gums (and occasionally on the lips, though that is much less frequent). At the first sign of an outbreak, usually a small blister or a couple of them, I take 2000 mg every 12 hours for one day. Valtrex keeps it from spreading; I never get any more blisters than on first onset. They also never crack or crust over. Within about 3 days they're completely gone. I swear by this medication for intra-oral cold sores. The only side effect I seem to get is a bad headache. Definitely worth it."

• Kit...
• December 17, 2015

"This medicine is absolute magic! I only get a cold sore once a year, like clockwork. Always in November when the weather gets cold, and life gets hectic. I get it within the same week every year. I take this medicine as soon as I see it coming on and I get that tingle! Seriously, within 1-2 days, the cold sore is completely gone, looks a little red, that's it, can't even tell. Absolutely amazing, would recommend to anyone!"

• 2it...
• July 25, 2014

"I've been getting cold sores since I was 10 years old, and they get really bad. As I've gotten older, they only occur once a year if I'm really stressed, not getting enough rest, and not eating right. Talk about embarrassing, it spreads across my entire upper lip, then the crust and scab process is awful and unsightly. Mine usually last about 3 weeks. Sucks in a major way! Went to the MD in the middle of this outbreak because it was spreading, and I was totally depressed. She prescribed Valtrex every 8 hours for seven days. I've taken two so far, and the blisters stopped forming. Wish I would have taken it at the first sign. I'm impressed with this medication. I will be monitoring to see if it helps with healing and pain."

• vir...
• September 23, 2010

"I got up Sunday morning with a cold sore. Didn't get a chance to take Valtrex until Monday afternoon around 2 pm. By Tuesday morning, it was already clearing up. And by Thursday, it was gone. Usually, without taking any medication, my cold sore would last about a week and a half to two weeks."

• SMM...
• July 25, 2019

"I am so happy I found this! Or rather, found a doctor that prescribed it. It’s a miracle drug! I get probably 4-5 cold sores a year, particularly when I’m extra stressed, which is always the worst time for a cold sore. I never feel them coming the night before. I always wake up with several blisters that formed overnight. Anyway, I immediately take 2 grams of Valtrex (I always have it on hand! I get my prescription refilled immediately after I use it in prep for the next one). By mid-afternoon, it’s stopped itching. I take 2 more grams before bed. The next morning it’s grown a little but not bad. 2 more grams that second morning. By the afternoon of the second day, the blisters are mostly gone and only slight scabs remain. I’m lucky that mine are in the corner of my mouth. You can’t even see it by the second afternoon. I then reduce to 1 gram morning and night for a week just to be sure it’s totally gone (I’ve had them come back!)"

• Mar...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 14, 2016

"First time I used Valtrex, I thought I was done or almost done with cold sores, it healed up so fast. I was really glad something was finally helping me for real. Abreva and all the other stuff don't really work, I'd even say Abreva makes it worse. But in the last 5 months, I had 2 cold sores unfortunately. Both times I took Valtrex as soon as I felt a little tickling. No matter what, both times I woke up with a full blister and bigger. So people saying it stops it right in its tracks are wrong. But it does help for the healing time. In 5 days, it’s gone. Still better than the 7-9 days I used to go through before. Can't wait till they find a real 'cure' or at least something that kills the virus for real as soon as you take it."

• ste...
• January 5, 2015

"I've been getting cold sores for a while now, and before Valtrex, none of the creams would help, and I wouldn't notice a difference. Now when I feel a little bump, I take Valtrex right away, 4 pills ASAP, then another 4 a few hours later. If I catch it early enough, it won't go past the little bump and will be cleared up by the next day. If I catch it a little too late (sometimes they like to show up while I'm sleeping), I still take Valtrex and I will get the outbreak, but no swelling, blister. Still clears in 3 days. I also use Polysporin patches. This stuff is the closest thing to a cure right now. My doctor says to take 1 pill a day around the times of the year I usually get them, and sometimes I can go a year or a year and a half without one."

• Red...
• December 29, 2014

"Had one of those tricky cold sores where there is no tingling or burning, it just up and shows up out of nowhere. Showed up as a single blister around 10 pm, and I knew there was nothing I could do except ice it until the morning. Continued to ice all night in the hopes that it would not get worse and went to the doctor first thing in the morning. Took 2 pills in the morning and 2 pills at night, and it is essentially gone, two days later. Never broke open, never crusted. Just kinda disappeared, all because of this little miracle pill. Definitely worth going to the doctor for, hopefully, one day it will be available OTC!"

• RLC...
• September 30, 2015

"Wow is all I have to say. Anyone who has a cold sore knows the minute it happens you're worried how big, how long. I was driving home from work Monday at 6 pm, felt the tingle, freaked out, took the Valtrex, and again in the morning. I was worried because it did seem to grow. But by the end of Tuesday, it was not as bad as it would have been. The next morning, I was shocked. Normally waiting for that blister and gross that you know comes. But it was flat. No blister, it seemed to stop all production. Yes, what's there is healing, but wow, it's basically at the end of a cold sore. Not where it should be like the beginning. I will keep this on hand always. Amazing. I am so happy."

• Ash...
• June 15, 2016

"The first time I tried this, I had my first cold sore in months. It was so bad it caused my lymph node in my chin to swell. I took this, and the cold sore healed so quickly. I woke up to a cold sore this past Sunday, took the pills on Monday, and it is now Tuesday, and it is barely noticeable!"

• tha...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 24, 2013

"I'm 24 years old. As a young female, a cold sore was terror. I have always gotten them on and off throughout the year and more so in the winter. As I got older, stress and worry would trigger a cold sore, and when I thought I had it healed, another would come up right next to it. I tried everything OTC and anything to dry it out. Needless to say, I was torturing myself until I mentioned to my Dr that I get them under stress, and once one healed, another came along. He suggested Valtrex 500 mg and to take one tablet every day! I haven't had a cold sore since, and I've had a ton of stress since. My Dr is amazing, and this is a miracle medication."

• Bet...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 27, 2019

"Like so many of you, I have had a lifetime of cold sores. I want to share an experience with a doctor. I passed out during final exams because I had 18 fever blisters at once, and I had gotten poisoned by it. The doctor told me that people like me carry the herpes simplex type 2 virus in the nerve ending of our spine and that when we are run down, the immune system can't keep it under control, and it comes out again. So that was a revelation. Anyway, Valtrex has been a life saver. I tried everything as well, but nothing has ever come close to helping me until Valtrex. Thank you!!"

• Ibe...
• April 7, 2016

"After being sick with bronchitis and upper respiratory infection for about 2 weeks, I woke up one morning with cold sores overtaking my whole top lip. I've always taken Lysine, and that helps cut back on the length of time for healing when I just have one cold sore. This time, the swelling and pain of having multiple cold sores was just too much to handle. I phoned my doctor and explained that my top lip was so swollen and that eating and drinking had become painful. The doctor called in a prescription of 2 a day Valtrex. I took the first one yesterday around noon, by 6 pm, the swelling and pain had already gone down. This morning I woke up, and while the blisters are still there, it's like it reversed all the sores. No pain or swelling. Just healing!!"

• Lig...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 18, 2019

"I actually am not sure if what I had was herpes, but the side effects I experienced from just taking one dose of this drug were scary. I could barely wake up in the morning, my head was hurting so much. I felt sick all day, like I was going to throw up, and I took three naps and STILL felt exhausted. I ran to the bathroom a few times thinking I was about to throw up, leaving my 4-month-old alone while I did so. And I could not eat anything all day because of the nausea."

• Ano...
• August 6, 2018

"I started to get cold sores about 1x/year starting 10 years ago. Tried everything (Zovirax etc.), nothing worked. I already had Valacyclovir on hand and ready, though it had never worked because I hadn’t taken the right dosage. I would only take 500 mg 2x a day - no help! A friend told me I had to take more than 500 mg. I felt it tingling 3 nights ago, took 1 g. The next morning, it was still tingling, took another 1 g. It still tingled, and bumps were forming. Then I found this thread, saw everyone took 2 g, so I took 2 g that night (2 nights ago now). The next morning, tiny bumps were still there, and it was swollen and tingling crazy. I took a 2nd batch of 2 g yesterday morning. Over the day, the swelling went down, and the bumps flattened. Tingling lessened a bit. It never turned bright red. Today it’s gone, though I swear I can feel a slight tingle, may take a lighter dose to prevent it from returning. I never thought it would work. Take 2 g twice. I have the generic brand, not the actual “Valtrex.” Crisis diverted!"

• Anonymous
• December 5, 2012

"By far the best (and only) medication to ever help my cold sores. I would get large, painful blisters at the center of my upper lip that would stretch out to below my nose. They would take a week to break open, and at least a week, but usually two for the scab to heal over, and after that, I would deal with a large red patch of skin there for another several weeks before fading back to normal. With my last outbreak, I had Valtrex on hand and took the first dose within a few hours, and two days later, it's almost completely healed and no one has even been able to tell I had/have a sore. I will always have this medication on hand! I've been dealing with these for 10 years, not to oversell it, but this medication has changed my life!"