Well, I had my one-month follow-up today with the doc who did MixTo laser resurfacing on my face, neck and chest in May.

I'd had two areas that I wanted a diagnosis on: a rash-like condition that lasted just over a week on my neck and chest area (pretty much gone now) and huge, painful lips with tiny bumps along their edges.

He told me the rash-like condition was actually just sun damaged skin being thrown to the surface after the lasering. It never itched, but it looked like a rash, and OTC cortisone cream did nothing to get rid of it. I guess it ran its course (altho I have been taking 5mg of Cetirizine a.m. and p.m.).

But the lips. Yup, it's HERPES TYPE I cold sores. I am beyond furious. I had to bail out on day 4 of taking the anti-viral Valtrex, in a 7-day course, due to a severe adverse reaction to the drug. This was the black cloud that has loomed over me for a month. My lips were pretty numb from the point right after the MixTo (and THEY had not been lasered), but about a week ago, these painful, red bumps appeared.

I was somehow hoping it would just be a common peri-orbital occlusion breakout, and indeed, I think I have that going on on my chin area. I've got a derm doc app't next Wed, and perhaps will get more info on this.

I simply can NOT take any valacyclovir medication. But there are apparently 2 other classes of acyclovir med that I could try - just not now! Even my doc recommeded I "power through" this outbreak, and if I get a future outbreak, revisit the medication issue then.

Well, I just feel like a big, angry balloon, the gas of which has been let out, so I've gone farting across the room in wild spirals. Very bummed.

After my app't I had an hour-long medical grade O2 session with an aesthetician. She gently cleansed my face with Cetaphil, then brushed on a gel and applied the O2 very thoroughly all over my face, neck and chest. The treatment was finished with a capsule of Vit E and other herbs spread over the treated areas. Now I look uniformly red and oily as a hog. Not for public viewing. I am hoping that after I wash up tonight and let my skin breathe a bit, I'll look more normal tomorrow.

I am striving for normalcy - some particle of it! - at some point soon, and not weeks and weeks from now!

(I should perhaps include some of this info in my sticky on the Valtrex reaction ... cuz the saga continues at an agonizingly slow pace.)

---

I Bug U

You were between a rock and a hard place. The medication made you sick and not being protected caused the cold sores. Too bad the doc did not offer you alternatives a little earlier, before this happened or maybe he had no options once you had a reaction to the Valtrex.

Sorry for your serious woes. Geez, you need a break!

---

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. ~Socrates~ (I pretend to be a cat with a lime carved as a helmet on my head)

Bummer...so sorry.Don't herpes heal within a week?There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Aside from the lips, chin and neck...how is the rest of your face looking?Big improvement I hope for all the suffering you've gone through.

i feel its very important for you to worry as little as possible. this mess will feed off worry. its worry, stress and panic that bring about herpes outbreaks in the first place.

What Chris K says is correct. Stress can cause an outbreak of herpes. Have you ever had cold sores before, Bugjune? And you can get l-lysine in tablet form too which really helps slow down the replication of the virus. Injections would, of course be better. Oh gee, you have having one hell of a time, but I am still hopeful the outcome will be worth it (in the end!)

Yes, I have to take the anti-virals before every peel, Miss J. Any type of 'insult' like this puts stress on the body which can cause the herpes break out.

Here's the thing, yes, emotional stress can cause herpes/cold sore outbreaks when one has not had any type of resurfacing done. BUT, if you break out after these types of procedures it is generally because of the stress on your body lowering your immune system's ability to fight the virus causing it, not necessarily from emotional stress. One (emotional stress) we can do our best to control but the other is a physical reaction to the stress on our body by the procedure.

You can be the most Zen person on the earth, but if your body is stressed out by something like the resurfacing it's likely gonna do what it's gonna do (unless you are able to take the anti-virals and even they are not 100%). For some of us that means a cold sore break out and for those never exposed to the virus, they're fine. When I was a kid and would go to the beach and have a GREAT time, no worries but would get badly sunburned (nope, my mother never put sun lotion on any of us, it was not a big deal back then)causing my skin to peel horribly, I would have a horrible outbreak of cold sores. The docs called it 'sun poisoning' and whoa would my lips blow up like balloons and I would look as Bug has described (baboon butt mouth). Back then, I was not stressing but my body sure was under stress. In Bugs case, her body was physically stressed severely from the anti-viral reaction along with the resurfacing, she could likely not have avoided what has happened (since she carried the virus)by sitting on top of one of her mountains meditating until now. This was most likely caused by the physical stress to her body, along with the emotional stress from the reaction.

Since you're already broken out, Bug, trying not to stress more will help. Emotional and physical stress do make them worse. Try to relax and think about how much better things will be by this time next month. Allow your body and mind to accept it won't be overnight, but in the end it will all pass and things will be much better.

---

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. ~Socrates~ (I pretend to be a cat with a lime carved as a helmet on my head)

This type of cold sore typically runs its course in 10-14 days; but how OFTEN it recurs is the question here. And it's contagious!

Right after my facial, my face was uniformly red all over. But today, my lips look more normal and feel better. I am getting a Rx for Biafine (at another poster's suggestion), and that should also help with the redness, as it is a cream used for post-radiation skin inflammation.

Thanks for the good vibes ... NEED 'em!

=======================================================================

---

I Bug U

Wouldn't a health food store also sell the pill form of L-lysine? My doc had said to increase my Vit-C intake ... but when I did that in the first few days after the procedure, it just seemed to give me mouth sores on my tongue really quick.

I will be seeing my GP doc this coming week, too, by God!

=================================================================

---

I Bug U

Yes, the doc who saw me yesterday speculates that Valtrex knocked my immune system OUT - and that was evidenced by a secondary staph infection on my lasered skin plus the fever that crept up to 103.7 over 4 days.

Pisses me off that phucking Valtrex clobbered me one way, then doesn't even prevent the very thing it's meant to. Even antibiotics aren't that lame.

And BTW: you barely look adult yourself! I saw your pix of the cheek ... you look about 21! But I'm glad you are out of the woods with the Big-C!

==================================================

---

I Bug U

I'm so sorry BugJune. Cruel irony that you got cold sores when you were allergic to Valtrex. I bet you'd be a lot less angry if you'd got something else in no way connected to the Valtrex.

As many people have asked - have you ever had cold sores b4?

And if not, can just childhood chicken pox cause cold sores when you're physically stressed?

Is it really the same herpes simplex virus I? You'd think we'd all have cold sores.