Herpes Genitalis and Acyclovir (aka Christine Freaks Out)

Posted on December 6th, 2007 by Christine.
Categories: True Story.

So it’s now December and I’ve been up here in Canada working for almost a month. Last year, when I came up for our December movie, I got a big ugly cold sore on my lip from the stress and spent most of the time I was at Christopher’s parents’ house in Pennsylvania applying Balmex and wrapping a scarf around my head.

After that incident, Christopher’s mother (who is a nurse) sent me some some little free sample packets of Acyclovir ointment so I could take them with me when I travel. As I was packing for this trip, I anticipated I’d be under a great deal of stress and braving the extreme cold up here, so I tossed the packets into my suitcase.

So two days ago, I get a call from my mom saying Meisha (my 2-year-old kitty) started breathing heavily. They rushed her to an animal trauma center in Los Angeles where her heart stopped and she had to be revived. It was touch and go for two full days as they tried to take her off oxygen and continued to get results of various heart tests back– none of which looked good. As of right now, she’s been released and is at my mom’s house, on heart pills and being closely monitored. Let me just say, I was a nervous wreck and of course, if the stress of being up here working crazy hours weren’t enough, Meisha’s little heart defect gave me a cold sore.

When I felt it coming on, I remembered I had the Acyclovir ointment Christopher’s mom gave me. Patting myself on the back for my foresight, I bust out the little packet and spread some ointment on my lip where I think the cold sore might come. It isn’t unti the fourth time I’ve applied the ointment that I actually take a close look at the packet. It says “Acyclovir Ointment 5%, for herpes genitalis.”

I stare at it for a moment. Herpes genitalis? That sounds like its for genital herpes. And then I think… hrmmm… that’s weird. The stuff my doctor prescribed last year didn’t mention it was for genital herpes…

A little worried, I google “acyclovir ointment gential herpes cold sore” and a series of sites come up. I find the one that seems the most credible (I can only get Canadian sites on google, so I pick an organization associated with the Canadian government) and click on it. It tells me that “Acyclovir Ointment is used for genital herpes and Acyclovir Cream is used for cold sores.” It also says that you should never put Acyclovir Cream on genital herpes.”

Does that mean I shouldn’t put Acyclovir Ointment on my lip? Oh shit. Is my lip going to bubble up and burn off or something?

I try to message Christopher’s mom but she’s not there. I wait. I look up more websites. Can’t find answers. Getting more and more worked up by the minute, I decide to call my pharmacist in Los Angeles and ask.

It turns out that Acyclovir Cream is actually more potent than Acyclovir Ointment and either one can be used on your lip, but not on your genitals. Thank God. I didn’t do something that will burn my face off. I’m still hoping that I can actually prevent it… but quite frankly, I’d be happy with just one stress-free day right now. Cold sore or not.

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