Cold Sores and Pregnancy

[Maggie]

Hi,
I'm freaking out right now. I guess I've been run down over the last week and have had a few cold sores. As usual I reached for my tube of Zovirax, not thinking of it, and have been applying it to the cold sores.
I've just read some forums on-line that make me think that it isn't entirely safe. I'm in my fifth week of pregnancy and I know that this is a sensitive time for baby.
I'm really scared now that I might have hurt it somehow. I'm obviously not going to use it anymore but hope it isn't too late.
Has anybody done the same and been fine?
Maggie

[human bean]

I did the same when I was about 12 wks, but I will admit I had not long put it on when I thought to check the tube and then wiped it off again. The chemist recommended just to use the lip balm Carmex (in a little yellow tub - use the tub to prevent cross infection) and suprisingly it worked rather quickly.

Try not to let it worry you, alot of women don't even know they are pregnant at 5weeks and think of all the things they do that can be deemed 'unsafe' before they know they are pregnant and their bubs are fine. Easy to say not to worry though, harder to do, I realise that congrats on your pregnancy

[Floweryfields]

Try l-lysine - I use it and it works very well, doesn't say anything on the bottle about not being safe in pregnancy, but check with a pharmacist first. As well as taking the tablets, crush some up and make a paste and apply to the blister - it really help to dry them out and clear them up.

[lise]

Hi Maggie,

Not sure if i'm allowed to post this link (so apologies if not mods) but the TGA website has a document outlining categories of all medicines in Australia and how safe they are in pregnancy:

Prescribing medicines in pregnancy, 4th edition: Australian categorisation of drugs

My understanding of cold sore cream though is that because it's applied to the lips (well dur!!) it's harder to absorb into the body and I think you'll find it's not a problem. It might not necessarily be recommended during pregnancy but i'd say you have nothing to worry about at this stage. As humanbean said, most people at this point don't even know they're pregnant and are doing much worse things than applying some cold sore ointment!

Hope this helps to ease your mind, and hope your cold sore gets better soon.

lise xx

[Maggie]

Thankyou Ladies,

It's so hard not to worry about every little thing. I think you're right though- having read some more it's unlikely that there would have been significant levels of it in my blood stream. (Although i'll be dealing with them differently in future)
They're all dry now and I'm just applying vitamin E oil to help the scars heal. Darm cold sores! I've had them for as long as I can remember and every so often I get a really big attack (around my mouth, on my lips, in my nose, on my chin)
I actually have prescription anti-viral drugs that I carry with me but I had enough sense not to take those.
Thanks for the link lise- I'll definately check it out.
Maggies

[Maggie]

Lise- thanks so much for this document. It's actually made me feel a little better. The cream I was using was a variant of Zovirax whose active ingredient is penciclovir a Category B1 drug which seems a bit better than alciclovir which is a B3. This is a bit of a relief.

[Hansie]

I have used zovirax in both my pregnancies. I have had 2 this pregancy and zovirax is the only thing that keeps mine under control. One of the worst thing about coldsores are the moisture they pull from your lips I have the worst dried lips at the moment from the last one. I am thankful though that my babies are exposed to the virus whilst pregnant as I have found that after the birth I get due to all the emotions and being a little run down. Hope it's dried up and you are on the mend.