Fog

I was very young, maybe six or seven, when I got my first cold sore. And if I remember correctly, it wasn't even one, but several. When it comes to sickness or injury or weird ailments that young children should not get, I don't do anything halfway. A fourteen-year old with shingles? Seriously. Ridiculous. Although now that I think about it, I am still that way. I don't get truly sick often, but when it happens, look out. But I digress.

After that first group of cold sores, my body somehow decided it had found a long lost friend that it couldn't do without for very long, and I continued to get cold sores very often. Emphasis on very. The mention of any cold sore seriously sends me into clammy sweats, but I'm telling you, the cold sores I get are absolutely frightening. They are about six times bigger than anyone else I know and they often multiply. Why have a party and not invite your friends? In fact, I missed the last two days of sixth grade because I had over twenty cold sores covering my lips and nose. It was the first time in my life I remembering praying to die.

This constant cold sore game went on for years and years. Whenever I was stressed (I didn't realize I was such a stressed little kid) or ate a certain food (I found out hot dogs would give me one within hours) or was in the sun too long (what little kid isn't?), I would end up with several cold sores. They became the bane of my life. Well, cold sores and the ocean and jungle and dolls, but again, I digress.

Whenever I would feel the cold sore tingle coming on (and anyone who has had one knows what I am talking about and is most likely cringing right now) I would seriously be beside myself (which I'm sure didn't make it worse or anything). Still to this day, if I even hear about someone getting a cold sore, it can often cause me to get one myself, out of cold sore pity or something. It is a lovely attribute of mine.

When I was around twenty years old, I learned something that literally changed my cold sore life. A coworker, who was an experienced cold sore getter, told me that Benadryl worked wonders when it came to those frigid blisters. He said that if you took it at the first sign of a cold sore, it would either keep them from coming or make them much smaller than they would normally have been. And he was right. And my life has never been the same.

And so today I am in a fog. A Benadryl fog. I am better than when I first woke up, but am still groggy and moving in slow motion. How does anyone do this on a regular basis? But that being said, it is definitely worth it. I woke up this morning without a cold sore. And last night, I was most assuredly getting one.

Hooray for coworkers. Hooray for Benadryl. Hooray for fog. Hooray for long blog posts about cold sores, the likes of which has not been seen before, nor hopefully, will be seen again. Hooray for rambling me and my cold sore-free mouth. Hooray I say.