Can the cold sore virus lay dormant in your body for many years?

Question

I got my first cold sore this year at 23 years of age. I've never had one before, my boyfriend has never had one and we've been together for 4 years. My sister gets them and has had them since she was a kid. Is it possible I drank or ate after her and got the virus, but it just didn't show up until now? I've had two now this year. One came after a bout of food poisoning, the other came after my surgery for my wisdom teeth. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Both varieties of herpes simplex virus, those that cause cold sores and those that cause genital sores lie dormant in your nerve cells. They tend to crop out at times when your immune system is weakest, like during times of stress and when your immune system is compromised, such as when your sick. It hangs out for quite a while, if not your entire life.

Answer 2

An older relative has shingles now (same virus). The dr. said the virus can be dormant in your body for a long time & surface when your system is weakened. So it makes sense you got the blisters when you were going thru medical stuff. She always got a fever blister whenever she was sick. Now that the shingles broke out, the dr. said she might not get the fever blisters anymore.

Answer 3

It is a type of herpes and it can go dormant for years. There is an amino acid which is supposed to help gt rid of a cold sore more quickly.
http://www.supplementnews.org/Cold-Sores/Cold-Sore-Treatment.htm

Answer 4

Yes, the herpes virus can stay in the trigeminal (Cranial nerve V)nerve ending for long period of times. It will appear as you stated usually during stressful events. The trgeminal nerve control the muscles for chewing as well as the sensory nerves of the face. Hence, they appear at the most sensitve area of our body, lips.

Answer 5

Get you some L-Lysine pills,those are very good for cold sores. You can get those any place vitamins are sold