CA-NY

I brought a couple of tubes with me but they're nearly done and I can't find it anywhere here. Online is around $50 for two small tubes which I used to pay about £4 for own brand in Superdrug. I'm also reading online that it might be prescription only here, I really don't want to have to visit a doctor for a cold sore!

So my question is, could I have a family member send some from the UK. They are very small tubes (5g) and could easily fit 4 or 5 in a small padded envelope. Is that allowed, bringing medicines into the country, could the parcel be stopped or would it just look like a small, personal item being sent?

Any advice?

mamasue

My daughter has sent me similar stuff from England....no problem! As long as they declare it when they fill out a customs form at the post office, it should be just fine!!

bilbos92

I get my Dad to send it over for me. But beware, once he thought he was doing me a favour by sending the generic one, I didn't think it was as effective, so now I specifically ask him to send Zovirax.

He usually send a few tubes, I think he put is as a gift, or at at the very least that the value is less than $15....

Its crazy that over here it's not OTC.

A

thinbrit

Cold sore cream should be renamed "cold sore highlighter". "Hey everyone, look at my shiny cold sore".

I am typically skeptical about 'dietary supplements' as remedies, but "L-Lysine" for me, and everyone else I have told about it that suffers cold sore outbreaks, works.

At the first feel of the telltale tingle I take 2,000mg, then 1,000mg every four hours until the tingle goes away. I finally take 1,000mg morning and night for a couple of days afterwards.
I've had the 'tingle' but no outbreak for over 2 years now.
It may not work for you, but it is cheap to try (less than $5 for Spring Valley L-Lysine at Wally World). I prefer the 500mg tables over the 1,000mg, they are much easier to swallow.

bilbos92

Thanks thinbrit, I may have to give that a try....although I sometimes miss the tingle.....do you know if you can take is as a daily supplement rather than when you notice an outbreak?

Hotscot

Surely there's something in the US for cold sores?

BubbleChog

I use Abreva http://http://www.abreva.com/ which is Docosanol - seems to work almost as well as zovirax and they've also just started making abreva patches like the compeed ones from back home which actually cover the damn thing when youre out in public and so look slightly less like the mouth of Sauron

Lx

Jerseygirl

You were lucky...you are not supposed to bring/send prescription meds into the US without a doctor's script...even though they were OTC in the UK.

Jan Alaska

The stuff I use hubby calls unicorn pee, it smells rank and is made by a pharmacist in Harbor Springs Michigan, he charges $2 for a glass tube of the stuff. Once touch at the first sign of a tingle and the coldsore never even appears. Wish I knew what was in it :\

thinbrit

It can be taken as a daily supplement, but I don't know if this prevents an outbreak, as the dosage is much lower if you are taking it daily.
There are lots of mixed results on its effectiveness. I just read one study that showed L-Lysine to reduce markers of anxiety, including cortisol levels, and also led to potentiation of benzodiazepine receptors (common targets of anxiolytic drugs such as Xanax and Ativan). I typically get more outbreaks if I am stressed, so taking it daily may be worth a try. I may start taking it daily rather than at the sign of an outbreak.
It is cheap enough to give it a try. If you are already taking daily supplements, then adding this would not add too much of a burden.

sunnysideup

So what? I get the MIL to send it over from the UK. Prescription only in the USA and I absolutely detest the co-pay and the time to go to the doc to get something that should be OTC. Acyclovir (the active ingredient) has been around for 30 years and it's been proven safe in many countires, but the FDA says we can't be trusted with it OTC. I've had it mailed here from the UK for the past 15 years.
Oh, and on this subject I did get it from a pharmacy in the US once when I was out of stock. At the time I was also not insured, but what the heck I thought how expensive could it be? I got a prescription for a 20g tube - $120!!!!. The really shocking thing is the stuff was manufactured in Montreal. I called my Canadian friends in Quebec and they could get the same tube there for about $30 CAN. That really showed me how we are totally screwed in the US by the pharma companies and their distribution system.