Oral Herpes

[Somewhat troubled]

I recently kissed a woman and 2 days later began to feel like I was coming down with a cold.  I did in fact get a bad cold and I have one now.  For the past 2 days I have had tingling in the area right around the left side of my upper lip   I’m concerned because I think I’ve contracted oral herpes (She did not have a visual outbreak of herpes, as far as I could tell) .  For the record, I was blood tested for HSV 1 and 2 about a year ago.  The test came back negative.  My question is as follows.  If this is herpes and my lip is tingling as a result of it, would a cold sore / fever blister always develop next?  Put another way, if its herpes and not something else, could there be tingling in my lip but then have no cold sore appear, or would a cold sore appear if it is herpes and the virus got to the point of causing a tingling sensation?  Thank you.    

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I believe that if you have contracted oral herpes, and the tingling is related, you will likely develop a cold sore,  If you take medicine, it could alter testing that you have done in the future.  My advice is no meds if you don't actually have a cold sore.

Terri

[Somewhat troubled]

Thanks Terri.  Quick Follow Up.  I can get anti viral meds if I need them but I don't want to take them unless a cold sore appears.  Could the tingling in the upper lip area be something completely unrelated to herpes?  If so, what could it be?  Also, given that I have a bad head cold, tired etc and occasional tingling in the upper lip area, if this is in fact herpes, is there a relatively good chance a cold sore will appear?  Thank You

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Yes, this could be herpes, and an actual sores may or may not appear.  Not everyone who gets herpes has symptoms, or has symptoms that they recognize.  Do you have a way to get antiviral therapy quickly if you do get a cold sore?  If it is a cold sore, you'll probably get redness first, then swelling, then blistering, at least, most people do.  It is always most effective if you can start treatment immediately those symptoms show up for the best treatment.  

There is another factor here.  The traditional antibody test for herpes that you likely got misses HSV 1 infection one of 10 times (that is, the test shows negative but you are really infected), so it's difficult to know, in your situation, exactly what is going on.

Terri