Oh, the things we pass on to our kids. My seven-year old son, unfortunately, suffers from cold sores. He gets them at the onset of a cold (hence the name) and he gets them from sun exposure. As a cold sore sufferer myself, I know how annoying and uncomfortable they can be. Certainly, there are worse things that could be happening, but it still pains me to see him get a cold sore, especially since he is so young. He has even missed school because the health nurse was afraid his cold sore could have been impetigo.
I am able to keep cold sores under control with a prescription of an oral medication (Acyclovir), but my son hasn't taken any prescription medication other than an antibiotic when he's had an infection. I have tried my best to apply Abreva as often as possible when he gets cold sores, but it doesn't seem to help much.
I decided it was time to take him to his doctor about this. While his pediatrician wasn't really comfortable prescribing an oral medication (phew! neither was I), she was able to prescribe for him a topical medication, Denavir (topical antiviral), that should work significantly better than Abreva.
When I called the pharmacy to verify the medication was ready to pick up, they were very quick to tell me that the prescription was a brand name and thus $58. The funny thing about this particular medication: it's been around for many, many years. So many years, that my husband, in fact, promoted this medication in his first pharmaceutical sales position. Luckily, with our exposure to the pharmaceutical industry, I knew there was a chance the brand had some sort of rebate program. So, I Googled the medication, and sure enough, I found a rebate program that brought my co-pay to only $15. That's a definite "mommy me likey!"
RESULT:
I am happy to report that after just 3 days of applying Denavir, my son's cold sore is gone! This is significantly faster than the 2 weeks it took with his previous cold sore. Hooray!
Posted by Leslie
