Dealing with Gingivostomatitis

I’ve been scrolling through the forum for a bit and couldn't find this specific thread, so feel free to move my post if I'm out of place.
Basically, I've been fighting this nasty virus for two weeks now, and honestly, I had never even heard of it before the doctors at the CDC gave me the diagnosis, which left me completely stunned.
The culprit behind Gingivostomatitis is Herpes Simplex virus 1, and you're looking at symptoms like fevers, labial herpes, mouth blisters, sore throat, bad breath, and swollen lymph nodes...
It all kicked off with a herpes outbreak on my lips—something I've never dealt with before—followed by a brutal sore throat and a fever hitting around 100.4. My lymph nodes in my neck swelled up, so my GP sent me over to the CDC. That's where they diagnosed me with Gingivostomatitis herpetica, an illness that usually hits infants but can definitely strike adults too. They didn't even give me actual medication at first, just told me to manage the fever with Tylenol. Two days later, nothing had changed; the fever stayed high, the herpes spread across my entire mouth until I could barely move my tongue from the pain, and my neck nodes were agonizing... so I went back to the CDC. This time they put me on Herplex tablets for five days. Once I finished the course, the sores finally started receding, and today they're almost gone, my throat doesn't hurt, and I can actually talk again, though my gums are still swollen and I'm stuck with a constant temperature of 99 degrees, which worries me since it's been two weeks of running a low-grade fever. (When I asked the staff at the hospital about the temperature, they brushed it off saying it was normal because of the herpes, but this feels like it's dragging on way too long)
During the day it sits around 97.7 to 98, but by the evening it climbs back up to 99.
Has anyone else here dealt with this virus?

Anyone there? 😢

The weekend is 🙂

Anyways, if I remember correctly, Gingivostomatitis is caused by Herplex. It’s a super unpleasant illness.

My advice to you, speaking as a dentist, is to get to an Emergency appointment at a university dental clinic like NYU Dentistry or similar. You really need specialists who deal with this stuff EVERY SINGLE DAY and focus specifically on oral diseases.

Good luck!

I dealt with this exact same thing about two years ago—it was brutal. I didn't take any medication at all, and things finally settled down after about ten days of pure misery. Honestly, you probably won't face a situation quite like this again since this was your primary infection with the virus, though Herpes Simplex does stay in your system indefinitely. It’s possible you might see flare-ups later on, but it would likely just be small blisters on the lips, without the fever or the gum inflammation. For me, it crops up roughly every couple of months. 😢
Besides, it is perfectly normal for your body temperature to run slightly higher in the evening than it does in the morning; it can easily creep a little bit above 98.6.

Sarah Patel said:The weekend is 🙂

Anyways, if I remember correctly, Gingivostomatitis is caused by Herplex. It’s a miserable way to live.

Look, speaking as a dentist, my advice is to get to an Emergency appointment at a university dental school—specifically their Oral Medicine department—so they can take over. You need specialists who deal with this exact kind of mess every single day and focus exclusively on oral pathologies.

Good luck.

Thanks so much!!!!!

Nancy Garcia29 said:I went through this exact thing about two years ago, and I didn't even touch any medication; it just finally passed after about ten days of pure misery. You won't deal with anything this heavy again since this was your primary infection, though the virus stays dormant in your system, so you might see some blisters on your lips from time to time, but without the fever or the gum inflammation. For me, it flares up roughly every couple of months. 😢
It’s actually pretty standard for your body temperature to run a little higher in the evening than it does in the morning, so it's not unusual to see it creep slightly above 98.6.

Yeah, that's what they told me too—that it wouldn't hit me this hard ever again. I'm finally feeling human again, but it took a solid sixteen days to actually recover...😲