Cold sore for a month??

I’ve never had cold sores before, but about a month ago I noticed that part of my top lip was a little red, swollen, and tingled a little bit. I googled the symptoms and then took some of my mom’s valtrex immediately. I started taking lysine, icing regularly, and applying abreva whenever possible. It never opened, but as soon as it got better, it started all over again.

It’s been going through this cycle for just over a month now. It’ll seem like it’s about to go away, and then I’ll wake up the next morning to it being swollen and painful again. The weird part is that it’s never burst or leaked fluid. It goes straight from the tingle stage to the scabbing stage. But as soon as the scabs fall off, it starts over again and it’s making me lose my mind.

I use q-tips to apply everything. I’ve been changing my toothbrush and pillow cases basically everyday. I can’t get into the doctor due to my current schedule (time off is not really an option right now). I apply spf chapstick obsessively. I lather it in aquaphor before bed, but it’s always worse the next day.

I’ve been searching the internet obsessively, and I’m back and forth between thinking it’s a cold sores and thinking maybe it’s something else. I’ve had lots of sun exposure for work over the past month (though I wear lots of spf) so perhaps a sun blister?? Or just dehydration?? I also have iron deficiency so idk if that’s related.

Recently it got even more complicated. I got a good dose of the forbidden eyedrops (iykyk) straight to the face and even though the sore on my lip wasn’t open, it essentially cauterized it and upped the burn 1000x. I’m trying aloe today to see if it helps.

Not looking for any specific medical advice. Just wanna know what you would do if you were me rn because I am genuinely at my wits end.