I (30M) get cold sores and girlfriend (33F) had an extremely intense reaction

Hi everyone,

I really need some outside perspective because I feel completely drained.

I’ve been with my girlfriend for 8 months. Overall things have been good, but she has a lot of strong emotional reactions. I’m more introverted and need space sometimes. She wants to constantly be with me 24/7 but I have my own apartment, stressful work and used to being alone so I need to recharge sometimes.

Two days ago I told her I felt a cold sore coming. I’ve had cold sores since childhood, like once a year, nothing major. When I told her, she reacted very strongly… Crying, shaking, running to wash herself, repeating “I have a lifelong disease now,” saying she’ll never feel clean again, and that she always checked herself for everything before dating me. She said if she had known I get cold sores, she wouldn’t have dated me in the first place but she loves me now so it is too late. This was a lot and it shocked me. She kept referring to it repeatedly, and it really hurt hearing all that.

She insisted I go to a professional immediately. I went the next day. They gave me the standard information about cold sores and I shared it with her. She got upset that this wasn’t enough. Now she wants me to go somewhere else and say things that aren’t true to get additional testing. She even asked her professional friend to help with this.

Meanwhile I’m sick (actual cold + headache), exhausted, and this is supposed to be my holiday week to rest. She keeps messaging that she feels everything is collapsing, that she ruined everything by being upset, etc… I tried to comfort her, but I feel empty right now.

What’s bothering me most is her reacting this strongly over a cold sore. I haven’t told her how much she hurt me because she’s still very worked up and I’m afraid it will escalate again. I don’t know if I can handle this level of intensity long-term.

I don’t want to end things while I’m sick and tired, but it opened my eyes to a side of her that scares me.

To me this is a simple cold sore and that is it but she acts as if the world is going to collapse… I feel lost. I am on here hoping to find advice about how to talk to her about this calmly. I’m also not very confident in communication and am used to being alone and introverted. How can I bring this up with her and communicate how I feel?

Note that this is from my perspective, I tried to explain as much as possible.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

TL;DR:
I (30M) have a cold sore, and my girlfriend (33F) of 8 months reacted extremely strongly, panicking and insisting on extra tests. I feel drained and unsure how to talk to her calmly without escalating things.