Abreva and Lip oedema - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Lip oedema is reported as a side effect among people who take Abreva (docosanol), especially for people who are female, 30-39 old, have been taking the drug for < 1 month and have Oral herpes.

The phase IV clinical study analyzes which people have Lip oedema when taking Abreva. It is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 17,058 people who have side effects when taking Abreva from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Abreva?

Abreva has active ingredients of docosanol. It is often used in herpes labialis (oral herpes simplex). eHealthMe is studying from 17,071 Abreva users. Check the latest studies of Abreva.

What is Lip oedema?

Lip oedema (swelling of lip) is found to be associated with 289 drugs and 518 conditions by eHealthMe. Check the latest studies of Lip oedema.

eHealthMe: drug outcomes in the real world

eHealthMe runs one of the largest post-marketing drug safety studies in the world. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Our data-driven phase IV clinical trials have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Tools to study our phase IV findings are available to the public, anonymous and free >>>.



On Sep, 03, 2026

17,058 people reported to have side effects when taking Abreva.
Among them, 12 people (0.07%) have Lip oedema.

Could Abreva cause Lip oedema?

Among these 12 people:

How long have people been on Abreva when they have Lip oedema? *

  • < 1 month: 100 %
  • 1 - 6 months: 0.0 %
  • 6 - 12 months: 0.0 %
  • 1 - 2 years: 0.0 %
  • 2 - 5 years: 0.0 %
  • 5 - 10 years: 0.0 %
  • 10+ years: 0.0 %

What is the gender of people who have Lip oedema when taking Abreva? *

  • female: 91.67 %
  • male: 8.33 %

What is the age of people who have Lip oedema when taking Abreva? *

  • 0-1: 0.0 %
  • 2-9: 0.0 %
  • 10-19: 10 %
  • 20-29: 10 %
  • 30-39: 40 %
  • 40-49: 0.0 %
  • 50-59: 20 %
  • 60+: 20 %

What are other side effects people have besides Lip oedema? *

  1. Oral Herpes (viral infection of mouth): 6 people, 50.00%
  2. Lip Swelling: 5 people, 41.67%
  3. Lip Pain: 4 people, 33.33%
  4. Hypersensitivity: 3 people, 25.00%
  5. Drug Administration Error: 3 people, 25.00%
  6. Cheilitis (infection of lips): 2 people, 16.67%
  7. Drug Ineffective: 2 people, 16.67%
  8. Swelling Face: 1 person, 8.33%
  9. Application Site Pruritus (application site severe itching of the skin): 1 person, 8.33%
  10. Application Site Scab (hard coating on the skin formed at application site): 1 person, 8.33%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

  1. Oral Herpes (viral infection of mouth): 10 people, 83.33%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Do you take Abreva and have Lip oedema?

- Check whether Lip oedema is associated with a drug or a condition
- Predict drug outcomes for up to one year with AI
- Get an AI agent to monitor your drugs continuously



Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Abreva:

Lip oedema treatments and more:

How severe was Lip oedema and when was it recovered:

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of docosanol:

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Abreva:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Lip oedema:

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Lip oedema:


How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on docosanol (the active ingredients of Abreva) and Abreva (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.



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