I have been infected with herpes for over 25 years and it was never really a problem. In the past, my outbreaks (OB) were very mild and would only occur about twice a year – no big deal. The OB would heal up and disappear after 7 days. This has recently changed. About 3 months ago, I noticed red itchy small bumps on the right external side of the vagina. Initially I did not think it was an outbreak since it did not look or feel the same. There were a lot of bumps – but small –more like a rash. Eventually a few of them started looking like herpes blisters– only smaller then they were in the past. Since then, these bumps/herpes keep healing and then re-appearing somewhere else – always on the outside of my vagina. Initially the OB was staying on the right of my vagina. After about a month, the OB moved over to the left side. Now it just sporadic – sometimes the left side, sometimes the right side or sometimes on my inner thigh. Most of the time, there is no blisters – just a red bumps (like a mosquito bite). They usually disappear after about a day or two and then another one appears somewhere else. I went to the doctor where he felt it was probably a herpes OB and gave me a prescription for a daily dose of Valtrex. I tried the Valtrex for about 1 month - but stopped since it did not seem to make any difference in the OBs. I am in good health and have been tested for other STD’s – which all came back negative. I am wondering if this has something to do with my ago (50) and that I am currently going though menopause. When these OBs first started, I was experiencing all the symptoms of menopause; ei night sweats, vaginal dryness etc. I have since started using the patch (hormone therapy). It cleared up the menopause symptoms – but I am still having continuous herpes outbreaks. I have not had any sexual activity since this has started 3 months ago. Any ideas what this can be or what I should do?