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Early Genital HSV-1 recurrence
I just want to begin by saying that this site has been a great resource for myself and my girlfriend who are new carriers of genital HSV-1. Thanks in advance.
We both contracted HSV-1 in mid december 2009, both experiencing a primary outbreak, and subsequently dealing with the fallout from that. She had a culture and bloodwork, I had bloodwork--these confirmed our HS-1 status. Anyway, I did alot of research, and, alas, I grew more and more comfortable the more I read about the infrequently and relatively insignificant nature of genital HSV-1. I was totally relieved until my girlfriend experienced a new outbreak, smaller than the first but still inconvenient, that I began to worry again. It was one sore in the same place they had initially been, and a swollen gland in the area. She is now taking valtrex 1000mg to quell this OB, and I am on daily suppressive medication. Here are my questions:
1) Will daily supressive valtrex (2x 500mg per day) help me prevent future recurrences despite the fact that I have HSV-1 not HSV-2?
2) Because she has a new OB so early on in the life cycle of the infection, can it be assumed that she will continue to experience OB's with such uncharacteristic frequency? Or, do the first few months on the infection tend to be an "acclimation period" for your body?
3) We had unprotected sex the day before the outbreak, could this be the cause of her OB? Can we continue to give eachother MORE genital herpes if, in fact, we don't notice a sore and engage in unprotected sex? (In other words, can it spread to other parts in the genital area?)
4) I have been sore ever since my primary outbreak, with very minor irritation. The suppressive therapy seemed to calm this down, but I am curious if anyone experiences prolonged recovery from what would be considered the "meat and potatoes" of the primary infection?
Thanks alot, I am in desparate need of some expert advice, because general practitioners seem to be clueless about the nature of genital HSV-1.
We both contracted HSV-1 in mid december 2009, both experiencing a primary outbreak, and subsequently dealing with the fallout from that. She had a culture and bloodwork, I had bloodwork--these confirmed our HS-1 status. Anyway, I did alot of research, and, alas, I grew more and more comfortable the more I read about the infrequently and relatively insignificant nature of genital HSV-1. I was totally relieved until my girlfriend experienced a new outbreak, smaller than the first but still inconvenient, that I began to worry again. It was one sore in the same place they had initially been, and a swollen gland in the area. She is now taking valtrex 1000mg to quell this OB, and I am on daily suppressive medication. Here are my questions:
1) Will daily supressive valtrex (2x 500mg per day) help me prevent future recurrences despite the fact that I have HSV-1 not HSV-2?
2) Because she has a new OB so early on in the life cycle of the infection, can it be assumed that she will continue to experience OB's with such uncharacteristic frequency? Or, do the first few months on the infection tend to be an "acclimation period" for your body?
3) We had unprotected sex the day before the outbreak, could this be the cause of her OB? Can we continue to give eachother MORE genital herpes if, in fact, we don't notice a sore and engage in unprotected sex? (In other words, can it spread to other parts in the genital area?)
4) I have been sore ever since my primary outbreak, with very minor irritation. The suppressive therapy seemed to calm this down, but I am curious if anyone experiences prolonged recovery from what would be considered the "meat and potatoes" of the primary infection?
Thanks alot, I am in desparate need of some expert advice, because general practitioners seem to be clueless about the nature of genital HSV-1.
it's most helpful to put updates for your own situation in your original post - thanks!
grace
grace
Grace - I need your expertise on this. You have read my story before (about all the testing and negative HSV western blot @ 5 1/2 months etc.). I am still in discomfort / pain every day @ 6 months but regardless there has been a new development. Please help me out on this.
I have noticed a couple of small spots / dots (somewhat similar to a flake of pepper although I think it looks more reddish than black) on my shaft AND inside the opening of my urethra. I noticed the first one in the urethra about 4 weeks ago and it went away - I noticed another one inside urethra last night in a slightly different location. the ones on the shaft come and go as well. they are not open or raised or liquid filled and don't hurt. Can you think of what might be causing these? Can you tell me what herpes inside of the male urethra looks like? Does it appear as a sore like it typically does externally? I have tried to find pictures on the web of urethral hsv in men but have been unsuccessful.
thank you in advance (and any others that contribute).
I have noticed a couple of small spots / dots (somewhat similar to a flake of pepper although I think it looks more reddish than black) on my shaft AND inside the opening of my urethra. I noticed the first one in the urethra about 4 weeks ago and it went away - I noticed another one inside urethra last night in a slightly different location. the ones on the shaft come and go as well. they are not open or raised or liquid filled and don't hurt. Can you think of what might be causing these? Can you tell me what herpes inside of the male urethra looks like? Does it appear as a sore like it typically does externally? I have tried to find pictures on the web of urethral hsv in men but have been unsuccessful.
thank you in advance (and any others that contribute).
There are many of use that seem to suffer from the same symptoms you are having. Most doctors that I see will say herpes does not act like this. I continue to have the burning/tingling sensation and tender feelign skin on my penis with no real OB. I want to move on as well but the continual reminder makes it difficult. I keep thinking th esore tip of my penis even though it isn;t all that red / irritated may be from the virus moving through the nerves aggrevating thing just enough to feel off.
Please let us know what your doctor says. For some on here they are on antivirals and for others they are not. Realizing no one situation is exactly the same there are similarities and possibly there may be information you find out that will be helpful to many.
Thank you
Please let us know what your doctor says. For some on here they are on antivirals and for others they are not. Realizing no one situation is exactly the same there are similarities and possibly there may be information you find out that will be helpful to many.
Thank you
no, genital herpes isn't like shingles.
you get a higher absorption of acyclovir with valtrex than regular acyclovir so some folks are more sensitive to it than others. if the sensations were from the valtrex, they'll stop in a few days.
no, you don't have shingles also going on.
grace
you get a higher absorption of acyclovir with valtrex than regular acyclovir so some folks are more sensitive to it than others. if the sensations were from the valtrex, they'll stop in a few days.
no, you don't have shingles also going on.
grace
Additonally, would hsv-1 cause neuralgia? I'm reading that its a shingles related condition. I had a very mild case of chicken pox when I was young. Is it possible that my recent hsv-1 infection triggered this and I am having a subclinical OB of shingles?
Post herpetic neuralgia is scary.
Post herpetic neuralgia is scary.
I have stopped as of 2 days ago. That sounds like a good solution for now. Do the other medications for HSV cause it aswell?
are you still taking valtrex? if so, stop it and see if that helps. some folks do get a neuralgia from it.
I don't recommend anything topical at this point. you don't want to make things worse or anything. most topical herpes products don't do much anyways.
grace
I don't recommend anything topical at this point. you don't want to make things worse or anything. most topical herpes products don't do much anyways.
grace
Thanks for the response,
So far I've continued to have what I would best describe as the "pre-outbreak" symptoms--minus the OB. The random tingling feelings, chaffed feelings, and what feel like little nerve firings that are becoming tiresome. Are they killing me? No, of course not. But, they are making it difficult to move past all this and get on with my life (Im a recent college graduate with alot on my plate.) I am meeting with an infectious disease specialist soon. I've had 2 different doctors look at it and they seem to think im fine. They too say that valtrex at this point is a bit overkill--also, they would like to see the frequency of my outbreaks before moving ahead with a treatment plan. I am also waiting on a urine test I had to see if there was any sort of infection (i plan on getting more bloodwork as well.)
I guess what my question is, how is it that I am still, after a month and a half, feeling physical discomfort without any visible or noticable sores, redness, lesions, or consistently (sometime my thigh hurts, goes away, and then the base of my penis hurts.) Just to clarify, I use the term "hurts" loosely, because it just feels like mild irritation that becomes a bigger issue because it does not seem to subside. Does the primary OB of genital HSV-1 disrupt your nerves down there? Despite what the doctor told me, it seems to be just nerve related, in that it does not show any visible signs, only feelings that come and go with little consistency.
In the meantime, what advice can you give me? Should I try to obtain some Herpigon topical treatment? I read on a previous post that someone in a situation similar to mine used it and it worked wonders.
Help? thanks
So far I've continued to have what I would best describe as the "pre-outbreak" symptoms--minus the OB. The random tingling feelings, chaffed feelings, and what feel like little nerve firings that are becoming tiresome. Are they killing me? No, of course not. But, they are making it difficult to move past all this and get on with my life (Im a recent college graduate with alot on my plate.) I am meeting with an infectious disease specialist soon. I've had 2 different doctors look at it and they seem to think im fine. They too say that valtrex at this point is a bit overkill--also, they would like to see the frequency of my outbreaks before moving ahead with a treatment plan. I am also waiting on a urine test I had to see if there was any sort of infection (i plan on getting more bloodwork as well.)
I guess what my question is, how is it that I am still, after a month and a half, feeling physical discomfort without any visible or noticable sores, redness, lesions, or consistently (sometime my thigh hurts, goes away, and then the base of my penis hurts.) Just to clarify, I use the term "hurts" loosely, because it just feels like mild irritation that becomes a bigger issue because it does not seem to subside. Does the primary OB of genital HSV-1 disrupt your nerves down there? Despite what the doctor told me, it seems to be just nerve related, in that it does not show any visible signs, only feelings that come and go with little consistency.
In the meantime, what advice can you give me? Should I try to obtain some Herpigon topical treatment? I read on a previous post that someone in a situation similar to mine used it and it worked wonders.
Help? thanks
having a recurrence within 2 months of being infected is pretty normal actually. it means nothing as far as how often she will have recurrences and such.
Honestly neither of you are likely to get much use out of daily suppressive therapy. Hsv1 genitally doesn't reoccur very often and you both have it so you don't have to worry about transmission at this point. You are paying a lot of money for little results when the average ob pattern for hsv1 genitally is 1 additional ob the first year and 1 ob every other year after that.
you won't ping pong the virus back and forth and trigger ob's in each other or anything like that. If your gf has another recurrence any time soon, she should be seen and get tested for yeast and bacterial vaginal infections. Both are common with newly acquired infections and can trigger/mimick herpes reccurences. Especially with bv, discharge isn't always present so proper testing would be in order, not just a looksee by the doctor ( she should be assertive about the testing and not accept a looksee of nothing is going on - 50% of all women with bv are asymptomatic ).
a little tenderness is normal and but by this point if you are still having discomfort, you too should be seen and make sure nothing else is going on. Unless you have a medical reason not to, ibuprofen as needed is also helpful.
keep asking questions!
grace
Honestly neither of you are likely to get much use out of daily suppressive therapy. Hsv1 genitally doesn't reoccur very often and you both have it so you don't have to worry about transmission at this point. You are paying a lot of money for little results when the average ob pattern for hsv1 genitally is 1 additional ob the first year and 1 ob every other year after that.
you won't ping pong the virus back and forth and trigger ob's in each other or anything like that. If your gf has another recurrence any time soon, she should be seen and get tested for yeast and bacterial vaginal infections. Both are common with newly acquired infections and can trigger/mimick herpes reccurences. Especially with bv, discharge isn't always present so proper testing would be in order, not just a looksee by the doctor ( she should be assertive about the testing and not accept a looksee of nothing is going on - 50% of all women with bv are asymptomatic ).
a little tenderness is normal and but by this point if you are still having discomfort, you too should be seen and make sure nothing else is going on. Unless you have a medical reason not to, ibuprofen as needed is also helpful.
keep asking questions!
grace
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
