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Genital HSV1 - new diagnosis
My 17 year old daughter was just diagnosed with this - Dr. has prescribed Valtrex 500 mg 4x day for 10 days. I have tons of questions ... and am worried sick about her. She first told me about this 3 days ago, and the sores were present at that time. Doctor initially prescribed Cipro for UTI, results for HSV came back yesterday so she took her first full dose of Valtrex yesterday.
1) How long does it take for the valtrex to start working? She is in horrible pain when urinating.
2) Are there any topical creams we can use until the valtrex starts to take effect? She has an athletic event today and I'm not sure how she's going to make it through ...
3) Since this is HSV 1, is this slightly "better" (if you can call it that) than HSV 2?
Unfortunately, we have now reached the age where the doctor calls her directly rather than talking to me, so I did not have an opportunity to ask the doctor any of these questions ....
Thanks for any help!
1) How long does it take for the valtrex to start working? She is in horrible pain when urinating.
2) Are there any topical creams we can use until the valtrex starts to take effect? She has an athletic event today and I'm not sure how she's going to make it through ...
3) Since this is HSV 1, is this slightly "better" (if you can call it that) than HSV 2?
Unfortunately, we have now reached the age where the doctor calls her directly rather than talking to me, so I did not have an opportunity to ask the doctor any of these questions ....
Thanks for any help!
anyone can post in any post here, we just are sticklers for giving out accurate information here on this board.
according to your other post, you never even tested + for herpes did I understand that properly? you should pursue further testing to get better answers too. If you never had genital herpes, all the antivirals and herpes treatments in the world, aren't going to work for you.
grace
according to your other post, you never even tested + for herpes did I understand that properly? you should pursue further testing to get better answers too. If you never had genital herpes, all the antivirals and herpes treatments in the world, aren't going to work for you.
grace
Thanks for the info. Sorry if I seemed to talk out of turn. I know what is finally working for me and it might help someone. There doesn't seem to be any one simple fix method for this. Doctors are as lost as we are but when you carry it you have more riding on a fix.
Can't think of a good question for you yet but I bet I can come up with one.
Thanks,
Jamz4
Can't think of a good question for you yet but I bet I can come up with one.
Thanks,
Jamz4
the lysine/arginine connection never panned out outside of the test tube. there are no special herpes diets. there are no foods to avoid. supplementing with lysine is also not very effective either. the 1gm/day dose does nothing.
oral antivirals are rather cheap at this point. they reduce ob's by 70% for hsv2. we don't have good info on hsv1 and their effectiveness. they do not damage the body. the oral formulations of the do not need huge amounts of water to flush out of the body either.
if you have questions, read the free herpes handbook we recommend regularly here or feel free to ask questions you have too.
grace
oral antivirals are rather cheap at this point. they reduce ob's by 70% for hsv2. we don't have good info on hsv1 and their effectiveness. they do not damage the body. the oral formulations of the do not need huge amounts of water to flush out of the body either.
if you have questions, read the free herpes handbook we recommend regularly here or feel free to ask questions you have too.
grace
Wow. Its been 20 years ago but I remember it as last week.
This is something people don't seem to talk about much or have a handle on.
Valtrex and Zovirax took a lot of my money. They hurt your kidneys, require a lot of water to flush and don't work as well as they should.
This soon became my new hobby after my girlfriend cheated on me and gave me a present it replaced a lot of dates!
There is hope.
Lysine will help a lot. Arginine is the enemy because it feeds Herpes.
Get her L-Lysine 1000mg and watch he diet.
Lysine ratio has to be higher than Arginine to fend of Herpes.
We already get both of these through sertain foods so keep this simple.
Stay off Chocolate, Almonds, Oatmeal, Soda pop and high fat type meats because these have high values of Arginine in them.
Lysine foods are Fish, Chicken, Walnuts, Broccoli, and other colorful veggies.
(I eat oatmeal anyway and love me some chocolate sometimes too but I take L-Lysine everyday at 1000mg a day.
Keep the vitamin intake going.
Drink plenty of water cause its good for flushing toxins anyway.
Good Luck!
Jamz4
This is something people don't seem to talk about much or have a handle on.
Valtrex and Zovirax took a lot of my money. They hurt your kidneys, require a lot of water to flush and don't work as well as they should.
This soon became my new hobby after my girlfriend cheated on me and gave me a present it replaced a lot of dates!
There is hope.
Lysine will help a lot. Arginine is the enemy because it feeds Herpes.
Get her L-Lysine 1000mg and watch he diet.
Lysine ratio has to be higher than Arginine to fend of Herpes.
We already get both of these through sertain foods so keep this simple.
Stay off Chocolate, Almonds, Oatmeal, Soda pop and high fat type meats because these have high values of Arginine in them.
Lysine foods are Fish, Chicken, Walnuts, Broccoli, and other colorful veggies.
(I eat oatmeal anyway and love me some chocolate sometimes too but I take L-Lysine everyday at 1000mg a day.
Keep the vitamin intake going.
Drink plenty of water cause its good for flushing toxins anyway.
Good Luck!
Jamz4
Hsv1 genitally sheds about 3% of days on average. that's less than a dozen days total out of the year. She'll need to know her partner's hsv status so that they can decide together what precautions to take. She also can still contract hsv2 genitally so another reason for her partners to get tested even if they say they have a history of cold sores so they know they have hsv1 already. If a partner has hsv1, they have significant protection of contracting hsv1 genitally from her. If they have hsv2, they need to discuss what precautions to take to protect her from hsv2. This is all in the handbook for more details too. It'll be up to her and her partner whether they want to always have protected sex or not. In a new relationship or a casual one, it's always a good idea initially at least. Once they've ruled out other std's and of course have pregnancy covered, it's totally their choice. She doesn't HAVE to always use condoms just because she knows she has genital herpes. make sense?
getting the lesion culture and typing is the most accurate way to diagnose hsv1 genitally.
keep asking questions :)
grace
getting the lesion culture and typing is the most accurate way to diagnose hsv1 genitally.
keep asking questions :)
grace
I will try to answer a few of these questions for you.
Its good shes feeling better. Like grace said its great knowing your parents are there to help you out. Always a plus in my book and I am proud of both of you for being there to help her and not condem her.
1. Will she now always have to have protected sex? Its just like the old days its highly and strongly recommended. I would advise that she always do that.
2. To answer this question its a little tough and really would depend on the partner what precautions they choose and deem neccessary to take. She will be infectious when she has active sores and lesisions. She may have a prodome system when the virus reactivates and will have an idea that they will be present soon and to avoid any genital contact with her partner.
The thearpy with valtrex will help lessen the outbreaks and chances she will go through a time called asymptomatic shedding. This is a period where there are no active symptoms and she can possibly infect her partner. This won't happen much as it is a genital HSV-1 infection.
The swap method is the most accurate way because it shows the status of a present lesision. There is less of a false positive rate for it. There is a false negative rate with some cultures if not done using PCR.
There isn't a lot of data at least that I have seen and I did some brief checking on pubmed.gov for some studies. The best I could find was 3% of days. That is about 3 days out of 100.
Please do not feel dumb for asking questions. Honestly that is what this forum is here for. Don't except you to know everything and right now you need answers to help you and your daughter out. I was always taught there is no such thing as a dumb question that is asked only a dumb question that is left unasked. Please keep asking questions and we will gladly help you out along the way.
Its good shes feeling better. Like grace said its great knowing your parents are there to help you out. Always a plus in my book and I am proud of both of you for being there to help her and not condem her.
1. Will she now always have to have protected sex? Its just like the old days its highly and strongly recommended. I would advise that she always do that.
2. To answer this question its a little tough and really would depend on the partner what precautions they choose and deem neccessary to take. She will be infectious when she has active sores and lesisions. She may have a prodome system when the virus reactivates and will have an idea that they will be present soon and to avoid any genital contact with her partner.
The thearpy with valtrex will help lessen the outbreaks and chances she will go through a time called asymptomatic shedding. This is a period where there are no active symptoms and she can possibly infect her partner. This won't happen much as it is a genital HSV-1 infection.
The swap method is the most accurate way because it shows the status of a present lesision. There is less of a false positive rate for it. There is a false negative rate with some cultures if not done using PCR.
There isn't a lot of data at least that I have seen and I did some brief checking on pubmed.gov for some studies. The best I could find was 3% of days. That is about 3 days out of 100.
Please do not feel dumb for asking questions. Honestly that is what this forum is here for. Don't except you to know everything and right now you need answers to help you and your daughter out. I was always taught there is no such thing as a dumb question that is asked only a dumb question that is left unasked. Please keep asking questions and we will gladly help you out along the way.
I'm back. What is the recurrence rate of HSV1? Is the swab and culture the most accurate way to diagnose?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thank you for all the great info! She did make it through her athletic event - I was so proud of her I almost burst. Especially after the hellish week she's had. I am especially proud of my husband, who I was sure was going to handle this badly, but has turned out to be my her (and my) hero.
I was up until 2:00 a.m. last night scouring the web for any kind of helpful info, and I ran across one poster who said that leaning forward when urinating and having a small squirt bottle of water at the ready for as soon as she's done to rinse the area would help. She tried that this morning, and it really did help her. So we discreetly packed up the water bottle in her jacket and off she went.
She has also now had 3 doses of Valtrex which may (?) be helping somewhat. Or maybe it's just helping mentally at this point - either way, I don't care if she feels better.
Couple more questions - these are future related questions:
Will she now always have to have protected sex (obviously for now - but that's not high on her list right at the moment anyway)? Say, when she is older and married or in some sort of committed relationship, will she still have to use condoms or risk infecting her partner?
Again, these probably sound like the dumbest questions ever ... but I honestly am a fish out of water on this one.
Again, thanks for the info!
I was up until 2:00 a.m. last night scouring the web for any kind of helpful info, and I ran across one poster who said that leaning forward when urinating and having a small squirt bottle of water at the ready for as soon as she's done to rinse the area would help. She tried that this morning, and it really did help her. So we discreetly packed up the water bottle in her jacket and off she went.
She has also now had 3 doses of Valtrex which may (?) be helping somewhat. Or maybe it's just helping mentally at this point - either way, I don't care if she feels better.
Couple more questions - these are future related questions:
Will she now always have to have protected sex (obviously for now - but that's not high on her list right at the moment anyway)? Say, when she is older and married or in some sort of committed relationship, will she still have to use condoms or risk infecting her partner?
Again, these probably sound like the dumbest questions ever ... but I honestly am a fish out of water on this one.
Again, thanks for the info!
I highly recommend the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com for both of you. it's free to read online or print out at home. it's terrific info for your daughter and also very informative for you :)
Hsv1 genitally is almost always acquired through oral sex. The first ob is usually a doozy and will take awhile to run its course. Your daughter can take her valtrex 2 500mg pills 2x/day for 10 days. No reason to take 1 4x/day. I also recommend picking up some epsom salts as well as a can of dermoplast spray ( the blue can for the genital area, not the red can ). She can soak in the tubby with epsom salts for comfort and use the topical anesthetic for pain control as needed. The valtrex will take a few days until she starts seeing a difference since this is a newly acquired infection for her.
is her pain with urination from the urine running over open sores or is it pain while urinating like a uti? If it's pain from urine running over sores, she can put her hand in a baggie and physically cover the lesions while urinating. if it's the uti like pain, pick up some uristat or other otc urinary pain relief tablet for her. Just a word of caution, they do stain everything orange so she should also consider wearing a panty liner or at least old panties that don't matter.
unless she has a medical reason not to, she can alternate tylenol with advil - ie 1000mg tylenol at 6 a.m, 600mg advil at 9 a.m., tylenol at noon, advil at 3pm etc. It gives better pain control than just taking one or the other.
Hsv1 genitally tends to not reoccur as often and it doesn't shed as much. Even though right now this first ob won't heal soon enough to make her comfortable quickly, recurrences will be most likely few and far between and not near as bad.
It is hard when it's all out of your hands like it is now at her age :( It's terrific though that she has been able to turn to you and get your support :) So many of our younger posters don't feel confident doing that and it's good for them to see that parents really can handle it and be there for them about this :) Keep asking questions as you have them and also steer her this way too if she has questions!
grace
Hsv1 genitally is almost always acquired through oral sex. The first ob is usually a doozy and will take awhile to run its course. Your daughter can take her valtrex 2 500mg pills 2x/day for 10 days. No reason to take 1 4x/day. I also recommend picking up some epsom salts as well as a can of dermoplast spray ( the blue can for the genital area, not the red can ). She can soak in the tubby with epsom salts for comfort and use the topical anesthetic for pain control as needed. The valtrex will take a few days until she starts seeing a difference since this is a newly acquired infection for her.
is her pain with urination from the urine running over open sores or is it pain while urinating like a uti? If it's pain from urine running over sores, she can put her hand in a baggie and physically cover the lesions while urinating. if it's the uti like pain, pick up some uristat or other otc urinary pain relief tablet for her. Just a word of caution, they do stain everything orange so she should also consider wearing a panty liner or at least old panties that don't matter.
unless she has a medical reason not to, she can alternate tylenol with advil - ie 1000mg tylenol at 6 a.m, 600mg advil at 9 a.m., tylenol at noon, advil at 3pm etc. It gives better pain control than just taking one or the other.
Hsv1 genitally tends to not reoccur as often and it doesn't shed as much. Even though right now this first ob won't heal soon enough to make her comfortable quickly, recurrences will be most likely few and far between and not near as bad.
It is hard when it's all out of your hands like it is now at her age :( It's terrific though that she has been able to turn to you and get your support :) So many of our younger posters don't feel confident doing that and it's good for them to see that parents really can handle it and be there for them about this :) Keep asking questions as you have them and also steer her this way too if she has questions!
grace
It was diagnosed by a culture (and I suppose visual too), which took 48 hours. Is that the normal way?
I apologize for seeming to be totally ignorant about all this, but I really am.
I have not pushed it with the doctor, but I definitely will. I also am trying to be a good listener and supportive, without pushing my kid to give every gory detail. She is already wanting to die of shame ...
I apologize for seeming to be totally ignorant about all this, but I really am.
I have not pushed it with the doctor, but I definitely will. I also am trying to be a good listener and supportive, without pushing my kid to give every gory detail. She is already wanting to die of shame ...
Hi
I can't really answer the first 2 questions very well. I am sure grace can answer them when she gets a free moment.
For number 3) Genital HSV-1 outbreaks are less then HSV-2 genital outbreaks. So I am not sure if that means it is better or not.
Interesting she is still a minor though until shes 18 you still have Care, Custody, and Control to her medical records. You are still medically responsible for her bills as well. If she is using your insurance you still have the right to request medical records and speak to her doctor regarding her treatment. My parents when I was 17 still had access to my doctor and my records. I could consent to certain treatments.
How was she diagnoised? Was this blood work or culture or visual?
I can't really answer the first 2 questions very well. I am sure grace can answer them when she gets a free moment.
For number 3) Genital HSV-1 outbreaks are less then HSV-2 genital outbreaks. So I am not sure if that means it is better or not.
Interesting she is still a minor though until shes 18 you still have Care, Custody, and Control to her medical records. You are still medically responsible for her bills as well. If she is using your insurance you still have the right to request medical records and speak to her doctor regarding her treatment. My parents when I was 17 still had access to my doctor and my records. I could consent to certain treatments.
How was she diagnoised? Was this blood work or culture or visual?
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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.
