HELP!!

I got genital herpes 30 years ago when I was dating my husband.  I was a healthy person then and my herpes was dormant all those years and never came back until now.  I just was diagnosed with an auto immune disease and suspect this is what has caused me to break out again after 30 years.  I have now broken out for the 4th time this year already and have taken zovorax every time.  It goes away, but then I get it right back again.  Can anyone tell me if it's healthy to be taking zovorax everyday to prevent constant breakouts?  Will my body become immune to the zovorax so that it won't work anymore?  Has anyone had this happen to them, and how do you keep the herpes from constantly breaking out?

[gracefromHHP]

have you been back at all to be tested for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally?  bv especially can trigger herpes to be more active and you might not have an obvious odor or increased discharge along with it.

when you were diagnosed 30 years ago, odds were you only had a visual diagnosis. have you had any further testing to confirm that indeed you have herpes and if it's hsv1 or hsv2?

at this point, confirm that indeed it is herpes going on. that means whenever you have symptoms, don't start the acyclovir and be seen within 48 hours of their appearance for a lesion culture and typing. if you do indeed have something besides your hasimoto's going oon, some autoimmune diseases do have genital lesions as part of their presentation so I think at this point covering all the bases is in your best interest.

if it is all herpes, will taking daily suppressive therapy with zovirax cause you issues? No it will not. There are no long term side effects and there are not issues with antiviral resistance like you get with antibiotics.   daily suppressive therapy reduces recurrences significantly if indeed this is all herpes going on.

grace

[gracefromHHP]

have you been back at all to be tested for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally?  bv especially can trigger herpes to be more active and you might not have an obvious odor or increased discharge along with it.

when you were diagnosed 30 years ago, odds were you only had a visual diagnosis. have you had any further testing to confirm that indeed you have herpes and if it's hsv1 or hsv2?

at this point, confirm that indeed it is herpes going on. that means whenever you have symptoms, don't start the acyclovir and be seen within 48 hours of their appearance for a lesion culture and typing. if you do indeed have something besides your hasimoto's going oon, some autoimmune diseases do have genital lesions as part of their presentation so I think at this point covering all the bases is in your best interest.

if it is all herpes, will taking daily suppressive therapy with zovirax cause you issues? No it will not. There are no long term side effects and there are not issues with antiviral resistance like you get with antibiotics.   daily suppressive therapy reduces recurrences significantly if indeed this is all herpes going on.

grace

[Punagirl77]

Thanks Grace.  I did go to the doctor 30 years ago and he visually diagnosed it, but no testing was done.  It appeared on my buttocks as a big boil like lesion and I didn't know what it was, then it never came back until now.  It is now in my vagina and anus.  I will go to the doctor next time and see if she can do a culture.  Might be hard to get an appointment in 48 hours however.

Glad to hear I can take zovirax daily without getting immune to it.  Do you or have you ever heard what kind of auto immune diseases present with genital herpes?  Thanks for your help

[gracefromHHP]

an autoimmune disease can trigger herpes to reoccur more often as can some of the treatments for them.  

call your provider and ask for a type specific herpes igg blood test to be done to see what your hsv1 and hsv2 status is. It's a quick way to start getting easy answers while waiting for your next recurrence.