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HSV 1 oral to genital. NEED HELP ASAP!!!
I am REALLY worrying after I developed a cold sore shortly after having oral & vaginal sex with my male partner (i am fem.). I started getting cold sores as a child (9, i'm now 29) & normally have 1 episode a year. Because of this, i stopped taking valtrax daily as suppressive therapy, & now only use it to try & prevent an outbreak in the month of november (when it usually occurs).
For some reason, I now have a cold sore developing & noticed symptoms (some tingling, small bumps) a mere hour or so after we were intimate. My partner of 5 months is 31 & I understand that lots ppl already have HSV 1 by this age AND if he's ever had a cold sore then he can not get HSV 1 from me (orally or genitally correct?).
The problem is I have no idea whether or not he has HSV 1 (as so many ppl never have recurrences essentially forget about it) MORE IMPORTANTLY if there is anything i can do to reduce his risk of transmission, at this point, given the chance that he is HSV1 neg.
1) I've read that uninfected partners taking valtrax reduces their rate of infection. Should i give him some of my valtrax pills, as it's only been 6 or so hours since we were intimate? Is there any chance that this would do ANY good? if so, how much?
2) While intimate, we kissed on the mouth, engaged in oral sex & then vaginal inter. I understand that HSV 1 prefers its host site (mouth). Thus is there a greater chance that he would get HSV 1 orally from me than genitally (as we were kissing orally before oral sex)?
3) What do i do now? It's been less than 12 hours since we were intimate and I am worried about transmission. I didn't realize i was developing a cold sore last nt and by the time i realized it, we had already been together. What is the probability of infection, if he is HSV 1 negative? We've been sexual for 4 months and never had any health related problems.
Please answer all these questions, if possible and i GREATLY appreciate any prompt help, feedback and advise you can provide.
For some reason, I now have a cold sore developing & noticed symptoms (some tingling, small bumps) a mere hour or so after we were intimate. My partner of 5 months is 31 & I understand that lots ppl already have HSV 1 by this age AND if he's ever had a cold sore then he can not get HSV 1 from me (orally or genitally correct?).
The problem is I have no idea whether or not he has HSV 1 (as so many ppl never have recurrences essentially forget about it) MORE IMPORTANTLY if there is anything i can do to reduce his risk of transmission, at this point, given the chance that he is HSV1 neg.
1) I've read that uninfected partners taking valtrax reduces their rate of infection. Should i give him some of my valtrax pills, as it's only been 6 or so hours since we were intimate? Is there any chance that this would do ANY good? if so, how much?
2) While intimate, we kissed on the mouth, engaged in oral sex & then vaginal inter. I understand that HSV 1 prefers its host site (mouth). Thus is there a greater chance that he would get HSV 1 orally from me than genitally (as we were kissing orally before oral sex)?
3) What do i do now? It's been less than 12 hours since we were intimate and I am worried about transmission. I didn't realize i was developing a cold sore last nt and by the time i realized it, we had already been together. What is the probability of infection, if he is HSV 1 negative? We've been sexual for 4 months and never had any health related problems.
Please answer all these questions, if possible and i GREATLY appreciate any prompt help, feedback and advise you can provide.
The best is to say about half the adult US population has HSV-1. We get it as a child from that kiss from auntie or the boy/girl in kinder we kissed. It isn't that much of a big deal. But as we age the amount goes up. Being that its common its best to get him checked. Make it a STD date. Anyone who is sexually active should have testing done around once a year.
Viral shedding to what I know isn't showing decreasing. You will have just about the same amount. HSV-1 sheds orally about 18% of days a year. The risk from that event is really low.
I am not aware of any studies. Given the time of night right now I am lazy to read up on pubmed. I remember reading a post not that long a go from Dr. HHH (one of our STD Experts) who stated this isn't been proven. While in theory it may work (Valtrex stops the virus from replicating) but that he figures the body would have had to have valtrex in it to help reduce that amount and taking after an encounter may not help much. But Valtrex doesn't harm the system to our knowledge. I would say for a dosing amount he needs to speak to a doctor about that. But I fear its more of a could help and won't hurt type deal.
There is always going to be a risk if someone is negative and the other is positive with herpes. In cases of oral herpes really daily therapy isn't recommended much I believe its more eposidic then anything. We know how HSV-2 and valtrex work which is where most of the studies are.
Let's put it in a little perspective. A regular here (Petal) has HSV-1 genital. Her partner has HSV-1 oral. He transmitted it to her after 5 years of what she says a pretty active oral sex life. It happens and it may happen to you. HSV-1 gentially of either HSV type to have in the genital location is the one you would want to get. Less reoccurances for people and some even have none. Viral shedding is less as well.
I am not saying it will take five years but what I am saying is it's not like a one time encounter will lead to infection. Hence the low risk. But the best course of action is having him tested. If he comes back positive of HSV-1 then you know there is even far less risk of him getting it in the genital location.
You may want to read over the free herpes handbook. Its focused more towards genital herpes but it has a LOT of great information in it. It was written by Nurse Practitioner Terrir Warren who is the MH Herpes Expert and also owner of the west over heights clinic. Her clinic deals with a lot of Herpes cases and studies. So if anyone knows herpes its Terri. Read over it.
www.westoverheights.com
Viral shedding to what I know isn't showing decreasing. You will have just about the same amount. HSV-1 sheds orally about 18% of days a year. The risk from that event is really low.
I am not aware of any studies. Given the time of night right now I am lazy to read up on pubmed. I remember reading a post not that long a go from Dr. HHH (one of our STD Experts) who stated this isn't been proven. While in theory it may work (Valtrex stops the virus from replicating) but that he figures the body would have had to have valtrex in it to help reduce that amount and taking after an encounter may not help much. But Valtrex doesn't harm the system to our knowledge. I would say for a dosing amount he needs to speak to a doctor about that. But I fear its more of a could help and won't hurt type deal.
There is always going to be a risk if someone is negative and the other is positive with herpes. In cases of oral herpes really daily therapy isn't recommended much I believe its more eposidic then anything. We know how HSV-2 and valtrex work which is where most of the studies are.
Let's put it in a little perspective. A regular here (Petal) has HSV-1 genital. Her partner has HSV-1 oral. He transmitted it to her after 5 years of what she says a pretty active oral sex life. It happens and it may happen to you. HSV-1 gentially of either HSV type to have in the genital location is the one you would want to get. Less reoccurances for people and some even have none. Viral shedding is less as well.
I am not saying it will take five years but what I am saying is it's not like a one time encounter will lead to infection. Hence the low risk. But the best course of action is having him tested. If he comes back positive of HSV-1 then you know there is even far less risk of him getting it in the genital location.
You may want to read over the free herpes handbook. Its focused more towards genital herpes but it has a LOT of great information in it. It was written by Nurse Practitioner Terrir Warren who is the MH Herpes Expert and also owner of the west over heights clinic. Her clinic deals with a lot of Herpes cases and studies. So if anyone knows herpes its Terri. Read over it.
www.westoverheights.com
Thank you so much for your prompt response. I certainly hope for the best but can't help feeling worried, as I've never engaged in sexual contact with someone while a cold sore was forming (even if i didn't know it was:(.
Do you have reliable data on how many ppl already have HSV 1 by the age of 30? I read 50% somewhere and 80% somewhere else.
Also, i read that viral shedding likely decreases with time, but because there is so little concrete data...is it prudent for someone who usually gets one cold sore a year to go on daily suppressive therapy, so i can have less anxiety around oral sex?
Finally, valtrex advertises uninfected parters taking the medication to avoid infection while with their bf/gf. Is there really no clinical data to support this or is it simply a "could help, wont hurt" type of approach?
Just tryna figure out how to go about having a "normal" sex life and protect myself as well as any future partners. Thanks again for your support and prompt response.
Do you have reliable data on how many ppl already have HSV 1 by the age of 30? I read 50% somewhere and 80% somewhere else.
Also, i read that viral shedding likely decreases with time, but because there is so little concrete data...is it prudent for someone who usually gets one cold sore a year to go on daily suppressive therapy, so i can have less anxiety around oral sex?
Finally, valtrex advertises uninfected parters taking the medication to avoid infection while with their bf/gf. Is there really no clinical data to support this or is it simply a "could help, wont hurt" type of approach?
Just tryna figure out how to go about having a "normal" sex life and protect myself as well as any future partners. Thanks again for your support and prompt response.
1. There is no clinical proof that taking valtrex before will help prevent transmission. In therory it sounds right but in practical use it may not.
2. HSV-1 perfers the mouth but can and does end up genital as well. Avoid kissing during your coldsore and you should be fine. The risk is low on oral sex. But you can have protected oral sex and avoid the risk that way.
3. You should look into having him get tested to know his own status. This way you can know what precuations to take. There is no transmission data. The risk is present because of the symptoms coming. But really there isn't much of a way to predict if he will get it.
Best thing now is if he gets symptoms be seen within 24-48hrs for a swab lesion culture or PCR test I would also start the talk about HSV and get tested using a type specific igg test. Avoid kissing and performing oral sex on him until your coldsore has fully healed. If he has HSV-1 orally just best to avoid oral sex during coldsores. You are right though if he has HSV-1 he has anitbodies that will help fight a new site of infection.
2. HSV-1 perfers the mouth but can and does end up genital as well. Avoid kissing during your coldsore and you should be fine. The risk is low on oral sex. But you can have protected oral sex and avoid the risk that way.
3. You should look into having him get tested to know his own status. This way you can know what precuations to take. There is no transmission data. The risk is present because of the symptoms coming. But really there isn't much of a way to predict if he will get it.
Best thing now is if he gets symptoms be seen within 24-48hrs for a swab lesion culture or PCR test I would also start the talk about HSV and get tested using a type specific igg test. Avoid kissing and performing oral sex on him until your coldsore has fully healed. If he has HSV-1 orally just best to avoid oral sex during coldsores. You are right though if he has HSV-1 he has anitbodies that will help fight a new site of infection.
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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.
