HSV-2 treatments, please help!

Hi, I have had HSV-2 since 2007. I used to only get an outbreak every 8-12 months, however since I started working full-time I have had 3 outbreaks in less than 2 months. I take famvir 2x250mg at first then 1 tablet every 12 hours for 3 doses and the outbreaks clear up within a week, but it is really starting to get me down and depressed.

My questions are:
1) Can recurrent herpes outbreaks lead to penile cancer? I am worried if the same area is affected by HSV a lot then could it cause cancer there?
2) Should I consider a daily treatment to keep the outbreaks under control instead of treating the outbreaks when they occur?
3) If I started taking famvir or equivalent regularly as a preventative then as I am only 23 can this cause any long term effects or dependency on the drug?

Any replies are greatly appreciated as I really don't want to have to take a tablet daily for herpes, but I can't live with an outbreak every month either!

[Ryan_11]

does anyone have any answers/advice to my questions please?

[gracefromHHP]

no, herpes doesn't lead to penile cancer.

If you are having more ob's , give suppressive therapy a try. why have more ob's than you have to?

no, no long term effects from daily suppressive therapy.

grace

[Ryan_11]

Thanks for the reply. I just have one more question. If i take suppressive therapy for say a few months and then I choose to stop would it mean I have an outbreak once I stop? Or would the outbreaks be more frequent than now as my body is used to having the suppressive therapy to keep the herpes at bay?

[gracefromHHP]

You may or you may not have ob's as soon as you stop. suppressive therapy only works while you are taking it. Once you stop, you tend to go back to your previous pattern.  Starting suppressive therapy doesn't mean once you stop it, you'll get more ob's. All the herpes antivirals do is disrupt the viral replication process. The virus is still active the same amount, just suppressive therapy nips it in the bud so it can't replicate as much to shed and cause ob's as often.

grace