Herpes o/b frequency & Tingling that won't go away. Please help!

I am a 25 year old guy and have had herpes since 2007 and have a few questions that concern me. Any help would be appreciated.

In the first 2 years after my initial o/b I had on average 1 o/b per year. Then suddenly for apparently no reason in 2010 I had about 6-7 o/b's. This caused me to go onto suppressive therapy (500mg once a day). I have tried cutting down to one tablet every 2nd day but when I do it's not long before I get another o/b.

I'm pretty healthy, don't smoke, eat well, exercise etc. In fact during the 2 years with very few o/b's I did smoke and had less o/b's!

Q1) I thought that with time o/b's are meant to decrease in frequency, so what's wrong with me?

Q2) Has anyone had this experience? Do o/b's ever decrease in frequency or am I stuck on this suppressive therapy for life? :-(

Also, 2 weeks ago I got a very sensitive tingling down the back of my right thigh, extrememly sensitive to the touch signaling an impending o/b. At this time I had tried to cut down to every 2nd day but immediately upon the onset of the tingling I went back to everyday as normal. The o/b was very minor and was gone within 5 days. However, it is 2 weeks later and the back of my thigh is still a bit sensitive to touch, the o/b has been gone for over a week.

Q3) Is this normal? Is it possible the o/b can damage the nerves?

Please help with any of these questions. I'd be most grateful.

[gracefromHHP]

how were you originally diagnosed as having genital herpes? do you have hsv1 or hsv2 genitally?

daily suppressive therapy isn't effective if you only take it every other day. it doesn't stick around in your body to work that way.

grace

[Nick_1]

It's HSV-2 and I realise that now so I will have to take it everyday.
Could you please advise on the other questions if possible?
Thanks for your help.

[gracefromHHP]

how were you originally diagnosed? did you have a lesion culture, blood testing or just a visual diagnosis of herpes?

the average number of hsv2 recurrences is 4-6/year. You really aren't having anything atypical at this point. will recurrences decrease over time? well actually no for most people they do not.

take some advil a few times a day for a few days or try something simple like soaking in the bath tub with some epsom salts thrown in. if the pain is there still by the end of the week, follow up on it.

will you be stuck on suppressive therapy forever? that's totally  your choice if you stay on it or not. most people don't stay on it forever but it's a personal choice.

[Nick_1]

I was diagnosed via a swab test and urine test both positive HSV-2 :-(

So if I get 6-8 outbreaks a year now without suppessive therapy then I will have to stay on suppressive unless I want the o/bs to continue at that rate?

Doesn't the body ever build up any immunity to this damn virus?

[gracefromHHP]

the virus stays active regardless of how long you are infected regardless of how many obvious lesions you have.  in time you might have a few less recurrences a year but you will still have them. up to you how you treat them.

[Nick_1]

I've done quite a bit of research and from what I've read I'm a bit concerned that suppressive treatment using valaciclovir/valacyclovir/valtrex can cause liver/kidney problems and that it is recommended to have your liver checked annually!

This is the last thing I need. I suppose I don't have a problem with suppressive therapy if it keeps the outbreaks from happening, but I certainly don't want to have no outbreaks at the expense of liver damage from long term use!

Any comments? Please help put my mind at ease!!!

[gracefromHHP]

not sure what you are reading but it's inaccurate dear. We have data on the safety of acyclovir for over 25 years now when taken non-stop suppressively. we also have data for valtrex and famvir for over 15 years now. there are no long term side effects. yearly blood testing isn't recommended either.