Herpes spreading

[j369]

Hello,

I have my first genital herpes outbreak, which is located in and around the vagina.  Now a lesion has shown up at the top of my pubic area, right at the borderline between my stomach and pubic hair.  It's a good 6 inches away from the rest of the lesions.  Initially they were only in my vagina, then moved to the labia, now this.  Are they going to continue to spread?  I've been washing my hands carefully and disinfecting everything.  Is is possible this is something else besides herpes?  They did a culture but no results yet.  

Thanks for your response.

[gracefromHHP]

Then pick up one of the urinary pain relief type tablets in the drugstore and give those a try. They are usually good for that type of pain. Just be aware they usually stain your urine bright orange and can stain your underwear so don't wear the good ones ;)

I know it hurts like hell now but it will start to get better in a few days as the valtrex kicks in - hand in there :)

grace

[j369]

The dr cultured my lesions but said it would take 10 days to get the results.  It actually hurts when I urinate, worse than any bladder infection I've ever had.  I've even tried urinating in water and running water over the area to lessen the pain, but it still feels like molten lava.  That's why I'm thinking there are lesions in my urethra.  

[gracefromHHP]

Both you and your partner need type specific herpes igg blood tests to see who has what.  Did they also culture your lesions or just do a looksee for herpes and give you meds?

When you urinate - is the pain with urination or from urine running over lesions externally?

grace

[j369]

thanks for responding.

yes been on Valtrex since Tuesday....this has been an overwhelmingly painful and drawn-out experience.  went to the dr last Sat for what I thought was possibly a bladder infection and/or yeast infection....no lesions, just painful urination and soreness.  dr examined me and gave me meds for bladder infection.  She said I had what looked like scratches but it was definitely not herpes.  She took a culture for yeast but said it didn't look like that either.  I've been in a monogamous relationship for 5 years.  have never had anything like this before.  Sat afternoon, starting having fever and flu-like symptoms, thought it was a reaction to the antibiotic (those were listed a rare reactions), so called dr back and she switched antibiotics.  Still no better on Monday and pain was getting much worse when I urinated.  With a mirror I noticed large red bumps in the vagina (none on outside).  Called dr back, got an appt for Tuesday.  By the next day the lesions had spread to the outside.  Dr prescribed Valtrex.  Today is the first day I haven't had fever above 101.   Still extremely painful to urinate, almost feels like I'm peeing molten lava.  It also feels like there may be lesions in my urethra.  When I try to pee, I can only pee a little, but then when I get up it feels like I still have to pee.

Dr say this has to be my first exposure, but I've only had one partner the last 5 years and he has shown no signs.  Also, I have no doubt concerning his fidelity.  I thought perhaps it had been dormant in me and was just now flaring up, since before him I'd had several partners, but dr said with the severity of my symptoms that would be impossible.  I had to have contracted it from him.  But if he's a carrier, it seems like I would have come down with this shortly after we first got together.

I think I've just recently started menopause, and I was reading comments from some others elsewhere (who had similar experience - monogamous for a considerable length of time, my age (50's), sudden outbreak with partner having shown no signs) who was speculating that hormonal changes could trigger it??  Have you heard anything like this?  I know menstruation can trigger an outbreak, which is a hormonal change, so I'm wondering if perhaps someone could have this lying dormant and the hormonal changes of menopause could trigger it?  But then would you still have such a severe reaction which is only supposed to happen with first exposure?  

Sorry for the long post.  This is just new to me and I'm trying to understand it.  Thanks  :)

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

You have genital herpes.  This means that the entire area is infected, so you can't spread it anywhere else in the area.

Herpes infects nerve groups, and genital herpes infects the sacral ganglia.  This means that you can have outbreaks anywhere from the waist down, though the "boxer short" area is far and away the most common.

Have you been to the doctor yet?  Are you on antivirals?  If you aren't, you should call your doc and ask for them.  They can help calm this all down.

Aj