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Initial HSV-1 Genital Outbreak

I just found out today that I likely have an hsv-1 outbreak most likely from my fiance. He has cold sores and we've managed to avoid any sort of issues until now, but last time we had sex he developed a sore on the membrane in his nose and then a few days later I developed vaginal ulcers. I've had these ulcers/sores for 2 days now and I just started taking acyclovir today, but I'm in a ton of pain and discomfort from swollen lymph nodes and nerve issues. My questions are:

1. How long will it take for this inital outbreak to go away or at least start feeling better?
2. Is there anything that I can do to ease discomfort or speed healing?
3. How likely is my partner to contract an infection and how long should we abstain from sex?

And then again, any other advice or information is always welcome :)

Thanks in advance
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Avatar universal
I believe the efficacy of any medication varies from person to person. My fiance, who is responsible for giving me the infection, uses it on his cold sores and for him it is at least anecdotal evidence of efficacy. Each body reacts differently and my cells may not be the same as the next person's.

In the end though, as a psychologist I have to say that even if it is just a placebo effect, that placebo effect is usually more helpful than what chemical relief can provide.  
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101028 tn?1419603004
abreva barely does anything for oral herpes and barely got fda approval to say that it is helpful for oral herpes. it was never marketed for genital herpes because it had no effect on speeding healing at all.  It's very over priced for the teeny tube you buy.  
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Avatar universal
I have a lot of experience with TTO so I wasn't too worried about irritation, but you should ALWAYS dilute it. I'm using my home-made soap as well since it's relatively mild and I make my soap with neem.

So far TTO every few hours staggered with abreva (The website says "Not for use on genital herpes, Abreva only works on HSV-1", so I did some research and made a judgement call and it's been great so far) and neem soap before bed and after waking up has the sores stopped in their tracks and WAY less painful.

I'm a bit of a research junkie and believe in TTO and Neem as general "cure-alls", so remember this is just what's working for me SO FAR. I always recommend doing some research and looking at both natural and pharmaceutical treatment.
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Avatar universal
Hi! I first experienced symptoms on March 23rd and am just now starting to feel better (a little over 2 weeks). It wasn't actually the blisters that hurt as bad as the swollen lymph nodes and pelvic pain did... but the blisters and itching is quite burdensome.

I did find that drinking a lot of water made it all a bit better where there were lesions.

I'll be anxious to try epsom salt baths & dermoplast next OB!  Let me know how the tea tree oil treats you!

Best wishes.
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101028 tn?1419603004
oh it's real unfortunate that they didn't do a lesion culture and typing when you were seen :(  That certainly was not in your best interest at all :(  A blood test might not give you answers in 6 weeks either.  

actually I don't recommend TTO for the first ob. there is a high incidence of allergic reactions to it and it's the last thing you need during that first ob. definitely make sure you are diluting it too. I love it for my recurrences myself but I usually urge folks to stay away from it with the first ob.
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Avatar universal
Thanks so much! I have 400 mg every 8 hours of Acyclovir. We haven't done any testing because my doc said that the test was pretty painful and since I'm only 2 days in it might not work. I'm gonna go back in 6 weeks for a blood test though. But based on what it looks like and the fact that I've never had any cold sores, but my fiance gets cold sores we are frequent oral sex people, it's probably HSV-1. I tried tea tree oil (which I believe cures EVERYTHING) and that helped a ton, but i'm gonna try to find the dermoplast because I have a feeling this is just gonna get worse before it gets better.
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101028 tn?1419603004
what testing did you have done so far?

what dose of acyclovir did they give you?

Unfortunately the first ob can be a bit of a humdinger and can take up to 2-3 weeks to fully run its course even with antivirals :(  give it time, it will be better and recurrences tend to be quicker and less painful though if this is hsv1 genitally, odds are that recurrences will be few and far between at least.

For pain relief - try things like soaking in the tub with epsom salts or a packet of aveeno bath thrown in for relief. you can do this several times a day. you also can purchase a sitz bath set up at your local drug store and soak your genital area in that several times a day as needed too. if urinating is painful because of urine running over the sores, you can pee into a filled sitz bath set up and then rinse off. you also can just buy a squirt bottle and squirt luke warm water over your genitals as you urinate too to dilute the urine so it stings less.  also , even though it sounds like the worst advice ever, drink tons of water too. it dilutes the urine so it stings less. it also will help prevent constipation that sometimes happens with a new infection too.

dermoplast spray ( the blue can for the genital area, not the red can ) is available at most drug stores for under $10.  You can spray it on the sores several times a day as needed for pain relief.

unless you have a medical reason not to, alternate tylenol and advil to get pain relief comparable to some narcotics ( without their side effects ). You can try tylenol 1000mg at 6 a.m., 600mg advil at 9 a.m, tylenol at noon, advil at 3 p.m etc.  

Hang in there - the first is usually the worst but you will get through it!!!

keep asking questions as you have them :)

grace
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