Spreading Herpes

[bnwilh]

I have HSV1. I've had it ever since i was a little kid and get between 2-4 outbreaks a year. I've recently started dating a friend that I've known for 5 years. We both decided to get tested to see if we had anything else lurking around. Turns out she also has HSV1, just never gets symptoms. In the five years I've known her-seeing her almost daily- she's never had a coldsore, and she said the only one she can remember was when she was about 15 and had the flu with a fever of about 102.

My questions:

Are there diffeent strains of HSV1 or are they all the same?
Can I give her coldsores by kissing her?
Can I give her genital HSV1 if I giver her oral?
Since she has the virus can she give me more coldsores?
Since she has the virus can she give me genital HSV1 if she gives me oral?

My understanding is that I already have the virus and so does she and we can't make eachother worse.


thanks

[gracefromHHP]

If she had it long enough to test + for hsv1 on a blood test then it is well established.

Having hsv1 in one body part gives you significant protection from contracting it on the genital area. It happens sometimes but not very often.

grace

[bnwilh]

And what if the infection isn't well established.  It is on me of course.  But if the situation exists where I'm daing a girl who tests positive for HSV1 but has never had an outbreak.  What are the chances then that I could transfer it to her genital area, as she does not have a well established infection?

thanks.

[gracefromHHP]

You aren' t likely to transmit hsv to other body parts once you have a well established infection. The first few weeks it could happen but after that it's really unlikely to happen. Always wash your hands after touching a cold sore though just to err on the side of caution.

Sometimes it does just happen - you get a cold sore that starts at one location and then just keep reactivating and you get another cold sore. If you keep getting them in this pattern, see your provider to make sure that you don't have actually have something else also going on like a bacterial infection.

Do you treat your cold sores at all?  The herpes antivirals work best for cold sores if you start them in the cold sore doses at the very first sign that one might be starting. if you wait for an obvious cold sore, their efficacy is greatly reduced.  

I typically do not recommend any of the products advertised in google ads here except for the 3 herpes antivirals we talk about all the time - acyclovir, valtrex and famvir.

grace

[bjune0266]

Dude, I think I'm in the same boat. I recently started dating a girl who was HSV 1 positive like me. My rationale was since we both have it it should not be a problem. I used to get one tiny cold sore on my upper lip about once or twice a summer. Now all of the sudden I get a whole mouth full of blisters and cold sores popping up every other week. I tested again and still only have HSV 1. I think that you can spread HSV 1 to different areas of your face based on where your significant other is kissing you.

[bnwilh]

Grace,

Thank you for you response.

I have read- and possibly incorrectly, that when you have a coldsore if you touch it and then your eye or genital area you can transfer.  If this is correct then isn't it possible to transfer it to my partner's genital area?  I know you said not to worry, but if what I read was correct, then that seems to contradict what you said.

Also,  I normally only get the coldsore on my upper ride side of my lip.  Recently, I had one on the skin between my lip and nose which lasted for about a week.  The night that the scab fell off, I felt another one start on my lower left side of my lip- that also laster for about a week.  Two days after that scab fell off, I felt one start inside my mouth, near the top of my gum line.  It is abnormal for me to get them in such frequency and in all these different locations.  Are there any possible explanatin saside from, this just happens.

Since I typically only get 2-4 outbreaks a year, would you recommend anti-virals?  On your page there are ads for "herpes remedies".  Do you endorse these?

thanks

[gracefromHHP]

bumping it back up was the right thing to do :)

If you both have hsv1, this isn't an issue for you.  Just when you have an obvious cold sore ( or vice versa  ) don't perform oral sex.  You both have it orally. You won't get it "worse" or anything like that.  

grace

[bnwilh]

I just didn't want this to get lost on the second page.