Twice infected

[Sammela]

about 2 years ago I had an kissing and oral sex encounter with a old high school flame. About 12 days later I develop a rash near the vagina area on the buttocks and also noticed a blister on each side inside the mouth on the cheek. I tested positive for HSV 1 which I thought I had anyway but the shocker is I gave oral sex to my boyfriend who also has had feverblisters growing up and he developed blisters on his penis. After 4 yrs I gave him genital herpes. I have tested negative for HSV 2 my last test was on January 21st 2013. I seem to have reoccuring genital symptoms not all the time a rash but when I do have a rash the rash is hard to see unless you have a magnified mirror and the fluid looks straw colored. I'm just confused on how can I have caught herpes in the mouth area when I know I had it before. I use to get the blisters on the bottom lower part of my lip now they are small ones rash like ones on the left side upper lip under the rim. Could this be some different strain?

[Sammela]

As for me I haven't had any lesions too culture just irritation and burning sensation on the outside and through the anal area. The true BF has not had any outbreaks since His first was AUG 2011 the second accured OCT 2011 when he took the anti-viral they would go away in about 2 days. He hasn't had anything since. We have not had any type of sexual contact since AUG 2011. Only because of  other medications that have affected his libido and some mental issures. I'm still here because I owe him and we don't have to explain our issue to anyone. The other person refuses to take the test which would give me some kind of peice of mind. The doctor also told my BF that he would not infect me if there is not a break-out. I know that to be untrue because I did not have a blister on my mouth when I performed oral sex. Sometimes I think maybe we did not have HSV 1 before BUT I use to get some good ole embarrasing blisters on my lower lip in the same area since 10 yrs of age. And the BF has had blisters on the lips before also..we both had blisters when we meet. I will request to see a dermatologist and will give you all an update after the results. Thank you very much.

[gracefromHHP]

I totally agree - at this point I certainly wouldn't assume that either of you has hsv1 genitally. You can't diagnose that from blood testing - you need lesion cultures of active symptoms to confirm hsv1 genital infections.

are you seen and tested for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally when you have symptoms?

[castello80]

Bleeding from the penis isn't typical at all for herpes in regards to your boyfriend, and it sounds like something more serious. His doctors reasoning that he should have caught HSV-1 genitally sooner because he had oral HSV-1 is highly, highly inaccurate. Having an oral HSV-1 infection makes one immune or at the very least, extremely resistant to acquiring a genital HSV-1 infection later on. Unless he had a culture or swab done on the lesion, there is a no way a doctor can diagnose it as genital HSV-1. The blood tests tells it what it most likely is, which is that he has a history of cold sores and probably had some other infection on his genitals (possibly balanitis).

Herpes symptoms are not constant, so you having continuous symptoms is probably more related to a rash caused by irritation or a fungal infection considering its persistence. If it was genital HSV-1 then you most likely would have had pronounced symptoms with obvious, painful, and multiple blisters.

Again, regarding your oral symptoms, oral herpes does not always appear in the same place. I'll use a personal example, my mother gets cold sores, but sometimes gets them on her upper lip, bottom lip, or under her nose. There probably are some people who get symptoms in the same location, but there's a definite possibility that they can appear somewhere else around that region. Getting HSV-1 inside the mouth is not typical for recurrent HSV-1, so it's likely those are canker sores or some irritation resulting from either trauma or an allergy.

[Sammela]

Castello, this is why I am confused. The symptoms in the lower vaginal area are constant irritation. I have a papsmear scheduled for next friday and I'm thinking about asking to see a dermatologist to see if they can swab the area for some type of fungus. All other test in June 2011 came back negative and all test in Oct 2011 came back negative and the HSV 2 has been negative all of the 7 times I've had the test. I did not realize how serious HSV 1 was until now. Thank you for your assistants.

[Sammela]

Thank you all for responding, as I stated before I have had fever blisters in the same area on the lower lip ever since I was about 10 yrs old.  when I met my partner of 4 yrs we both had fever blister at the same time and in the last 4 yrs have had outbreaks on the mouth. The encounter was in May 11 2011 about 22 May I started having symptoms in the lower vaginal area in June 11 I took the ab specific IgG HSV 1&2 test. HSV 1 came back High with a 2.72 result. HSV 2 negative. In Oct I took the test again HSV 1 positive, 2 Negative. Since 2011 I have taken 7 test my last test for HSV 2 was January 2013 and it was negative. As for the BF I had perform oral sex only in Aug of 2011 about a week or 2 later he started bleeding from his penis a week after that he developed 2 blisters on the upper shaft. The doctor asked if ever had fever blister and told him he isnt suprised that he didnt catch it sooner. The test was performed was negative for 2 but positive for 1. but it was just a blood test.

[gracefromHHP]

just to confirm - how were you diagnosed as having hsv1 initially?

what testing did your bf have to confirm hsv1 genitally?

grace

[castello80]

Many people who think they have fever blisters or cold sores think it's HSV-1, but in reality it's canker sores. It's possible that he had genital herpes prior to your encounter, and he should be tested for HSV-2. It's extremely rare to see someone who gets fever blisters to get genital HSV-1 later on; most cases that involve oral and genital HSV-1 infections are results from getting the infection at both places during the same exposure.

Regarding your HSV-1 status, you are not reinfected. Oral HSV-1 does not appear in the same location every single time (i.e. you might get one on your lip one month and get another cold sore under your nose the other month). It's most likely NOT from another strain since once infected, one is immune or at the very least highly resistant to acquiring another infection anywhere on the body. You will have HSV-1 for life most likely like most adults, and it will present itself in different locations of the facial region (most likely lips or under nose) when outbreaks occur. It will rarely be in the exact same location, and the symptoms will likely differ from each episode.