HSV Side Effects ?

[sirius777]

Eight years ago a bad sunburn resulted in a Zoster outbreak on my forehead. No tests were made but subsequent testing showed HSV1 was excessively positive & HSV2 was weakly positive, the latter probably due to cross binding. Strangely, until last week, I never had any oral or genital outbreaks in my life.  The 1999 “Zoster” breakout was followed by a painful eye infection that lasted about 2 weeks.

After the sunburn my wife began to have regular outbreaks associated with her periods. She has always been extremely susceptible to yeast infections, especially after sexual activity.

I appear rather asymptomatic for HSV1 and maybe HSV2 also.  Due to their reoccurring nature, I am interested about their possible side effects and possible connection with the following:

Frequent, medium to severe gastrointestinal problems. They include multiple daily BMs, watery stools, excessive gaseousness & bloating. These sessions occur every few months and last for 2-3 weeks, after which I return to my normal weight and activity.

Frequent spells 3-4x a year where I become nauseous with chills, cold sweats, hyperventilation, extreme head pain at the base of the back skull, arms tingle & lose feeling and I fall asleep for 2-3 hours.  Without warning, I collapse within an hour of the onset, no matter where I am and I simply cannot function.   My grandfather experienced similar such spells, and was never diagnosed.

In 2004, on March 29 my son had several days of high temp and light pink circles.  On April 7, I started the same symptoms, but much worse for me, and they included itchy skin, discomfort, tingles, extreme diarrhea, excessive fatigue and nauseousness on my part. In addition, the synaptic junctions in my skin exploded painfully upon any contact leading to insomnia, stress and extremely high BP.  On April 18, I awoke to a bad case of Bell’s Palsy, with the total loss of my face. I recovered about 95% of my capability after 8 or so months after a month of Acyclovir treatment.

Regarding the intestinal problems, I feel it is likely yeast related primarily, however, I would appreciate your opinion and any medical references regarding GI problems caused by HHVs or other viral infections which may generate such recurring symptoms.

Regarding the narcoleptic spells, what possibility exists that a recurring virus could play a role here?

Regarding the Bell’s case this head problem is associated with exploding nerve junctions all over my body. My doctors are clueless, refusing to link the skin explosions to viral infection. Since 4/2004, I had 4 reoccurrences, always feeling bad in general for 1-2 weeks in which the explosions occur.

Lastly, if any potential connection with HHVs exists, what extent of antibiotic treatment should I be taking?  My doctors are reluctant and refused to prescribe any antibiotic treatment without visible viral outbreaks, since the 2004 Bell's case.

Any references would be appreciated. My best regards.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There's a lot of mixed information in there.  First, from your description I agree it is uncertain whether that original problem was shingles or an HSV-1 infection.  HSV-1 seems more likely, but your own doc's opinion about this probably is more reliable than mine.

You don't provide enough information for me to judge whether you also have HSV-2.  If your blood test was the Focus company's HerpeSelect test, and if your HSV-1 ELISA ratio was below 3.5 (and especially if it was below 2.0), the odds are 50:50 it's a false positive, as your provider apparently has told you.  The way to know for sure whether you have HSV-2 (in addition to HSV-1) is to have a confirmatory Western blot test; that is the gold standard.  You might discuss this with your provider.

All the rest seems irrelevant with respect to HSV.  None of the "spells", bowel symptoms, the skin symptoms you describe, "exploding nerve junctions" (whatever the heck that means), or narcolepsy have anything to do with HSV of either type or, varicella zoster virus (the cause of shingles) or, to my knowledge, with any other herpes group viruses.

Having said all that, my expertise is limited to STDs, and your questions go well beyond that area.  You might want to check out the HSV-2 possibility with a Western blot test, but whether positive or negative, it won't have any bearing on the symptoms you describe.

I hope this helps. Happy holidays-- HHH, MD

[Englishman]

I'm not an expert but would have thought that there might be a link between HSV and neurological problems in a minority of people. Or that there are lots of people who have neurological symptoms misdiagnosed as something other than HSV. I only know this from being in the unfortunate position of having a relative suffer very severely from Herpetic encephalitis. As a non-expert is it reasonable to assume that a spectrum of neurological effects might exist between nothing, headaches, narcolepsy and severe brain damage? This is just hypothesizing but it seems plausible.

[HHH,MD]

Such beliefs and hypothetical concerns about HSV have been made repeatedly for decades, because it is a neurotropic virus that causes certain well defined neurological problems.  It is often impossible to prove a negative, and nobody can say HSV cannot cause sirius777's symptoms.  But there is no evidence for it. Equally important, to my knowledge there is no obvious biological mechanism for such symptoms, based on what is known about HSV and how it behaves in the body.  So your reasoning seems logical on the surface, but it doesn't follow scientifically that a virus causing a particular set of symptoms necessarily causes other, entirely different manifestations.

HHH, MD

[crookyt]

how early should I submit a question? I've been trying to submit a question for the last 3 days, but everyday this website tells me that it has reached its daily limit for questions. I really need my question answered. Anyone know how early?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The start time for the daily limit varies randomly over 24 hours, to permit equally fair access across all time zones worldwide.  The message limit is reduced until January 8, and no questions will be accepted Dec 24, 25, 31, and Jan 1.  The answers to most questions can be found by searching existing threads and archives on this forum or the HIV/Safe Sex Forum.

Happy Holidays to all--   HHH, MD