Aa
I sure hope you see this.
I just had appt with new doc. He was willing to listen to me with an open mind as I described my ("our") symptoms.
He said it sounded a lot more like shingles that herpes. Shingles can appear without eruptions. Plus my boss got chicken pox when I started with all the symptoms (when you have an OB of shingles you are contagious for chicken pox).
We think I got herpes and shingles at the same time, which makes sense because itching and prodrome was continuous for months with is more consistent with shingles than herpes.
Good luck.
I just had appt with new doc. He was willing to listen to me with an open mind as I described my ("our") symptoms.
He said it sounded a lot more like shingles that herpes. Shingles can appear without eruptions. Plus my boss got chicken pox when I started with all the symptoms (when you have an OB of shingles you are contagious for chicken pox).
We think I got herpes and shingles at the same time, which makes sense because itching and prodrome was continuous for months with is more consistent with shingles than herpes.
Good luck.
I really don't know what to say. At 6 mos. with a negative blood test, you don't have H. Yes, stress can cause "our" symptoms. I'm going to take doc's advice and try and find a local doc who is knowledgeble about H. You'd think with so many people having this, the docs would know more about it. A friend's brother has Lyme Disease, so he swears that everything is Lyme.
Hello again!! Hope you find the answers soon to your questions and that you begin to feel better. Quick question do you feel that HSV is causing any of the continous pain that we spoke about previously? Can my anxiety be causing all of this? Its very unusual!
6 and a half months still negative but still in pain???
Going crazy,
Thanks for all your thoughts!
6 and a half months still negative but still in pain???
Going crazy,
Thanks for all your thoughts!
I forgot to add that antiherpetic therapy indeed will help control pain or other neurological symptoms of the kind I describe, that are due to herpes. It won't have any effect on more diffuse pain etc.
HHH, MD
HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I'll try to help, but your questions--which are typical of most persons with newly diagnosed herpes--really are too complex for online response. In addition to these, if you are typical, over the next weeks and months, many other questions will arise as well. You need to establish care with a provider who understands genital herpes and can discuss things with you one-on-one. Another option is to call the American Social Health Association herpes information line, for expert personal counseling (see www.ashastd.org for the number and other information about herpes). Also see the excellent information available at the website run by the Portland (Oregon) Westover Heights Clinic (www.westoverheights.com). To answer your questions briefly:
1) Between outbreaks, the virus is just sitting in the nerve, inactive, doing nothing (or replicating itself only very slowly) and causes no symptoms. The medical term is "latent" infection.
2,3) Actually, your assumption probably is wrong. For reasons not well understood, in most people HSV-2 infects only 1 nerve ganglion. Infection does not jump to other nerves or to new parts of the body.
4) You should see a herpes-knowledgeable provider the next 2-3 times you get a suspected outbreak, so you can learn which symptoms represent a real outbreak. It is unlikely that both pimples on the buttocks and the "tears" around the anus are due to recurrent herpes. Every recurrence probably will be more or less in the same spot (within an inch or two), and will always occur on one side of your body or the other--i.e., pimples on both buttocks definitely aren't herpes.
6,7) If you're having such pain that is localized (pretty much in the area of the lesions themselves), lasts 3-5 days then clears up entirely, and recurs at intervals of a month or more, then herpes likely is the cause. Herpes doesn't cause continuous pain, pain in different locations or that moves around, and so on.
I hope this helps. Do seek out a provider familiar with the disease. ASHA might be able to recommend specific providers in your area.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
1) Between outbreaks, the virus is just sitting in the nerve, inactive, doing nothing (or replicating itself only very slowly) and causes no symptoms. The medical term is "latent" infection.
2,3) Actually, your assumption probably is wrong. For reasons not well understood, in most people HSV-2 infects only 1 nerve ganglion. Infection does not jump to other nerves or to new parts of the body.
4) You should see a herpes-knowledgeable provider the next 2-3 times you get a suspected outbreak, so you can learn which symptoms represent a real outbreak. It is unlikely that both pimples on the buttocks and the "tears" around the anus are due to recurrent herpes. Every recurrence probably will be more or less in the same spot (within an inch or two), and will always occur on one side of your body or the other--i.e., pimples on both buttocks definitely aren't herpes.
6,7) If you're having such pain that is localized (pretty much in the area of the lesions themselves), lasts 3-5 days then clears up entirely, and recurs at intervals of a month or more, then herpes likely is the cause. Herpes doesn't cause continuous pain, pain in different locations or that moves around, and so on.
I hope this helps. Do seek out a provider familiar with the disease. ASHA might be able to recommend specific providers in your area.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
