Does this sound like primary O.B?

[zzara23]

Hi Grace, thank you in advance for taking the time to read this I have been driving myself crazy. I was diagnosed visually for GHSV 8 years ago.
I have never had another ob that I am aware of. No symptoms, nothing.
Anyways, my question is my bf and I had sex 6 days ago and right after I noticed a bump outside my labia. It wasn't painful, but hadnt been there long as I had shaved that day and would have felt it. The only reason I noticed it was because the lube we were using made it sting a bit. But looked like just a bump- not a blister. There was no head just like a red fleshy bump. I put anti-bacterial cream on it and it went away in 3 days- no ulceration just was still there the next day, a bit smaller the next and completely gone the next night. Does this sound like recurrence?
I would have thought irritation except my bf is now experiencing bad flu symptoms that started about 1.5 days after the sex. It is now 6 days later and he is still sick. No genital problems as far as I know but if he thought it was just jock itch he probably wouldn't tell me about it. He knows I have GHSV but wouldn't know that the flu-symptoms are a sign. He never complains about being sick and I dont want to worry him that it might be a sign.
His symptoms started as headache weakness and muscle pain and he seemed a bit stuffy. He tells me he still feels sick and that he has a bad cough too.
We also used a condom. It just seems like too much of a coincidence that he is never sick and is now so sick and weak after I found that spot. I know you can't tell me anything for certain, but is it common to have flu symptoms for 5 days with no bumps yet? I'm sure if he noticed bumps he would tell me. Could a recurrence just come and go like that in 3 days? If the flu symptoms are cause by the herpes will the lesions always follow the flu symptoms? He will be getting tested either way but I just want a bit of clarity.
Thank you so much again :)

[gracefromHHP]

hsv1 doesn't provide any significant protection against contracting hsv2 later on.  It helps make it less likely you'd have a rip roaring initial infection but it doesn't really reduce the odds of contracting hsv2 at all.

it's always more likely a partner won't contract your genital herpes than likely that they would.  

[zzara23]

Hi Grace,
Sorry about the new post, I didn't know how to find the old one but figured it out.
I have another question I was hoping you could help with. Myself and my boyfriend are currently awaiting results of our blood tests- I am getting typed for my GHV that I contracted 8 years ago and he is going to find out his status. I am hoping for type 1 as he gets cold sores so we already know he will be type 1 positive and the chance of him catching down there will be slim. I havn't had another o.b since the primary 8 years ago so I am hoping this is a good sign of it being type 1. He has never had any genital symptoms and the flu symptoms turned out to just be flu.
My question is I have read that even if my results come back HSV2 positive that he still has a 40% less chance of catching it due to his HSV1. Is this true? Factoring this into account, plus the absent o.bs, and suppressive therapy and consistant condom use to prevent transmission during shedding, in your medical opinion, is there a good chance he will not catch HSV2 from me if I have it? Or do you think it's ultimately inevitable?
Thanks in advance Grace,
Zara

[gracefromHHP]

actually if this is hsv2, you are shedding the virus on average about the same whether you have 0 ob's a year or 10 ob's a year. not saying that to scare you, just pointing out that the number of recurrences is meaningless.  if you have hsv1 genitally, it typically doesn't shed much at all regardless if you are having ob's or not unless you are one of the small percent who get recurrences frequently.

once you know who has what in your current relationship, it will be easier to decide together what precautions to take.

[castello80]

As grace pointed out, you and your partner should get tested to see who has what. I'm not totally convinced that you have herpes due to you not having an outbreak for 8 years, and this could be something completely unrelated. Doctors misdiagnose herpes about a third of the time, so this could be a misdiagnosis here. You could have HSV-1 genitally, which doesn't recur often, and in some people it never comes back again. Blood tests are going to be the main way to find out which type you have. Since HSV-1 is so prominent throughout the nation, I suggest that the next bump you get, you get it cultured or get a PCR, which will tell you the location of HSV. If you actually have HSV, your body is doing an amazing job at supressing it and you'd be likely to not see another outbreak for 10+ years given your prior history.

[zzara23]

Thank you grace :) I know, I am going to get typed and re-tested now. At the time, my doc told me just to come back if I had any symptoms and I never did so I kind of stuck my head in the sand (I was only young) and didn't research it myself. He also told me condoms would provide full protection and never told me about asymptomatic shedding. I now know all these things after researching so will be pushing for meds when I get tested to lower the risk. I am going to ask him to get tested also with me.
So this cough he has is not related to the H? I know asymptomatic shedding happens on average about 10% of the time, but would that figure be even less if you don't have the average number of breakout per year?
Thanks again :)

[gracefromHHP]

at this point since you were only visually diagnosed with genital herpes, you and your partner both should seek out type specific herpes igg blood testing to see who has what. it's a darn shame that the ball was dropped on you all those years ago and no one ever followed up to confirm infection and type :(  

it is cold and flu season. your bf would've had obvious lesions by now if this was due to herpes.

grace