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Herpes All Over Body?
Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I've been having for a few months now. About five months ago, in April, I tested positive for having the HSV virus through my OBGYN. I had gone in for a pap-smear and for possible hormonal imbalance blood testing that I thought might have been causing small bumps on my lower buttocks/thigh area. The bumps were small-dime sized and itched, especially if I sat on one wrong. I had the bumps starting early in March and they lasted until April, but cleared up before I went to my gyno, and only scars were left. She then had me tested a month later, which is when I came back positive for HSV. She said that I had come in contact with the virus sometime in the past year, and it would be another year until we would be able to effectively test to see which strain I had. (HSV-1 or 2). I was devastated, but my partner was very reassuring and caring about the whole situation. Over the last 4-5 months I have felt like I have been dealing with this issue a LOT though. I have had two distinct "outbreaks" where I will get headaches/feverish before I "break out." But usually a breakout consists of itching ALL over the body and no rash besides between 15-25 spread out (all over the body) TINY bumps that look smaller than flea bites. Hardly noticeable. They never appear in clumps or groups like "normal" herpes pictures suggest. And mind you, I will be itchy for days ALL over my body. Head, ears, inside the nostrils, face, neck, behind the ears, vagina (internally and externally) chest, arms, stomach, back, buttocks, thighs (front and back), calves (front and back) and even top of feet. At the time I had been diagnosed with HSV, it had been a year since I had gotten Chicken Pox for the first time. My symptoms of break out seem to be VERY much like my chicken pox symptoms, just my bumps are not "blistery," as they look more like tiny bug bites. Most of the time I'm just itchy EVERYWHERE... the area may not have a bump on it at all!! I am constantly scratching. Recently, about a month ago I had an outbreak, and after it recovered a week and a half later I had another outbreak! Very frustrating. My question is, could this virus have more of a correlation with my Herpes Zoster virus? Could you test positive for HSV if it's the Herpes Zoster virus? Or do the tests detect two completely different things? If it was the Herpes Zoster virus, does this sound like the symptoms? I am almost 19, and I thought that adults with the Herpes Zoster virus got more of painful, shingle symptoms, not so much itchy, scattered bump, chickenpox like symptoms. Please let me know what you think! Or if you just think this is normal herpes spread all over my body. Or if it's possibly something else? Please let me know! Thanks!
If I had gentile herpes , can it appear on my arms like a poison ivy type itch and just go away after me rubbing alcohol on it
(Continued from previous message)
Also for those of you dealing with hsv1, hsv2 or shingles and don't have immediate access to anti-viral medication, take Cimetidine, brand name Tagamet! It really works to stop all herpes viruses from replicating. It can be purchased over the counter and it's usually taken for heartburn because it lowers stomach acid. But it also works as a histamine blocker and favorably modulates immune function by inhibiting T-suppressor cells. There's a lot of credible research out there that's shown it to be as effective as the anti-viral medications. I started taking Cimetidine two days ago in addition to Valyciclovir and it's what really gave me a handle over this virus. You're suppose to take three 200mg tablets throughout the day and then two at night, so total 1000mg. I got a stomach ache the first day so I took some Betaine HCL acid to help digest my food since Cimetidine is suppose to lower your stomach acid. But my stomach ache could have been caused by the high dose of Vitamin C I also took. I may experiment dosing it anally to see if it's easier on my stomach, but I didn't get a stomach ache today.
What I found confusing about the general info out there regarding herpes is the general belief that you can't autoinoculate yourself. The scientists say that you develop anti-bodies which prevent you from spreading it to other parts of your body. In my case, I believe that I spread the virus to other parts of my body years after my first infection and I continued to spread it to other parts of my body months later. Although I should point out that my second infection could have started again from exposure to my partner and perhaps I hadn't developed enough antibodies the first time. Perhaps it's a different strain of herpes on my body and it's just coincidental that I had an outbreak of hsv1 on my anus. I wonder why the dermatologist didn't suspect herpes when she immediately identified shingles on me. Is it really that rare to get herpes all over? Whether or not I had shingles is a mystery to me. What's odd is that the patch suspected of being shingles is one of two persistent spots which would occasionally itch from time to time after my whole body rash went away. They were also the areas that recently developed bumps which lasted for a few days, but never blistered. The spot on the left side on the back of my neck was the area that started the entire rash and remained a problem spot throughout the ordeal. The rash under my right breast was the only area that took longer to heal and left post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I also had a weird spot on the right side of my nose by my eye suddenly appear as if I had abraided the skin. It scabbed and left post inflammatory hyper pigmentation. These three spots are typical areas for shingles to occur and correspond to the same dermatome. Doctors do say that it's rare to have a herpes and shingles outbreak at the same time. I was breaking out in other places all over my body, so I don't know what to think of it. I never got the intense pain associated with shingles. The spot under my right breast was painful, but I think it's because I had irritated it so much trying different treatments. Whatever virus it is, at least I finally have a treatment for it!
Also for those of you dealing with hsv1, hsv2 or shingles and don't have immediate access to anti-viral medication, take Cimetidine, brand name Tagamet! It really works to stop all herpes viruses from replicating. It can be purchased over the counter and it's usually taken for heartburn because it lowers stomach acid. But it also works as a histamine blocker and favorably modulates immune function by inhibiting T-suppressor cells. There's a lot of credible research out there that's shown it to be as effective as the anti-viral medications. I started taking Cimetidine two days ago in addition to Valyciclovir and it's what really gave me a handle over this virus. You're suppose to take three 200mg tablets throughout the day and then two at night, so total 1000mg. I got a stomach ache the first day so I took some Betaine HCL acid to help digest my food since Cimetidine is suppose to lower your stomach acid. But my stomach ache could have been caused by the high dose of Vitamin C I also took. I may experiment dosing it anally to see if it's easier on my stomach, but I didn't get a stomach ache today.
What I found confusing about the general info out there regarding herpes is the general belief that you can't autoinoculate yourself. The scientists say that you develop anti-bodies which prevent you from spreading it to other parts of your body. In my case, I believe that I spread the virus to other parts of my body years after my first infection and I continued to spread it to other parts of my body months later. Although I should point out that my second infection could have started again from exposure to my partner and perhaps I hadn't developed enough antibodies the first time. Perhaps it's a different strain of herpes on my body and it's just coincidental that I had an outbreak of hsv1 on my anus. I wonder why the dermatologist didn't suspect herpes when she immediately identified shingles on me. Is it really that rare to get herpes all over? Whether or not I had shingles is a mystery to me. What's odd is that the patch suspected of being shingles is one of two persistent spots which would occasionally itch from time to time after my whole body rash went away. They were also the areas that recently developed bumps which lasted for a few days, but never blistered. The spot on the left side on the back of my neck was the area that started the entire rash and remained a problem spot throughout the ordeal. The rash under my right breast was the only area that took longer to heal and left post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I also had a weird spot on the right side of my nose by my eye suddenly appear as if I had abraided the skin. It scabbed and left post inflammatory hyper pigmentation. These three spots are typical areas for shingles to occur and correspond to the same dermatome. Doctors do say that it's rare to have a herpes and shingles outbreak at the same time. I was breaking out in other places all over my body, so I don't know what to think of it. I never got the intense pain associated with shingles. The spot under my right breast was painful, but I think it's because I had irritated it so much trying different treatments. Whatever virus it is, at least I finally have a treatment for it!
3 Comments
Hi taketheredpill. Thank you for sharing your story. Up until I read through it, I thought I was the only one in the entire world with this life consuming disease. My story is a little different but is relative. About a year ago I had kissed a girl with a small cold sore above her upper lip. She had acne so I didn't think much of it. Evidently I was very uneducated about hsv but that's okay, the vast majority of medical professionals are as well. I want to say the same night or the night after I broke out. It wasn't your "textbook" outbreak. They were on the inside of my bottom lip. 4 or 5 round white blisters. I went to emergency care to have them take a look and they shrugged it off like it was no big deal. By the time I got there they were barely noticeable as I had been using a lot of mouthwash and drinking hot tea. Over the next few days I started experiencing genital prodrome symptoms, all consistent with herpes. I went back to my GP. "Psychosomatic" is what he tells me as he enters it into his system. My outbreaks do not look like "normal" outbreaks. Very small red pimple-like bumps around the rim of my penis. Fast forward a few months. I wake up to find three blisters inside my left nostril. Devastated, but certain that there's no possible way I can be denied of the fact this disease is eating me alive. I go to an after-hours practitioner so he can examine them while theyre fresh. "You're okay, it's nothing different than a cold you get in the air." Unbelievable. What else has to happen for me to get put on meds or even get the slightest whisper of medical advice? Fast forward a few more months. Tingling and burning sensation in my anus. Fast forward another 3 months. My index and pointer finger that I use to apply corizone cream to my anus starts peeling. What a coincidence. Of course, they tell me they're not sure what it is but it's NOT herpes. Gradually it spreads to all my fingers. On both hands. A couple days later my scalp starts itching uncontrollably. Theres about 7 red bumps scattered about my scalp. Most recently my right eye starts itching and goes bloodshot. I have seen 8 different doctors. GPs, urologists, dermatologists. Nobody knows what they're talking about. The dermatologist I saw on Monday prescribed me some cream to heal to "dry scaley" sections of the inside of both my ears that of course "is not herpes. Sure doc, this is just one big coincidence. They don't want to help. They figure there's no curing it so why put any effort into it. I have lost faith in the entire medical field. Everyday I wonder why and how this could have possibly happened to me, and everyday I contemplate suicide. It's nice to know there's somebody else out there going through the same thing. Stay strong and thanks for sharing.
I believe you 100%. I am a guy but having the same problem. All over my body months after I found out I had an IGG. We need awareness. It's extremely harmful to some of us for some reason. We are missing something in our immune systems. You will notice that in vaccine trials the one thing they disqualify for is our conditions. So they know something. We suffer in silence.
I have a similar story. I was given oral and it started with pain I my urethra. I ended up with houndreds of bumps on my forearms and Shins. I ended up with flu like symtoms and insane head ache. ScaLp broke out as a big giant scab and no pain just gross and I was scratching it and took a shower. Next day on my hands, soles of my feet, face, in my mouth, ears, everywhere. I constantly have tingling in all these areas and it just constantly rotates. I feel everyone's pain on here. I love you all and I hope we can stay strong. We need to do something though, this is extremely new to me and it's been tough to get through each day.
I'm responding to the most recent commenter because the original poster to this question was back in 2010. I'm also amazed at the lack of information there is regarding this condition of herpes occurring all over the body. I'd like to share my experience in hopes that someone might benefit from it.
My story started about 6 years ago when I was diagnosed with hsv1 in my genital area which I contracted from my partner through oral sex. I had blisters around my labia. My partner has had breakouts of oral herpes (hsv1) cold sores on his mouth since childhood. After this first occurrence, I thought I hadn't had another breakout since I never developed noticeable blisters on my genital area. Plus, the research I read stated that a recurrence of genital herpes when caused by hsv1 is not very common.
About two years ago, I started to get an itch to the left of the nape of my neck along the hairline. This went on for a few months, but didn't bother me too much so I never really did anything about it. Then the itch began to spread throughout my scalp and suddenly I started to get an intense itch throughout my body that was worse right before I went to bed. I started to get bumps all over my body and then suddenly I remember an intense itch happening on the back of my thighs which developed into a rash or area with lots of bumps. It moved to the back of my calf on both legs and then I had patches of bumps on my arms, stomach, back, scalp, everywhere. The itchiness was almost unbearable. At first I suspected mites or bedbugs, so I washed and treated everything. I was washing sheets and towels daily. I even bought a new bed, blanket and pillows. I finally went to a doctor who thought it might be fungal, so prescribed both oral and topical anti-fungal medication. Two months went by and it was just getting worse. I went to a dermatologist who didn't know what it was, but gave me oral steroids and topical steroids for my scalp and body. She also gave me some anti-biotics. She also took two skin biopsies from my back of the sores, which didn't tell me anything. She said she didn't know what most of my rash was caused by, but said that the one patch that I had right below my right breast was shingles. She never tested for it because it was already scabbed over, but diagnosed it visually. I don't know to this day if it actually was shingles, but that spot did behave a little different from the other patches. Anyway, this mysterious rash all over my body went on for another six months. During that time, I tried treating it as an allergy, a fungal infection, a bacterial infection, and a bug infestation. It was a nightmare. It consumed me 24/7. I was constantly fighting the itch and trying various treatments to get rid of the rash. When I wasn't washing my place or treating my bumps, I was researching stuff on the Internet. I changed my diet to try and rule out food allergies. I bought tons of supplements and tried to detox my body. Nothing helped. It finally just went away without me knowing what caused it.
A year and a half went by and it wasn't until two week ago when it finally occurred to me what caused my miserable rash all over my body. What happened two weeks ago? I had an appointment with a ob/gyn for a regular checkup. I decided to ask her about a hemorroid I've had for about 20 years. It never bothered me much other than the appearance. I had recently started massaging it to see if I could shrink it down. I had noticed one tiny bump around my anus which I never would have noticed except for the fact that I started to massage around there because of my hemorroid. It was about the size of a clogged pore and didn't itch or hurt except if you touched it. The ob/gyn told me at that time that she suspected it might be herpes and took a swab. During the time from my exam to the test results, I suddenly developed that intense itch on the back of my legs and along my back hairline and bumps started to form. Because the ob/gyn told me that she suspected the tiny little bump on my anus might be herpes, it suddenly occurred to me that I might have spread herpes to the back of my legs from my anus because I sleep in the nude. I immediately started taking Valicyclovir and Lysine and applied Acyclovir cream to the intensely itchy spots which were happening all over my body again. The bumps begin to show up in some of the same places, but they went away within a few hours to a day or so.
The test came back positive for hsv1. I've been taking the anti-viral medication for almost two weeks now. I was able to stop the bumps from forming into blisters and that terrible rash which I know it would have become based off of my experience two years ago. Luckily, I had Valicyclovir handy because of my partner's cold sores, so I was able to take it right when it started intensely itching during the prodromal stage. When I think back to my horrible rash which started over two years ago, I remember that near the end of my rash, I had thought that I might be having a genital herpes outbreak so I took some Valicyclovir. I never ended up breaking out to my knowledge in my vaginal area and haven't since my very first occurrence six years ago.
It never occurred to me, nor the three doctors that I saw that my all over body rash was herpes related. I never broke out with bumps in my vaginal area like the first time. Although this past week, I think I might have broken out there, but I was able to stop it in time if it was going to. I went to the doctor yesterday, but I didn't have any bumps on my body for her to swab to confirm that they were caused by hsv1. I showed her pictures of my past rash, but she wasn't very helpful. Regardless, I'm convinced now it was herpes related because no other treatment helped my itchiness and prevented the rash except the anti-viral medication and it took care of it quickly and completely. (Continued next message)
My story started about 6 years ago when I was diagnosed with hsv1 in my genital area which I contracted from my partner through oral sex. I had blisters around my labia. My partner has had breakouts of oral herpes (hsv1) cold sores on his mouth since childhood. After this first occurrence, I thought I hadn't had another breakout since I never developed noticeable blisters on my genital area. Plus, the research I read stated that a recurrence of genital herpes when caused by hsv1 is not very common.
About two years ago, I started to get an itch to the left of the nape of my neck along the hairline. This went on for a few months, but didn't bother me too much so I never really did anything about it. Then the itch began to spread throughout my scalp and suddenly I started to get an intense itch throughout my body that was worse right before I went to bed. I started to get bumps all over my body and then suddenly I remember an intense itch happening on the back of my thighs which developed into a rash or area with lots of bumps. It moved to the back of my calf on both legs and then I had patches of bumps on my arms, stomach, back, scalp, everywhere. The itchiness was almost unbearable. At first I suspected mites or bedbugs, so I washed and treated everything. I was washing sheets and towels daily. I even bought a new bed, blanket and pillows. I finally went to a doctor who thought it might be fungal, so prescribed both oral and topical anti-fungal medication. Two months went by and it was just getting worse. I went to a dermatologist who didn't know what it was, but gave me oral steroids and topical steroids for my scalp and body. She also gave me some anti-biotics. She also took two skin biopsies from my back of the sores, which didn't tell me anything. She said she didn't know what most of my rash was caused by, but said that the one patch that I had right below my right breast was shingles. She never tested for it because it was already scabbed over, but diagnosed it visually. I don't know to this day if it actually was shingles, but that spot did behave a little different from the other patches. Anyway, this mysterious rash all over my body went on for another six months. During that time, I tried treating it as an allergy, a fungal infection, a bacterial infection, and a bug infestation. It was a nightmare. It consumed me 24/7. I was constantly fighting the itch and trying various treatments to get rid of the rash. When I wasn't washing my place or treating my bumps, I was researching stuff on the Internet. I changed my diet to try and rule out food allergies. I bought tons of supplements and tried to detox my body. Nothing helped. It finally just went away without me knowing what caused it.
A year and a half went by and it wasn't until two week ago when it finally occurred to me what caused my miserable rash all over my body. What happened two weeks ago? I had an appointment with a ob/gyn for a regular checkup. I decided to ask her about a hemorroid I've had for about 20 years. It never bothered me much other than the appearance. I had recently started massaging it to see if I could shrink it down. I had noticed one tiny bump around my anus which I never would have noticed except for the fact that I started to massage around there because of my hemorroid. It was about the size of a clogged pore and didn't itch or hurt except if you touched it. The ob/gyn told me at that time that she suspected it might be herpes and took a swab. During the time from my exam to the test results, I suddenly developed that intense itch on the back of my legs and along my back hairline and bumps started to form. Because the ob/gyn told me that she suspected the tiny little bump on my anus might be herpes, it suddenly occurred to me that I might have spread herpes to the back of my legs from my anus because I sleep in the nude. I immediately started taking Valicyclovir and Lysine and applied Acyclovir cream to the intensely itchy spots which were happening all over my body again. The bumps begin to show up in some of the same places, but they went away within a few hours to a day or so.
The test came back positive for hsv1. I've been taking the anti-viral medication for almost two weeks now. I was able to stop the bumps from forming into blisters and that terrible rash which I know it would have become based off of my experience two years ago. Luckily, I had Valicyclovir handy because of my partner's cold sores, so I was able to take it right when it started intensely itching during the prodromal stage. When I think back to my horrible rash which started over two years ago, I remember that near the end of my rash, I had thought that I might be having a genital herpes outbreak so I took some Valicyclovir. I never ended up breaking out to my knowledge in my vaginal area and haven't since my very first occurrence six years ago.
It never occurred to me, nor the three doctors that I saw that my all over body rash was herpes related. I never broke out with bumps in my vaginal area like the first time. Although this past week, I think I might have broken out there, but I was able to stop it in time if it was going to. I went to the doctor yesterday, but I didn't have any bumps on my body for her to swab to confirm that they were caused by hsv1. I showed her pictures of my past rash, but she wasn't very helpful. Regardless, I'm convinced now it was herpes related because no other treatment helped my itchiness and prevented the rash except the anti-viral medication and it took care of it quickly and completely. (Continued next message)
I get same outbreaks all over body. I was diagnosed several years ago with HVS-2. When I got Lyme Disease, my outbreaks were off the wall, proving immune system breakdown. I can't believe doctors don't have much to say about the outbreaks all over the body. Feels like chicken pox when full-blown outbreaks. Went almost 2 years without an outbreak after being treated for Lyme with antibiotics for 8 months. Wish there was a vaccine.
I have the "bug bites" on my thighs and pelvic area only. I was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago with HSV2.
I had a severe allergic reaction to what the GYN thinks was the Metro gel to treat my bacterial vaginitis and she put me on Osphena for my menopause. I swelled up and could not stop itching. She then did blood work and took me off the Osphena just in case it was an allergic reaction to that.
I was then given Cleo cream for 7 days along with Nystatin gel and told to take Benadryl and was put on HRT pills. After 7 days I was better.....pretty much 100% better. Saw the GYN and she said the blood work showed HSV2. I was okay with all that since I was finally getting relief.
Now about a week later and I have the "bug bites" rash on my inner thighs near my vagina and on my pelvis area. It's so frustrating! I am so tired of going to the damn doctor. I am so tired of itching! Has anyone gotten any answers to whether this is related or not!?
I had a severe allergic reaction to what the GYN thinks was the Metro gel to treat my bacterial vaginitis and she put me on Osphena for my menopause. I swelled up and could not stop itching. She then did blood work and took me off the Osphena just in case it was an allergic reaction to that.
I was then given Cleo cream for 7 days along with Nystatin gel and told to take Benadryl and was put on HRT pills. After 7 days I was better.....pretty much 100% better. Saw the GYN and she said the blood work showed HSV2. I was okay with all that since I was finally getting relief.
Now about a week later and I have the "bug bites" rash on my inner thighs near my vagina and on my pelvis area. It's so frustrating! I am so tired of going to the damn doctor. I am so tired of itching! Has anyone gotten any answers to whether this is related or not!?
I have no idea why people are saying these symptoms are not herpes related? They most definitely are. Depending on the severity and frequency of your outbreaks you can take antiviral medication which acts as a suppressive. Ask your doctor about Aciclovir. It is the most widely used anti viral in the world. I have been on this medication for almost 2 years now since being diagnosed with HSV2. I take one 400mg tablet twice daily. My symptoms are like the small bug bites described. Some are quite itchy others not at all and I have noticed they always appear in the same areas. Few on the lower right of my left palm, a few just in the hair line on the left side of my scalp at the nape of my neck and a few just on my left shoulder blade.
1 Comments
Did the acyclovir help with the bites along the hairline? I was diagnosed with hsv2 in April 2015. I took acyclovir for 10 days. Haven't had an issue until now. I, too, have bites along the hairline that itch like crazy. I thought some kind of mite because I haven't had any issues with outbreaks since my first one. I can't imagine genital herpes could cause this itch and bites in the scalp, face and neck.
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
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.
