Herpes on breast...Now what?! (Long, sorry)

[tessd1536]

I have been seeing a new guy, we kissed and one night we foreplayed a bit and he sucked on my nipples and was a bit rough (this was on a Mon.). Well Tues., a small cut on my nipple looked infected. It hurt and was sensitive to the touch. I put neosporin on it and tried to ignore it. On Fri, I had what looked like a canker sore on the wet part of my lip right on the line where inner/outer meet. I usually get canker sores when I'm stressed as i have been. I saw an ob/gyn the following Wed. At this point, I was freaking out stressing even more because I was googling everything wrong. The dr was...well, not thorough. I told her about my lip and she's like "yeah that's herpes.its the same thing, canker sores and cold sores are the same thing".Then she looks at my breast and was like "that looks like herpes too"  so I asked if she could do a test and she looked at me weird and replied, "well yeah but its going to come back positive". So a nurse does a swab test of both body parts. Then as the dr is prescribing me valtrex and another antibiotic (I had a UTI), I ask "Could it maybe be a staph infection on the breast?" and she says "maybe, but these antibiotics will cure a staph infection too". Today i got the results, which said I am positive for herpes on the breast and negative for herpes on the lip. But they don't know whether its hsv1 or hsv2.

I have never had to deal with this, the doc didn't even give me any info. I don't understand how i can be positive for one and not the other, when the lip looked like a cold sore and the breast wound just looked infected. Maybe the swabs got mixed up and it should be vice-versa? At this point, I am so paranoid and stressed and depressed.

I'm even scared of transferring the herpes to other parts of my body, like in the shower if the water drips from my breast down into my genital area, will it be transferred? I need help. What do I do!?

I'm grateful for any kind of help or advice...Please!!

[gracefromHHP]

there aren't many herpes specialists to be honest. it's pretty easy to deal with and unless you are involved in research or care for a lot of hiv infected patients, not a whole heck of a lot of details to know.

recurrences of herpes on your nipples should be few and far between.  it can show up on the nipples, breasts and upper chest from an infection in that area.

having hsv1 on one body part gives you significant protection from contracting it on  other body parts. not 100% but it's high up. after about a month, you should be well protected from contracting hsv1 on other body parts from your partner.

as long as no obvious lesions on your breast, ok for a partner to suckle at them.  

as for breast feeding, I'm not 100% sure on the answer to that because I really can't recall ever reading any research on it. typically hsv1 is transmitted to the breast from babies mouth so it's not a big issue. I'd check with your area la leche league when you are pregnant to find out if they have a protocol for it. I've never had a breast feeding mom that has had hsv1 on their nipples as far as I know so I"m not familiar with the protocol.

[tessd1536]

Thanks for your response, and I do apologize for my rant. In the midst of all that, I have some pressing questions that I just don't trust my general doctor with since he's not a herpes specialist. Do you think you can help with some other questions?

What type of medical professional would be a "herpes specialist", or resource that I could go to with questions about the virus?

Since I just recently had my first outbreak, and the herpes is on the breast area, does this mean that since I have the herpes virus the sores/blisters can pop up anywhere on my body during any future outbreaks?

If I did contract the virus from my new boyfriend, and since the virus is new in my system, does this mean that if I kiss my boyfriend I could contract the virus in my mouth area as well?

If my boyfriend does have oral herpes and performs oral sex on me, will I get outbreaks on the genital area?

I've been washing my hands like crazy each time I touch my body, does this mean that even when I don't have any sores, I can still get the virus on my hands and transfer it to another part of my body?

Will it ever be safe for my partner to be intimate with my breasts again, or have any future babies breastfeed from me?

Have you heard of any other cases where herpes was in the breast area? I've been scourging the internet and find that it's pretty rare


I'm sorry if you can't answer all the questions (I know it's a lot, and an obvious reflection of my extreme paranoia/anxiety/confusion). Any questions that you do have time to answer will be greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks so much!!!

[gracefromHHP]

it could be the swabs were labeled wrong, hard to tell. it's certainly hsv1 though, not hsv2 even though they didn't type your culture.

do you need to worry about water running down your breasts to spread herpes to other body parts? no you do not.

grace