Aa
anxious about cause
Greetings. Recently my girlfriend of seven months (we've never used a condom) had a very severe and painful outbreak of what was thought to be herpes. Her swab ended up showing HSV1, her blood, nothing. She will be re-drawing blood in a few weeks. Her doctor said that it was a sign that it was a recent infection, since it wasn't in her blood yet.
I have never had a cold sore in my life, nor been with anyone that i had observed to have one, however, about 6 years ago I did have an outbreak on my genitals after increasing the dosage of accutane, which i was on at the time, to the highest possible dosage. at first i thought it was a side effect of the drug, of which there was many, but then i had a slight burning sensation upon urination. i showed my derm, who could not make heads or tails of it, and he showed a urologist, who thought it was definitely herpes. they tried to get swabs (although the lesions had basically healed by then), and they drew blood. apparently my blood came out without infection, and the swab showed nothing (likely because it was too late to 'catch' the virus if present). since i had quit the accutane and never really took the viral meds i was given, and never had a recurrance again, my derm ended up thinking it may have been a false alarm due to the accutane. but to be honest we both were focused on the accute treatment and th potential std fell by the wayside. unfort, i never retested.
anyhow, i recently drew blood b/c of my girlfriend's condition, and tested positive for HSV1.
my first question is, based on what you have heard, how likely is it that i transmitted hsv1 to my girlfriend, and this is her initial outbreak? i would feel awful if that was the case and have been struggling with this thought.
secondly, assuming we both have genital HSV1 (i know she does but assuming that that 'outbreak' 6 years ago was indeed herpes), going forward, can we cause outbreaks in one another by having sex during asymptomatic shedding periods? what about if we perform oral sex on each other? if neither of us have had a cold sore before, will that put us at risk of a new infection of the HSV1 in the mouth?
lastly, will this put our future children (if we get that far) at risk? and if so, how do we mitigate the risk?
i thank you so much in advance for any advice you can give.
I have never had a cold sore in my life, nor been with anyone that i had observed to have one, however, about 6 years ago I did have an outbreak on my genitals after increasing the dosage of accutane, which i was on at the time, to the highest possible dosage. at first i thought it was a side effect of the drug, of which there was many, but then i had a slight burning sensation upon urination. i showed my derm, who could not make heads or tails of it, and he showed a urologist, who thought it was definitely herpes. they tried to get swabs (although the lesions had basically healed by then), and they drew blood. apparently my blood came out without infection, and the swab showed nothing (likely because it was too late to 'catch' the virus if present). since i had quit the accutane and never really took the viral meds i was given, and never had a recurrance again, my derm ended up thinking it may have been a false alarm due to the accutane. but to be honest we both were focused on the accute treatment and th potential std fell by the wayside. unfort, i never retested.
anyhow, i recently drew blood b/c of my girlfriend's condition, and tested positive for HSV1.
my first question is, based on what you have heard, how likely is it that i transmitted hsv1 to my girlfriend, and this is her initial outbreak? i would feel awful if that was the case and have been struggling with this thought.
secondly, assuming we both have genital HSV1 (i know she does but assuming that that 'outbreak' 6 years ago was indeed herpes), going forward, can we cause outbreaks in one another by having sex during asymptomatic shedding periods? what about if we perform oral sex on each other? if neither of us have had a cold sore before, will that put us at risk of a new infection of the HSV1 in the mouth?
lastly, will this put our future children (if we get that far) at risk? and if so, how do we mitigate the risk?
i thank you so much in advance for any advice you can give.
you paid to post this in the experts forum. wait for your reply there and get your money's worth :)
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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.
