are "partial" or mild primary outbreaks due to Oral herpes immunity ossible?

[tattooedgrl]

I have had oral herpes type 1 since I was a teenager. I have had very few outbreaks in the past few years. However about a month ago I kissed and had oral sex with a man, then woke up in the morning with the beginning of a cold sore.

There seems to be conflicting opinions on whether I could contract it myself genitally, especially when it would have been passed from my mouth, to his, to my vagina, and not directly.

However I have another question, (or a few!)

a) I had a bad fever a couple weeks after the incident, my question is, do fever's that accompany an initial outbreak also come with a dry cough like an actual flu infection would have?  Because I had a cough as well, so I'm not entirely sure if I was actually sick (it is winter) or if it could be from a herpes infection.

b) Thanks to his facial hair stubble I did get some pretty serious irritation because of it, near my bikini line. I was itchy, had very dry scaly skin, and red patchy areas. this red patchy areas where NEVER blistered, or became open sores. Is it possible that this was just serious irritation from friction, or could I have contracted hsv-1 genitally, and only had a minor or partial breakout due to my immunity to it orally?

c) the only real open "sore" i have had since then was right near my anus. I had been experiencing alot of diahrea and as far as I know it was never a blister, and looked more like it had split open due to irritation.

I had all of these inspected by a doctor who told me none of them looked like herpes, but I am still not convinced, and I want to be sure before continuing to have sex.

I have also learned my lesson and will use condoms, and a dental damn on myself to avoid any possibility of passing it to myself indirectly, or to him directly.

[gracefromHHP]

Std's are a fact of life.  We go to the grocery store and the checkout person has a whopper of a cold, blowing their nose halfway thru your order, coughing on their hand and then handing you your change, you get a cold a few days later and think - I betcha I got this from that person at the grocery store and don't think twice about it ( other to cuss a bit about it ).  When we are intimate with someone we are naked, we are exchanging saliva which is filled with germs, we are breathing in each other's "space" which is filled with germs and we get hot and sweaty and exchange body fluids but if we end up with what is labeled a std from it - we act as if the world is ending!!! It makes little sense to me - germs are germs regardless of how we get them.  Don't let your new found knowledge of herpes ( or any other std ) keep you from having close and intimate relationships with people if that's what you want. Use common sense - if it's a one night stand /booty call type of encounter, use barrier protection for oral sex as well as for genital sex. Also condoms work best if you put them on when the clothes come off, not just wait for actual penetration to use them.   If it's a developing long term relationship, both of you get tested for std's before you are intimate so that you know who has what and can make informed choices about what protection to use for what.  It really will go a long, long way if you just think a little about it all :)

grace

[tattooedgrl]

no, considering I have now had a couple of these scares andI have learned more about how many people have hsv 1 orally and how possible it is to pass it on to your partners genitals I'm going to ask from now on.

I really wouldn't know how to go about it though, to be honest I've been a little stand offish about getting intimate with people now that I know all this info.

[gracefromHHP]

having hsv1 orally gives you significant protection against contracting hsv1 genitally later on. It's not 100% protection but it's high up there.  The only way to know if you've contracted hsv1 genitally is from a lesion culture of active symptoms and it sounds like it's far too late for that.  Based on your symptoms though I really don't think you contracted hsv1 genitally.

You will not pass your own hsv1 oral infection onto yourself genitally either.  does your partner know his hsv1 status?

grace

[tattooedgrl]

also, I have read numerous times that some people can have mild outbreaks and not even know they have herpes. What does a MILD outbreak mean, only one small sore, or clusters of red areas that do not develop into blisters?

nothing that has happened on my vagina feels or looks similar to what happens when i have an outbreak orally, or like the pictures on the internet. But I am still concerned that my immunity to hsv1 due to having it orally, could alter or decrease the appearance or severity of a genital hsv1 outbreak