herpes and pregnant

[tracy006]

I was diagnosed with hsv 1/2 in july 2008. I believe I've had it for years but I shaved and always thought the one spot I would get on my pelvic bone area was an ingrown hair due to shaving. I had a baby in oct 07 and stopped shaving after that. I freaked when I got the same bump in the same location when I hadn't shaved in months in may 08....went to the dr who laughed at me after telling him I'd only been with 3 people, my husband and I have been together for 5 yrs he hadn't had symptoms....he told me it was probably a chronic ingrown hair issue... well it came again in july 08 which at that time I also had some itching on underwear line so I went to nurse practitioner and blood work and culture came back positive.... Shocking news but my husband and I are fine.....we decided to have another baby due to the low risk of transmission after researching.... well I did start on valtrex because we were going on vacation after diagnosis and I didn't want to give it to my husband if it could be helped I had redness then after starting the valtrex down there.... got pregnant in oct, stopped valtrex and restarted at 22 weeks on suppressive therapy at 500mg daily due to slight redness on and off. day after I started it symptoms worsened...never any open lesions all down there nothing like the old pubic bone spot, just redness and some mild discomfort. the doctor then increased dose to 1000mg daily same thing symptoms worsened the day after increased dose. my doctor and ID doctor feel a vaginal delivery is fine since their are no open lesions and I've had 2 negative vaginal cultures..... my concern is for my baby.... they just increased my dose to 1000mg bid due to my ongoing redness....and preterm labor. I am 35 weeks today. once again redness has increased. I feel raw and slight itching inside right at the opening. Despite all this they are still encouraging a vaginal delivery. I know this is unusual but is there resistance to valtrex that can make the virus stronger. Am I crazy to insist on a c section?

[gracefromHHP]

What other sort of work up have they been doing during your pregnancy with all of this? Have they tested you for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally?  Do they suggest anything other than herpes as a cause?  Have you had any more ob's cultured to confirm that it's all just herpes going on?

You can always try switching to acyclovir 400mg 3x/day and see if you do better on that. Some folks just don't tolerate valtrex.

grace

[inspire3]

Well first off i had a baby 3 years ago and they told me that if there were ANY signs that i should not vaginally have my baby and do a C-section if you have any syptoms it can be passed to the baby, but i think even if symptoms are not present that baby can be at risk and get it anyways (thats what i think) Just because they state that you can pass the virus even if you have no symptoms or sores, i think it should be your choice, but i gave birth vaginally with no complications if you have lots of redness and other things going on maybe go to a walkin clinic and see what maybe a second opinion would say if they say the same as your dr then i would not worried if they say something diffrent then maybe just maybe you should request C-section, personally i would rather be cut open then taking the chance to pass this to my child expecially if transmitted from giving birth it could cause other problems as well, i was told anyways. Hope this helped a bit and good luck!