safety in pleasure

[bbobalinscy]

Being sexually inactive for more than 17 years ,I am now in  a 2 year monogomous relationship. After many intimate exchanges  I had a single itchy  painful outbreak in April. With a visual exam from my gyn confirmed by a culture on the lesion I was informed that I have herpes.I was told that I would probably never have another outbreak since this was my first and no way of telling when I accuired the virus.I was given 30 days of Valtrex twice a day.There have been no other symptoms or outbreaks in the past 5 months.  My partner received testing and he was negative. We would like to keep it that way and are unsure if or how to continue this portion of our relationship safely .Is this possible?

[gracefromHHP]

Yes indeed daisy asked the right question - what type do you have. Knowing your type is important.

When you get a chance, read the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com ( and your partner should read it too ).   It's filled with accurate and up to date info on herpes and how to reduce the risk to your partner.

grace

[daisy315]

There is no definate way to stop transmission completely but there are measures to reduce the risk considerably,one is abstaining from sex during an outbreak ( if you were to have anymore ) or using condoms,the other is Suppressive Therapy which would mean taking the Valtrex every day to minimise the risk of transmission and outbreaks.
It is indeed possible that transmission may never take place but it would be best to try to minimise the risk as much as possible.
Many couples have been together for years where one is HSV2+ and the other is HSV2- and the virus has not been passed.

Do you know if the result of the culture was HSV1 or HSV2 ?

Daisy