WIll this pain ever go away?

[Nic311]

Good Evening,
       I am writing because about a year ago from today i got what i guess was my first herpes breakout. I got it during a three week camping trip, in the last week. I hadnt had sex in over a month or so and thought that it was just some sort of rash from lack of adequate hygeine while living in the woods. Unfortuneately i got the same sort of breakout about a month later. And from the point on i get a breakout every few days, to every couple of weeks. I dont think i go more than 2 weeks without one, and if i do i pray that i dont get them again, but i do. It starts with this terrible pain from right under my buttocks down into the back of my left thigh and sometimes into my foot. This is terribly painful and lasts for a few days, meanwhile I get really bad soreness where i am going to get a breakout and then i get one, always on the left side of my privates. They start as red sores and turn to white clusters. This happens so frequent and so badly that i cant even walk, sit stand, or sleep without being in extreme pain. I dont know what to do, my doctor gave me medicine, but its not valtrex, its like a knock off because i cant afford anything else, and i still get breakouts just as bad, and just as frequent. Sometimes it makes them go away a little faster, but thats it. Is there anything i can do? and Will this nerve pain in my leg cause permanent damage? If you have any help or advice at all i would greatly appreciate this. I feel very alone with this matter and the pain is unbearable, but i dont have anyone i can talk to about it.

Thank you in advance,
Nic311

[gracefromHHP]

Acyclovir is fine for use.  You should be taking 400mg 3x/day every day at this point if you are due monday.  Honestly though I think you should ask for a c section. You've been having ob's frequently and you have one now.

grace

[auntiejessi]

Have you been tested for bacterial vaginosis, yeast and group b strep?  I know group b strep is a routine test during pregnancy, but you might want to check the others.

I don't know about famvir and pregnancy, but I've asked a friend from the herpes forum to check this thread out, so maybe she'll have some better answers.

AJ

[Nic311]

Thnk you so much for the advice, when i saw the midwife last she said that acyclovir is the same as valtrex for the most part just cheaper. unfortuneately, these breakouts were just as bad before pregnancy. i got my first breakout after not having any sex for three weeks, i didnt even know what it was then, i was going through a series of training operations in the woods that month and figured it was caused by poor hygeine. but about two months later i got another break out, and that one was the worse ive ever had. since then ive been getting them every two weeks, which will be almost a year now.

[auntiejessi]

Was it like this before you got pregnant?  If it wasn't, my guess is that things will get better when you deliver and your hormones calm down.

Valtrex turns to acyclovir in your liver, so acyclovir should work as well as valtrex.   After you deliver, you might find out if they cover famvir.  Some people just respond differently to meds than others, so famvir might work for you.  I never responded to valtrex, but did for acyclovir and famvir.  Famvir has a generic now, so you might get that one covered.

Good luck on Monday!!  Congrats!

AJ

[Nic311]

Thank you very much for your support and advice. i feel so hopeless, like i cant keep on living like this. i am in the military and they refuse to pay for valtrex so i am using acyclovir i think? i am pregnant and i usually dont take any medication even when i am not pregnant, but i hught i would take it so that i could have my baby naturally, which i cant do if i have an ob. it has kept the ob's away for a little over three weeks, BUT i am due to have my baby on monday and i just got another outbreak! it is so devastating i will more than likely have to have a c-section now so that the baby isnt harmed. i feel like this whole thing is ruining my life i almost ALWAYS have an outbreak, i cant even walk! it makes me so miserable and it leaves my leg in so much pain, it def feels like it is affecting my nerves. and being in the usmc we have to work out like crazy all of the time so it is really irratitating and painful to work out like that, and its  high stress environment. i dont know what to do if i keep getting these outreaks ALL of the time. its possibly the worse thing that has ever happened to me, and i've been through it. i am glad however to hear that you arent getting them like you used to, i know for sure that i would never want anyone else to ever have to go through this. you have given me some hope!

[lw1392]

Nic, My first five years with the H was awful.  I had constant nerve pain during and in between obreaks.  I went from doc to doc.  Finally found a doc who diagnosed it as postherpetic neuralgia, which basically means it was affecting my nerves. (the virus lives in your nerves) The first couple of years I had outbreak after outbreak...and then finally they stopped.  Now I only get an outbreak once every couple of years and it's usually not very bad at all.  Hang in there!  Nerve pain is probably the worst pain you will ever have....for me it BURNED very badly.  My whole bottom felt like it was on fire.  I don't know how I kept going to work and every day living....but I have to say it was the Lord that helped and guided me.  I completely understand how you feel, b/c here you are suffering and you cannot talk to anybody about it.  If it is post herpetic neuralgia then rest assured that the average time for it to subside is five years.  (I was afraid it would be permanent)  Don't worry though, you'll have some good days and bad days.  Keep your stress down.....that's the best advise I can give.  I don't take meds for it as it didn't help me at all.  Also, there used to be a website for herpes suffers called "H chat" , there's many people there that can give you support.  I highly recommend it for your sanity.   Take care

[auntiejessi]

I would check with your doc about lysine if you are pregnant.

AJ

[jenniflower91]

Try taking the amino acid Lysine. It really helps to clear up breakouts and to prevent them. But do not take it for more than a year at a time without a break. Then only take it when you start to feel the tingling sensation right before the b/o.

[auntiejessi]

Ohhh if you are pregnant, that can cause more obs, and can cause bv.  Good luck!

[Nic311]

Hi AJ-
Thank you for your advice, it really helps to know that i can get feedback when i am in a world of people i cant talk to about this. I am in the military and don't always get to see the kind of professionals i wish i did. A very nice midwife was the one who diagnosed me via blood test and sample of the actual out break. But there are no gyno's there, not that i have come across. I am taking the meds, but i had stopped when i got pregnant 8 months ago. One of the pre-natal care midwifes put me on 200mg of acyclovir 4 times a day, but i didnt take it because i was scared of what it might do to the baby, but i kept getting the breakouts so bad and she said that it might be worse to possibly expose my son to it than to try to suppress it so i started taking just one a day. None the less, still didnt work, so i've been taking about three a day, still doesnt work. Another mid wife that i saw (i NEVER have the same "doc" more than once) gave me 400mg and told me to take them 5 times a day, and she didnt seem to know what herpes was at all. I asked her what i could do for the pain, and she looked at me like i was crazy, she said "what pain?" i said the pain from the breakouts i cant even walk or sit, and she said she had no idea that herpes caused pain. i am going to start taking valtrex I THINK, when i am 36 weeks so that i can try try try to suppress it in case i go into labor, because i want to avoid a c-section which they will do if i have an ob, but because of how expensive it is, the military only pays for it in the last four weeks of pregnancy and then i go back to the old stuff, but i will be nursing, so i dont even know if i can take meds then, not that i think they wil help. Bit i think i am going to try and go back and get tested for bacterial vaginosis, i think that is a likely thing.

[auntiejessi]

Hi Nic -

How were you diagnosed with herpes?  Have you had any other testing to make sure you don't have something else going on, like another std or bacterial vaginitis?  Those can both keep herpes very active.

What dose of the meds are you taking?  I'm guessing you are taking acyclovir?  Are you taking it every day, or just when you get an outbreak?

My first year of herpes was hell, and it turned out I had bacterial vaginosis, and once I got that cleared up, things really calmed down for me.

Usually, if the meds aren't helping, its because something else is going on, like bv, yeast, or another STD.

Hope this helps!  You should also check out the herpes homepage.  Just google it, and when get there, click on the support forums.  Its a wonderful site.

AJ