Search Results for 'outbreak'

[tjoa10]

Does anyone have any experience or insight about blood testing for HSV1 and HSV2? Last year October I was tested for every STD, including HSV 1&2. It was after I got out of a bad relationship and hadn’t had sex with anyone (even my boyfriend) for at least 8 months to 1 year. All tests came back negative. Fast forward 9 months, I am in a new relationship and am now having my first outbreak. I did not have sex with anyone up until this new relationship. Could I have contracted the virus from my previous partner almost 2+ years ago, have negative blood test results, and just now have my first outbreak? Or is it more likely I contracted from my new partner? I know it doesn’t matter where I got it, what’s done is done, but I honestly wouldn’t be mad if it was a recent exposure, I’d actually be relieved that I didn’t just expose him now.

[Zee]

I am a 47 year old who has had HSV2 for 29 years. I usually had outbreaks at my tailbone area where the nerve is and rarely had them on the vaginal area. In the last 2 years my husband has left me, I am in school full time, working part time, trying to pay all the bills and perimenopausal with depression and hormone swings. My sleep has been difficult and I have been super stressed. For whatever reason, I the virus moved directly onto the clitoris area and has not gone away for 5 weeks now. I have tried acyclovir/famcyclovir, red marine algae, L-lysine, topical zinc sulfate cream, and NOTHING has relieved it. I can’t sit comfortably, every night I try to leave my vaginal area open to air and pray it will stop causing searing nerve pain to the clitoris. I am afraid now that I will never be able to have a partner, or even masturbate because I can’t get the virus to leave the clitoris area. So sad and frustrated. Does anyone know if any topical treatments exist that work?

[Maddy]

I don’t have advice on that, but I have constant flare ups as well. I found that if I double the dose of Valtrex (2 in the morning and 2 at night) it helped, but I didn’t want to do that very long so I went back down to regular dose and the outbreaks come again. Frustrating. I have a boyfriend as well who is super understanding and I find when I feel really down and embarassed about all of this, I just tell him honestly and having him listen to me and care about me makes me feel closer to him and therefore, want to be intimate with him… but I can’t because he is not infected.

[Snickers]

I’m not overly well versed on the differences between HSV1 and HSV2 and their rates of infection, but if your partner has it, you can also get it. Even when there is no active outbreak, there is still “shedding” that can occur that can pass the infection on to someone else.

If he has a cold sore and kisses you, you could start getting cold sores (but also maybe not). Like with most things, it’s best to stay away when the signs are pointing to a flare up. If he has a cold sore and perform oral sex on you, then there is a chance that it could trigger an outbreak for you (depends on your personal triggers, everyone is different). Finally, if you are suffering from an outbreak and you have sex, then there is always a chance that he may start getting outbreaks in the genital region as well.

There are always ways to lower the risks for both of you (medication, male and/or female condoms, abstinence during a known flare up, etc.). You just need to make certain you’re both open and honest about these options.

[Snickers]

I’m sorry to hear that everything came down on you at once like that. It sounds very overwhelming and frustrating.

I would like to encourage you to speak with you pharmacist about your concerns. You ask them what the alternatives are for daily medication. Talk to them about the side-effects of each (many side-effects are based on pre-existing conditions or medical background). Ask them about the pros and cons of taking medication for each outbreak or taking medication daily. They have a great of information that your doctor will not. I do not know if this will provide you with helpful information or not, but at least it’s a step you can take without worrying an appointment.

If you are at a point in your “life after diagnosis” where you can accept and love yourself for who are, you will attract someone who can do the same. The difficult conversation shouldn’t even be on your mind until you’ve decided that someone is special enough to have that conversation with. You cannot control how they will respond, but you can control when and how you choose to talk about it.

[Snickers]

I was diagnosed a number of years ago now, and though it was hard to come to terms with, I considered myself one of the lucky ones: mild symptoms, flare-ups every 3 years, etc. A few months ago, something changed. Suddenly I was getting flare-ups every time I got my period. Then it continued on after my period. Then it showed up slightly before my period and continued through and after my period.

I’ve been suffering through an intense outbreak for approximately 11 weeks now and I am at my wits end. I’ve started taking a daily antiviral which does not seem to be working (it’s been 8 weeks and I’ve seen no improvement and new lesions keep appearing). I keep telling myself “This too shall pass” and I truly do believe it.

My biggest issue is maintaining intimacy with my partner. We’ve been together nearly 3 years and he doesn’t seem to understand that, when I feel uncomfortable with my body due to this never-ending flare-up, and when I feel ugly and “gross”, I find it difficult to be in the mood. The result is that he thinks I am unattracted to him and I do not want him to feel hurt and alone. I do what I can (cuddles, kisses, love notes, sexting, pics, etc), but it doesn’t seem to be working.

I realize this can be something underlying regarding his self-worth or self-esteem, but I still want to make sure I’m doing everything that I can.

Any advice on how to maintain intimacy while feeling so alone in this arduous battle would be much appreciated.

[tjoa10]

I was recently diagnosed and I’m pretty sure I cried out every tear my eyes had left in them. I am in my 30s and have only had 2 sexual partners, both monogamous relationships so I couldn’t understand how this happened. My doctor was excellent in helping me understand and answering my questions. She said it’s really not a big deal and about 80% of people have herpes and some don’t even know they have it. You can go years with the virus inside you before any kind of outbreak. So suddenly being diagnosed does not mean your partner cheated on you, and pointing fingers trying to figure out who gave it to who is futile and unproductive in moving forward. And having herpes does not make you “dirty” at all, there is nothing to be ashamed of from your past or present. Yet this didn’t keep me from feeling embarrassed, ashamed of myself, sick to my stomach at that moment.

My biggest fear is that I have to tell my partner. I am always assuming the worst so I can’t help thinking he’ll think I cheated and leave me, or he’ll think I’m disgusting and never touch me again. Well, what’s done is done, nothing I can do about it now. If I could go back in time and prevent this I 100% would, but I don’t know too much about building time machines 🤷‍♀️. The right person will know that this shouldn’t be a deal breaker. They will be able to work with it, get over it, and accept it. If they can’t do that, then they are not the right person.

Sitting here reading all these posts and comments on the page I find myself in tears again, but this time tears of hope and understanding and forgiveness. I am reading these comments about journeys of self-confidence and self-love, two things I have never had before. But I CAN forgive myself for somehow letting this happen, I AM strong enough to push through, and I AM still worthy of love and affection. Yes it sucks, but it is not the end of the world, life goes on. They say God works in mysterious ways, maybe this was his last-ditch effort to get that through to me, saying “hey idiot, you are loved and you are worth it, look how strong I made you”.

Thank you for listening, just writing these feeling down and releasing them feel like such a relief.

[ILK]

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[ILK]

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[skprincess_55]

I feel the same. I am in a constant state of outbreaks while on daily medication. I can’t see how u can move on when I am in constant pain.

[Stephanie]

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[Acasia]

Interested. Not diagnosed yet but pretty certain with my outbreak that it is going to be positive.

[Lizz]

I was diagnosed with HSV-1 in January, while at the age of 24. I was in denial, angry, devastated and confused about the diagnosis. I tried not to point fingers at my boyfriend who is asymptotic to this day and it just has been a really hard year for me. This pandemic hasn’t helped, and I find myself being more depressed because of the frequent outbreaks. I have tried Lysine, I take my medication almost daily and although it helps, there’s only 1 week out of the entire month that I don’t experience outbreaks. Is anyone else experiencing this? I am having a hard time coping (due to other factors as well). I feel depressed because I’ve only had 2 sexual partners (monogamous) and I felt that I was always really careful. I just don’t understand how this happened but I’ve come to accept I may never find out how. Now, I just want to get out of this depression but I don’t know what to do. I feel alone.

[eucalyptusdream21]

I have had hsv2 since March and it hit me hard. The guy who I was with, we had been together for almost a year and I met him in college. I really thought he was the one but I laugh at that thought now because he really was the worst. He had a girlfriend of four years from back home and I was just keeping him entertained while he was at school. I didn’t know how to handle the news of my diagnosis, the heart break of my relationship, and quarantine all at once sending me into a deep depression. At first I saw no hope in anything. I was given valtrex by my wellness center at my college right before quarantine and unfortunately my appointment with my primary care doctor was cancelled due to the pandemic, leading me not to be seen until the middle of the summer. Until then I was taking valtrex daily and had no symptoms, I felt hopeful again and that this is something I can learn to live with. Once I saw my primary care doctor they recommended I no longer take the valtrex daily and instead as outbreaks occur. This seemed to work fine for the first few weeks but now it seems I constantly have an outbreak. the outbreaks are definitely worse when I have my period, making the already mixed emotions I have during this time even worse. I want to continue taking the valtrex but I am concerned with the long term effects on my health that the doctor mentioned. I am still hopeful in the fact that I can figure out a way to manage this as it is all still relatively new but it is still hard to deal with the ups and downs of it all. I don’t really feel I am in need of a relationship right now but besides that I am afraid to start a new relationship with anyone not only due to the fear of telling them about my diagnosis but also due to the fact that my trust has been severely broken. I am honestly at one of the happiest points in my life but my hsv2 keeps bringing up self doubt I have worked so hard at keeping away

[Maddy]

I’ve had HSV 2 with fairly recurrant outbreaks for 10 years now. Over the past year I’ve noticed a mosquito bite type bump on my butt and on my leg and have questioned if it’s HSV or just a bite because I’ve heard it can happen in other areas. Last week, I got about 8 bumps on the back of my leg upper thigh that all were like mosquito bites or hives. They never opened up like sores, they were like hives, but they’re similar to the other bumps and I feel pretty strongly that they are related to HSV2 but I can’t tell for sure and this is frustrating because my boyfriend does not have HSV 2 and I want to be careful to protect him, but I have never seen this before and maybe it’s just hives and I’m over reacting. Does anyone else have experience with suddenly outbreaks happening on other body parts and not at all on the vagina?