When the herpes develope into sores... do they just come up and start right into a sore or do they seem as small pimples getting bigger then all of a sudden start to open as sores etc...? whats the usual stages for that to occure?

sorry, I just wanna bump it up 1 time to see if some ppl havent seen my post.. wont do it again!

That's the scary thing about herpes . . . everyone's symptoms are different. We've all seen the classic symptoms; photos on different websites. However, in my case, I never get sores. I get tiny little dots or cuts. If I had not had an outbreak with blisters many many years ago, I would never have thought what I had was herpes. That's the scary part. If I didn't realize it was herpes, I would have most likely passed it on to some unsuspecting partner. So in answer to your question, I think whatever is normal for you, is what you are experiencing. As I said, I've only had one outbreak with blisters and it was so many years ago I can't remember if I woke up with blisters one day or if they appeared as small sores first. I do remember they were very very painful and urinating was excrutiating. I also recall taking a look and thinking . . holy crap!! I also remember feeling very flu-like before and during the outbreak.

sorry, I just wanna bump it up 1 time to see if some ppl havent seen my post.. wont do it again!

When I have a sore it comes up after other symptoms like tingling feet, slight headache, burning in the vagina and then I will feel a throbbing sensation in my genital area in the spot where the sore will come up usually in a day or two. The sore will look like an ingrown hair and then get bigger, stay for a couple weeks and it may or may not erupt into an itching cluster of blisters which will last another two weeks or so! The only time I had the clusters was the first and second OB.

happy is funny copying what i said lol but as promised I wont bump it again... So with these flu like symtoms.. how long do they last.. a day or a week or like a nomal flu stays? The only symtom ive ever had was tingling.. and then i had burning on my left inner thigh and scrotum but that was it.. no bump, no sores, no raw skin, nothing...

That's the scary thing about herpes . . . everyone's symptoms are different.

Acting up . .. I didn't even realize I had hit "quote" instead of "reply"

lol its ok happiness I was laughing at it, i wasnt mad. So braizzle, your saying that those are my symptoms of herpes?

your only symptoms are burning and tingling?? it's possible that those are your symptoms for it, but, as everyone's symptoms seem to be slightly different, who can say for sure? You've been tested positve for herpes right? if so, then it is likely that these symptoms are typical for you. If you havent been tested, then do so, so you'll know for sure... Its also possible that symptoms such as burning and tingling are the result of something else.

ummm lets see... I had allot of tingling at one point but then it stopped.. then after that between my inner upper thigh and scrotum I had a little bit of burning but that mainly only happened when I took a shower.. i noticed it more then but other then a shower i dont think i knew anything. Ummmm no blisters or puss or raw skin or anything I read on here. No I havent been tested b/c I read that you cant test for herpes unless its active and or you have anything to test it by and i dont think I have anything to test unless you can test for it regardless? no burning while peeing, no small cuts or anything.. what does that sound like too you? The only thing I can say that I have noticed (even though it wasnt anything I was that alarmed about) was my genatil area seemed itchy... like not like the tingling or anything crazy but ive noticed ill have a small itch, ill like pintch the area (not enough to scratch or anything) then ill get another small itch in another area (same cycle by pinching) etc.. its not allot and its not that constant to keep pinching/scraching. The thing that draws my attention to it is the fact that when I look back.. i never was a scracher.. now i notce I do it a very very very small amount (remember not on a omg I got an itch like crazy and scratch it rutine) but I have noticed that im in my area compaired to how I wasnt back then.

P.S. PLEASE FORGIVE MY SPELLING AND GRAMMER ETC.. I WAS OUT DRINKING LAST NIGHT TILL 4 AM AND NOW IM AT WORK AT 8ISH.. LOL IMAGIN TODAY FOR ME.. tx for your time.

You can get a blood test without having any visibly symtoms. It is most accurate if it is 12 weeks after exposure. The swab test you are referring to is not very accurate anyway. You should go to the doctor and ask for the Ig blood test and they will test you for HSV 1 and HSV 2. No need to continue wondering about your symptoms and you can only protect others you become involved with if you know for sure.

hmmm i never knew that.. i mean I knew of the blood test but from reading diff posts i didnt knowthey can check for it. Ill have to set something up then.. tx

There's a lot of misinformation about Herpes testing. Culture testing can only be done when there's something to culture, like a lesion. The testing window for culture testing is 48 hours. Even so, a false negative is common and should be followed up with a blood test. A negative culture doesn't mean you don't have the virus, rather it only means there wasn't enough of the virus present at the time of swabbing.

The key to proper bloodtesting is getting the right test. There are many doctors and clinics in the US that are not up to speed with proper herpes testing; they either don't know about the newer tests, or still prescribe the older ones. Many doctors/clinics will say the can't test unless there's a lesion. While that's correct for culture testing, it very wrong for blood testing.

The correct test is a type specific IgG test, the HerpeSelect brand is the most common in the US. Don't waste your time on IgM testing, the results are unreliable for herpes testing, regardless of what your doctor says or what you read on the Internet about it detecting a recent infection. One of the largest labs in the US (Quest Diagnostics) has just announced it has stopped offering this IgM test for herpes testing because of its worthlessness.

The other key point to proper blood testing is waiting at least 12-16 weeks post possible exposure. While some people can test positive as early as 2 weeks, 50% by week 8, and 98% by week 16. There is a small group of people who take longer (6+ months) to develop the detectable antibodies. Bottom line, the longer you wait to take a bloodtest the higher the accuracy of a negative result. You can get blood tested right away, however, if the results are negative it only means you'll need to be retested at week 16. If a second test is positive, then you'll know it a recent infection.

Be aware, during this waiting time if you do have the virus, you can still pass it to other people even though your antibodies haven't developed.