Hello all,

I receive unprotected oral sex from someone I would consider "high risk" six days ago. (I was very drunk).

Anyway I woke up this morning to find the tip of my penis itching and burning. I see an area where there seems be some kind of lesion forming.

I am scared ****less that I have contracted herpes.
What can I do?

I completely flipped out this morning got on the internet and ordered an oxygen therapy product and a product called choraphor (which is supposed to be used on active lesions and claims to kill the virus).

Please, please can someone can give me some advice as how I should proceed from here. I think I will go to the STD clinic today to be tested. Although I do not think they test for herpes at the clinic (I was tested once but I don't remember).

I know they say there is no cure (but I am very wary of what drug companies and doctors say because they are all in it for the money).

On one site, they talk about different treatments and then say the following:

"Although this virus appears hard to kill it can be done by several of the treatments mentioned above if the treatment is begun early enough. Once established the virus hides inside a host cell and is difficult for our immune system to recognize so early commencement of treatment is a determining factor in the success rate.

Although the virus may be destroyed in the early stages of infection, a person can become "re-infected", from a new or old sexual partner."

If I was infected and am definitely in the early stages. I want to do WHATEVER it takes to stomp this damn virus out of my system if it is at all possible.

MONEY IS NO OBJECT. I will buy and ingest every single antiviral herb there is if I have to.

If anyone can PLEASE give me advice I would really appreciate it.



[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 06-18-2003).]

I read somewhere a while back that if antivirals are started very early in an initial outbreak, before the virus has a chance to hide, it can be cured. I have no idea if that is true, and if true, by the time the blisters start to form, it might already be too late. But, my suggestion is to get to a doctor immediately and attempt to get a prescription for one of the antivirals and take it as soon as you can. It may not help, but it sure can't hurt.

Based upon the tagamet thread, asking for a script of that, too, might be helpful, as you will be attacking the virus two different ways. Plus, use the H-balm and extracts that are touted here. At the least, this should reduce the duration and degree of severity of the outbreak.

I hope this really isn't herpes - there is a reasonable chance it isn't, and seeing a doctor may give you that peace of mind.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I read that too.

I have been researching this for the past 8 hours.

I have bought and taken - St Johns Wort, Astragulus, Goldenseal/Echinacea, Olive Leaf Extract, Hyssop Leaf and Lysine.

I also bought some pear juice as it contains some acid that fights the virus.

I also have some raw garlic cloves that I blended in vegetable juice with some extra virgin olive oil and drank.

If I do have the virus I hope I can kill it before it "hides"

My stomach doesn't feel too hot but I don't care.

What is this tagamet stuff?

Oh yeah, I also ordered Choraphor, Oil of Oregano and some oxygen treatment off the net.

I pretty much just freaked out this morning and bought everything in site.

I'll feel like an ass if it turns out to be nothing but I don't want to take any chances.

Hi Scotty,

Good luck with your alternative treatment strategy. Let us know how you make out with it.

You should get a swab culture test done ASAP on the lesion that's forming. Today. Don't put it off or the chance of an accurate result goes way down. Unfortunately the swabs are hard to get an accurate result from.

The problem with aiming for a "cure" is that there is really no way to prove that you don't still have it and that you're not still potentially contagious. Most people who have herpes don't get symptoms they recognise as being herpes, and all people with herpes shed the virus without any symptoms, so it can be extremely hard to prove that a "cure" has been achieved.

I'm not saying don't hope or try for a cure, I'm just saying balance it with some realism and consideration for future partners. If you do have genital herpes (of either HSV-1 or HSV-2), you still need to tell any future partners that you have this and that they could get it from you, even if you use a condom. Since it sounds like a condom would cover the infection site, a condom will definitely help but it's not a guarantee when it comes to herpes, unfortunately.

On a more positive note, if you did get herpes from receiving oral sex, chances are it's HSV-1 which will often be much milder and less frequent in its outbreaks (OBs) than if it's HSV-2. That will make it easier to deal with psychologically, since you probably won't get frequent OBs, but you can still be contagious even without OB symptoms. I'm not trying to scare you or depress you, just to offer a bit of a realistic balance of information for you to add to the other stuff you're finding out.

I'd suggest you also get a type-specific blood test done NOW. Blood tests often take at least a couple of weeks, sometimes a few months, to return accurate results, so getting one now could tell you if you already have HSV-1 (cold sores). Then this can be used as a baseline for future testing.

Good luck! Keep us posted what you find out.

TheOneInFour

Originally posted by TheOneInFour:

The problem with aiming for a "cure" is that there is really no way to prove that you don't still have it and that you're not still potentially contagious. Most people who have herpes don't get symptoms they recognise as being herpes, and all people with herpes shed the virus without any symptoms, so it can be extremely hard to prove that a "cure" has been achieved.



I posted this earlier, but isn't it possible to measure viral shedding? And from what I understand, there is always some amount of viral shedding each month...so...if the virus were to be cured, wouldn't the fact that there was no viral shedding prove it??

Just a thought...

...

[This message has been edited by sadgirl222 (edited 06-17-2003).]

Originally posted by sadgirl222:
I posted this earlier, but isn't it possible to measure viral shedding? And from what I understand, there is always some amount of viral shedding each month...so...if the virus were to be cured, wouldn't the fact that there was no viral shedding prove it??

Just a thought...

And it's a good thought! The problem (as I understand it) is that asymptomatic viral shedding occurs intermittently, not consistently. That means we shed the virus *some* of the time when we don't have symptoms (and all of the time when we do). But even if we don't shed for a long time, that doesn't neessarily mean we can't or won't shed again in the future. Herpes can and often does go dormant for long periods of time, but can reactivate at any time.

Research studies that have proven the existence of asymptomatic viral shedding were done with swab culture tests, the recent ones typically using the PCR DNA tests which are much more sensitive than the regular old swab cultures. In these studies, swabs were usually taken on a daily basis, I believe, and showed that even when the person wasn't showing visible symptoms, they were still testing positive up to 50 or even 75% of the time. This was a shocker 10 years ago when this was first done! Medical knowledge at that time thought you were contagious only when you had symptoms. Some doctors still aren't up to date about this.

But even those tests just took an average of when the person might be shedding. If I do a culture at lunchtime, say, and it shows no shedding, that doesn't mean I can't be shedding by dinnertime (in time for my hot date http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif ). And just because I don't shed today doesn't mean I can't shed tomorrow.

You see the problem? If shedding was consistent and continual, we might be able to use that to test if someone was cured. Since it's intermittent, that testing will only tell us if the person was shedding at the moment the swab was taken. And current technology can't tell us the results immediately; it takes time for the results to be processed.

From what I understand, it's possible that the only way we'll ever prove the absence of the virus, or a permanent dormant condition, is to detect it right in the nerve and skin cells themselves. Herpes resides and travels through in the nerves but also injects its DNA into the skin cells where an OB has occurred. We don't know if the skin DNA could reactivate on its own or if it needs a trigger from the virus in the nerve cells. So we'd probably have to find a reliable way of finding out which skin cells have that DNA, so we could test them as well as the nerve cells.

The more I learn about this stuff, the more complex it is. Nasty piece of work, this virus!

TheOneInFour

Nasty indeed http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Someone should just give themselves to research and be locked up with continuous swab tests done to measure shedding...and every prospect of a cure (natural herbs included) be used on them until THEY FIND ONE!!!!!!
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/mad.gif (sorry just a little angry about it all today)

Originally posted by sadgirl222:
Nasty indeed http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Someone should just give themselves to research and be locked up with continuous swab tests done to measure shedding...and every prospect of a cure (natural herbs included) be used on them until THEY FIND ONE!!!!!!
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/mad.gif (sorry just a little angry about it all today)

Only if they can have all the sex they can handle. *hehehe* http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

The1in4

Haha~~sounds like you'd volunteer in that case http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

I'll take that job!

I'll take that job!

you guys are cute http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Originally posted by sadgirl222:
Haha~~sounds like you'd volunteer in that case http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Just show me where to sign up!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

1in4