Genital HSV-1: How is your life? - Herpes Message Board

206GTI · 05-28-2004, 07:47 PM

I'm pretty sure i have HSV-1 on my genitals. I never had intercourse without a condom, but have had several unprotected orals from my ex and some casual aquaitances. i just also did a HSV-2 blood test and it came negative.

here are a few questions i would appreciate being answered:

1. i got a fever and pain in my legs the first week after my suspected infection. does this count as the primary outbreak? or does the SKIN outbreak i have right now be considered as the primary OB?

2. My outbreak right now has been going on for 2.5 weeks. its nothing severe except for the very first sore which scabbed. a week after the first, others came. the others were just a little redness and tender skin. is this part of the first outbreak, or did i have two/three outbreaks? from what i read, HSV-1 on the genitals happens once every two years, so i'm just worried that i might be different.

3. How often does ur outbreak recur? and if it does, is it as severe as ur first or is it less or more severe?

4. has ur sex life or masterbation patterns been affected due to HSV-1? I'm afraid my sex life would be restricted due to this virus so i'm curious.

thanks in advance

backpacker · 05-29-2004, 11:11 AM

Hi, 206--sorry to hear you are now a member of this club.

It may be too early to get accurate results from a blood test, so you may want to take another test in about a month.

Condoms do not always protect you from herpes. You could have as easily gotten h from your "protected" intercourse as from oral sex with someone who had no signs of an ob. There are a couple of current threads discussing this issue.

Herpes acts differently in different people. Therefore, your primary might be vastly different from mine, or from somebody else's. I don't think anyone can tell you definitively when your primary started and what is part of it. After a while you'll get to know your symptoms and prodromal signs (that an ob is about to occur), and then you can judge what exactly was part of your primary. A fever and aches can be caused by herpes, but also by many other conditions. And herpes doesn't always show up within weeks of infection. Some people have gone over a decade with no signs, and then, in a stressful time, they get a primary outbreak. And, yes, the primary is usually much worse than other ob's (though people can differ!)

Again, people differ in how many ob's a year they get. I used to get about 1/yr, but for several years I've gotten about 8/yr. Most people get fewer the longer they have h. Some only get ob's once every few years. Others get the ob's back-to-back (which you may have done.) If you eat right, sleep well, and stay in good shape, you will be supporting your immune system and will probably get fewer ob's. There are lots of other suggestions for lowering the incidence of ob's on this board, so read around a lot.

Yes, my sex life is affected, and yet my soulmate and I have had a great sex life. (he does not have h.) We don't have sex any time I feel any kind of symptoms, or when I am unusually tired (unexplained fatigue can be a prodromal symptom.) Or, rather, because I have it genitally only, we can do other kinds of sex than intercourse at those times. Also, whenever we do have intercourse, he washes up right after with soap and water. We do not use condoms.

Because I don't feel like masturbating when I'm hurting down there, I don't even try. I would think the rubbing would prolong an ob.

Some people have trouble scaring off potential partners by telling them. And yet we must tell them, since they have a right to choose whether they expose themselves or not. I had one man, a long time ago (I have been with my soulmate about13 years now), decide not to become sexual with me, but no other. There are also lots of threads on this board about how to tell people.

I know it seems that I'm evading some of your questions, but there aren't too many hard and fast rules about this disease. You have some trial and error ahead of you before you realize how the virus will act for you and what treatments are best. Good luck and keep reading on the board, and from other sources.

karlthebunny · 05-29-2004, 02:20 PM

Hey 206,

backpacker is right on.

I can relate my primary, but I have H2. I had flu like symptoms, low grade fever for weeks, strong prodrome feelings in my groin, but never any sores. just a red spot on my glans, a kicked-in-the-balls feeling, and a heat rash. this whole thing is the first ob. most don't get the fever again.
terri warren has a good article about H you can print off the web. do a google. her husband also contributes to the article, he's a psych.

I had a recurance right after the first, which is normal for many folks. it seemed to go on for ever. longer than a month. which is also normal for some.

I have to give up masterbation (boo!!) or rethink my drink. do to age I am a little too rough and for me at least, it was the cause of my latest ob. (I am new to this and still figuring out what is and isn't a problem.) I also know of my obs because the glands in my neck act up. I actually have to keep reminding myself I have H because my symptoms are so light. but that complicates things. I don't know exactly how many I have had so far and I do not have scabs to tell me when things are over...

sex and stress caused my gfs outbreaks. but that can be moderated with extra lub and cooling down the genitals right after sex. (reduction of friction)

I have meds on hand, but for right now I am riding this out to see where it goes. Oh, I cut my second short with acyclovir.

206GTI · 05-29-2004, 10:26 PM

wow.. i wasn't hoping to hear those comments. As i read from the articles on the internet, HSV-1 on the genitals isn't nearly as bad as HSV-2. i was hoping for just a little irritation on the penis every 2 years and thats it. i guess not. damn.. why can't ppl just lie and give the newbs some hope? j/k.

anyway:

1. is it safe to use the same towel after a shower for my body when NO symptoms are present?

2. What exaclty is a paper cut on the genital? it sounds mighty painful? i seem to have one right next to my pee-hole but i suspect it been there since i was born. but is the paper cut a sore? does it bleed and scab? or is it just an unexplained fold of the skin?

out patient · 05-30-2004, 08:57 PM

One thing to keep in mind: those blood tests are unreliable. I just received the results of my blood test, and my doctor informed me I tested positive for HSV1 and negative for HSV2, but also that the test was most likely inaccurate given my symptoms. ( I have had several back to back outbreaks on the genitals) The next step is for me to get a viral culture right at the onset of an outbreak, as that supposedly provides a greater degree of accuracy.

The scary thing is that I've been taking acyclovir, and it has probably minimized the outbreaks, but they keep happening. But the heavy drinking I do on weekends certainly hasn't helped my cause. If your lifestyle is healthy and rather sedate, you'll probably experience fewer outbreaks than me. Also suppression therapy (daily acyclovir) worked for me until I voluntarily went off it in March, and then I started getting all these outbreaks. Had i just kept taking the suppression therapy, I probably could've kept it in remission.

Anyway, hope whatever treatment you end up with does the trick.