girlfriend is worried - Herpes Message Board

hawk46 · 06-15-2003, 11:16 PM

Hi all, im new here, but i told my girlfriend i would see if there is any answers to what is happening to her...4 months ago, she found what looked like to be sores around the lips but not inside her...she put peroxide and alchol on them...which burned...they slowly went away...the doctor believed that she has herpes..now once every 6 to 8 weeks...she gets little bumps or a small cluster kind of like a blister...but its always just a small area..so now she is really upset and worried...and the last two doctors didnt tell her if she had it or not...and she doesnt want to make love until she knows...does this sound like actual herpes or just fever blisters...please help !!!

doug

Colbe · 06-16-2003, 09:37 AM

If your girlfriend wants to know if its herpes, she'll need to have a western blot, ELISA, Herpeselect, or Pockit test performed. These are all blood tests that a doctor can have administered if she requests. Some doctors might be hesistant, but usually if the patient insists, they will sign off on it. Her other option is to have those little sores cultured (they scrape some of the area in question and send it to the lab). I've never heard of a dual defense system. I don't think that would have any effect on immunity against HSV though. You may be infected and not be showing symptoms. You might want to also get blood tested. Good luck and sorry for the briefness, I'm running a little late.

By the way,
Herpes and fever blisters are synonomous. People just sometimes refer to it as fever blisters because its easier on the ear than "herpes"

[This message has been edited by Colbe (edited 06-16-2003).]

Magnetic · 06-16-2003, 11:42 AM

In addition to what Colbe said....

If you use condoms, which you should be doing, and if you use them for oral sex, then it should be pretty safe to resume sex.

If you happen to get cold sores, it might be worthwile for you - and her - to get tested and type checked. If you both have the same type of herpes, then you should be immune to getting it genitally from her. Note, too, that a lot of people have been exposed to the herpes virus that causes cold sores, but they don't get cold sores, so it is possible you have been exposed even if you don't get the sores. It might be worthwhile to get checked out.

TheOneInFour · 06-16-2003, 04:28 PM

Hi again Doug,

I didn't see this thread and wrote a detailed reply to you under the thread "Please someone help me" posted by "Ivebeenused."

All I'll add here is to comment about the condom strategy. Condoms can help reduce the risk, but it doesn't sound like that will help you much in this case, since your gf's OBs would probably make contact with you outside the condom-covered area. They're never a guarantee for prevention of herpes. By all means continue using them but know that this will only reduce the risk somewhat.

I'll also repeat what I wrote in the other thread: get your gf to get a swab culture test when she has another OB -- within 24-48 hours of onset of symptoms. A blood test doesn't need symptoms to be accurate, but if she's got genital HSV-1 (which usually manifests as cold sores around the mouth) then a blood test won't be all that useful (since about 90% of us have oral HSV-1). A blood test will tell you *if* you have herpes, but not *where* you'd be getting symptoms.

Let us know what you find out.

TheOneInFour

hawk46 · 06-16-2003, 10:34 PM

thanks alot for all the responses....im just trying to figure out why that i dont get anything...i havent gotten a cold sore on my lips in over a year....she has never had a lip sore...she was tested once...the one doctor said she had it...but the blisters that she gets like once every other month...only last for a couple of days then heals up, nothing bad...they just freak her out...because of this we dont make love very often due to she is too scared..so i dont know what to do..she is waiting to see a doctor again..

best wishes all
thanks