Andy

Hi Benzgtx, My symptoms were basically identical to strep throat-- I had a bad sore throat, difficulty swallowing, fever, headache, and malaise/fatigue. I should mention, though, that there was a bad flu going around my office at the time that had all of the same symptoms. I assumed I had just caught that flu. The HSV1 diagnosis really caught me off guard, especially since it's so rare in the throat/on the tonsils. My doctor thinks that I probably caught the flu at work, which weakened my immune defenses and caused most/all of the symptoms. With my immune system compromised, the herpes virus was able to present itself in my throat, which exacerbated the sore throat. Whether I only recently contracted the virus, or whether it's been latent in me for a while now waiting for my immune system to take a dive, is a mystery. Anyway, I hope that helps, and that if you're feeling ill it's just a temporary bug that you'll get over soon!

Hey Unitedfan, TL;DR-- I had several scares just like yours, it was never herpes. When I actually got herpes, it was very obvious. ------- Prior to actually contracting HSV1, I had numerous "scares" that sound identical to what you're describing: inexplicable red blotches that never hurt or itched or anything, but being a bit of a hypochondriac I always jumped straight to, "Oh sh*t, I have herpes!" I'd run to the doctor, who would laugh and tell me, "Trust me, you'd know if it was herpes." On one or two occasions, they said it looked like a fungal issue, prescribed some anti-fungal cream, and so on...In those situations, it never turned out to be herpes. I finally convinced a doctor to run some bloodwork to put my mind to rest, and everything came back negative. In my experience, it's kind of tough to get a doctor to do the blood work because in general doctors seem to think herpes is an overblown condition not worth worrying about (which I'm now sort of inclined to agree with, personally, but I suppose I'm biased), but maybe you can plead your case and get a sympathetic doc to run the tests and put your mind at ease. Now, we know that there are a lot of people who have herpes and don't know because the symptoms are so mild, or otherwise aren't "characteristic" of herpes, so it's easy to see anything out of the ordinary 'down there' and think, "Well it *could* be herpes!" Fair enough. But as RegularGuy astutely pointed out, there are A LOT of things that can cause red blotches. And most of them aren't herpes. Where none of your symptoms match the "telltale" signs, and where you have doctors and medical professionals telling you it's not herpes, I'd take a deep breath and try to trust their professional judgment. Life's too short to worry about herpes, especially when you probably don't have it :) When I finally contracted HSV, all of the telltale signs were there-- terrible flu like symptoms and a nice fat sore that looked *exactly* like all the pictures online. There was no doubt. Looking back on it, all the times I worried about "red blotches" seem very silly now because they so obviously weren't herpes.

Hi all, For background: I'm a 27 y/o heterosexual male and just got my results back this morning that I'm HSV1+ in my throat/tonsils (which I'm told is pretty rare in individuals who aren't immunocompromised, but here we are). Strange location of my OB aside, as I understand it, I'm now in basically the same boat as the ~80% of Americans who have oral HSV1. I've spent the morning reading through the forums on here and checking out the materials on disclosure and rates of shedding, etc, but I haven't come across a frank discussion of the realities of oral sex with an oral HSV1 diagnosis. Here's basically where I'm at: I really, really enjoy performing oral sex. To me, it's the most enjoyable part of sex, and it's the part that I'm best at. The thought of not being able to go down on my partner is extremely depressing. And until now, I never really considered using a dental dam. As far as I can tell, based on personal experience, as well as conversations with friends of all genders, and articles I've come across today, not a single person in all of human history has ever used a dental dam (obviously that's an overstatement, but you get the idea). To me, they seem awkward, bad-tasting, and as one article put it, they "massively sacrifice pleasure for safety." Another author described that "They are not fun for oral," and another said, "It felt like someone was tickling me through a grocery bag. 0/10 would not recommend." Don't get me wrong-- if a girl ever suggested one, or even hinted that she prefer I use one, I wouldn't bat an eye, and as I see things now I feel obligated to use one moving forward, but, well, I'm not excited about it...it seems like it's going to completely ruin my favorite part of sex. I just can't imagine that 'going down' with a dental dam maintains any of the great parts of oral sex... Maybe I'm just looking for reassurance that sex isn't ruined forever. It's really bumming me out... Oral HSV1+ people: Are you using barriers every time you have oral sex, and what's it like? Also, do you disclose before kissing someone for the first time? (I'm aware of the "disclosure" article, but I'm looking to get your personal takes on this) Thanks!