Hoping

@ScaredGirl89 thanks, i am taking antiviral, and l-lysine, and another supplement the naturopath recommended. Thanks for thinking of it. I am so glad your spots were less severe this time around—hopefully that will continue to improve! @kinator will you please keep me posted about how you are doing? I was at the point you’re at a couple of months ago and I hate to hear that you are suffering so much. I will keep you in my thoughts and I’d be glad to hear from you!

I am thinking of you. How are you doing?

I’m the other side of the spectrum I think—I’ve been very sick with each episode, but I haven’t had any visible rashes. I think it is an internal infection for me. How are you doing today?

Good luck to you as you work your way through this.

I don’t know if it will seem encouraging to you, but it is to me: my latest episode resolved (mostly) after ten days. They were horrible days, but it was just ten. My initial experience went on for over two months, and the second one about seven weeks. This was the third. I know it isn’t GOOD news, exactly, it is a dramatic drop and it allows me to believe that this may in fact get more manageable over time. I am so sorry you’re hurting. Coconut oil and ice packs sometimes took the edge off for me, but truly writhing and cursing has been my go-to. Sometimes a salt bath would distract me and give me a minutes of relief. I went to a naturopath and I love the passionflower extract he recommended—not for the herpes, but for the stress and worry that go hand in hand with it.

I am the mom of a 21 year old daughter, as well as one who is 20 and one who just turned 18, and I am the one who is newly infected with herpes. I chose to tell them about it, because I would not want them to ever think that my stress, moods or illness are in any way their fault. I also don’t want them to worry about me having cancer, which they lived through several years ago. I hope I am showing them too what it looks like to be honest and trusting, and what it feels like to be necessary to someone. That is what I hope they reach for in all of their relationships. I hope that for you too.

You could try an ice pack, an epsom salt bath, and I think baking soda in a bath (though you’d better google that one cause I am not positive!) Coconut oil... I personally didn’t find that much of it helped any more than just cursing creatively, but it could keep you busy for a minute and give you time to think of new profanity. I am so sorry you’re hurting.

I’m not a doctor and not in the medical field at all, but what I learned from my own experience is that it takes time for antibodies to build up and show conclusively in the blood work. My doc was not well informed about this, and maybe others are unclear too? It helped me to read and research for myself when what I heard didn’t make sense to me, and to follow my own knowledge of my health. I am so sorry you’re confused and scared. You are brave to seek support here.

I am here kind of waiting for input on my own first post, and I notice that it is super difficult to wait, so I don’t want you to. Congratulations on motherhood, education, and employment. I admire your courage in reaching out quickly for support.

This is my first time here and I don’t know how this site works yet but I would appreciate input about severe recurrences that include nausea, vomiting and particularly piercing headaches. I was knowingly infected and later raped by the man I had thought I would marry. He is under investigation for the rape and is under a restraining order that he seems to like to tempt, so there is no shortage of stressors and triggers. I have sexual trauma advocates and a lawyer I trust, but my health is erratic and I don’t know who to ask about herpes. I am on suppressive doses and have gotten pain injection or IV, but I still feel like the path of my illness is unusual. Does anyone experience prolonged nausea, vomiting, weakness, headaches, intolerance of light, strange weeping or snappish spells with outbreaks? Or with Valtrex? I have a history of cancer so I have assumed that contributes to my reaction to the virus, but I would appreciate anything you can share about how long and how severe your first months/years were. And thank you to all of you who choose to communicate and be truthful about your experiences. I did not realize until I started to write this that I would be afraid that my assailant could be on this site too—I thought of him as I read long threads about whether it’s really necessary to inform partners. This has changed my life, my kids, my work and my health. I would’ve liked to have a say in the decision to be exposed.