LaurenElise

I took a nap this afternoon and when I woke up I had the urge like I really had to pee (which I haven't felt in all this time). I was able to go! Like nothing had ever happened. So weird! I cried tears of happiness though. The urinary retention might have been the most traumatic part of the entire outbreak. SO glad it's over.

Hi TequilaGirl: It's so difficult to find information about urinary retention with herpes. I honestly couldn't find anyone who could give me much information on this at all, so I had to turn to the internet for answers. I have been taking a B Complex since I was diagnosed with HSV but I don't think it has helped much lol. I was terrified when this first happened but now that I'm on day 12, I've kinda made peace with all of it lol. How long did you experience the retention for?

Hi Jasmine10: Girl, I can totally empathize your feelings as I was just diagnosed two weeks ago yesterday. My outbreak was horrendous and now that I finally feel better from that, I've been dealing with urinary retention for 9 days. I met a guy on Bumble at the beginning of November and I thought he was a really great guy and that we were heading towards a relationship. He even waited until the 4th date to get physical with me. I thought I hit the jackpot. Almost 2 weeks later I had my first outbreak and I knew what it was immediately. He ended things with me that day and had all kinds of BS to tell me. That he had slept with people who have herpes but he never caught it. That he's never had any symptoms and his doctor said he has nothing to worry about. And that since he had chicken pox, the HSV antibodies show up in his blood. After doing research I know that is all a big freaking lie. I even found his ex-wife on Facebook and messaged her to see if she knew of him having herpes. I know it's him though because two weeks ago I tested negative for HSV because the infection was so new. Like you though, I'm not even mad at him. In fact, my anger and disgust with myself subsided rather quickly. I actually believe that nothing but POSITIVE can come out of this situation. Dating has been a total nightmare for me and I've met oh so many frogs. Well this is going to filter out the frogs real quick and I'll be able to find someone who truly cares about me despite my HSV. You'll be surprised by how many people actually have HSV but they just don't talk about it. This is also going to give me a personal growth opportunity. Instead of trying to get a guy based on sex, I need to use my other MANY qualities to form REAL relationships with people. This is also going to get me back in the gym and eating healthy again to keep my immune system up. I KNOW how crappy you feel right now and for a few days I wanted to end my life. And if someone rejects you, they could have easily rejected you for the way you wear your hair or the way you chew your food. I urge you to try and find the positives in this situation despite it feeling so bleak right now. Hang in there ❤️

J.L2018: Thanks for taking the time to respond. This has been such a weird experience for me. I always thought herpes was sores and that it. It runs so much deeper than that and it feels like every day something else with my body is breaking. I've always been an active person and I've trained fo bikini competitions. Now I feel disabled and like my body is failing me. I know that I need to keep my stress levels down but that is almost impossible for me since I stress and have anxiety/panic. Thanks for your kind words though. I know this isn't permanent and I *think* I'm almost out of the woods with this OB.

Elle27: Thank you SO much for your post. I've been struggling to find someone who knows what I'm going through and there's very little information online. And some of the information I've found is a little unsettling like how this could go on for months. My situation is exactly what you described. I spend so much time in the bathroom pushing, taking breaks, and pushing again. I've been working from home because I don't want anyone catching wind of what I'm doing to pee. I was pretty freaking out by the entire thing but within the last couple of days it has become normal life and I have a pee schedule lol. So happy to hear that this is temporary. I can handle 2-3 weeks if that means it's going to go away. It's just so weird to feel SO much better but having this 'complication' lingering in the background. You've put my mind at ease. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU 🙂

Two weeks ago today I had my first outbreak and tomorrow is two weeks from my diagnosis. I knew right away what it was even though I really didn't know anything about herpes before all of this. I had been dating someone for about a month and I thought we were heading towards a relationship. Interestingly enough, he ended things with me the same day that I found out my diagnosis. The infection is still not showing up in my blood so I'm pretty sure he is the one that gave it to me. *Sigh* Anyways, I started acyclovir right away but my initial outbreak was horrible. I couldn't go to work, or walk, or breathe without it hurting but by last Sunday (a week ago yesterday), things were really on the up and up. I had been having issues when I would try to pee. It was taking longer than usual to get started. Well by a week ago Monday I had lost the ability to pee. I ended up in urgent care and surrounded by people who had no idea you could get urinary retention from herpes. I was sent home with a catheter. That was honestly very traumatic for me (the catheter) so I was relieved to have it taken out by Wednesday. Still couldn't go on my own and only one doctor in my obgyn office had treated this....back in the EIGHTIES. I have been able to contort my body to pee so I don't have to go back for another catheter but it's been a week and I still can't go on my own. I am starting to feel like I'm going back to the old me, but this urinary retention is scaring me. Like I'm going to be this way forever since it's showing no sign of giving up. I'm still taking acyclovir as suppress therapy and I've also been taking all kinds of supplements to boost my immune/nervous system. Does anyone have any experience with this? Am I going to be unable to pee for the rest of my life? The only information I've been able to get is online and even then, there isn't a whole lot. Thanks so much xoxo