Bloomer

Have you been checked for groin hernias or pelvic floor dysfunction?

Almost everyone has HSV 1 and lot of people are asymptomatic. Usually people have it orally but it can be located on genitals too if for example person who has HSV 1 orally gives oral sex to a person who is HSV 1 negative. If woman has genital HSV 1 then caution is needed during giving birth because if virus is active baby can be infected during childbirth and infection of infant can be really serious. Why so much worries if you and your partner don't have any symptoms?

Hello @monroe! What type of herpes do you have and in what location?

@Dinhallhey! What symptoms exactly do you have? Did your symptoms appear after sexual intercourse? For how long do you have symptoms? I know...lot of questions. 😄

@Gibouep hey! I am not in menopause, but I am pregnant and I can tell you that I am having a lot more OB's now probably due to hormonal and immunity changes which are usual in pregnancy. I too was taking progesterone because I have high risk pregnancy but I only took it for three months. I talked to a lot of women who had worsening of their HSV infection during menopause which again is probably caused by hormonal shift. Also, after you turn 50 it is not unusual for immune system to become weaker so it us important to take care of your health and take some immune support supplements in order to help your immune system to work better. I remember one woman who was also in menopause and had dramatic increase of outbreaks and nerve pain but everything subsided after year and a half. Can you take antivirals for supression for some time and see wil it reduce number of your outbreaks?

Hey @NewToItAll! Sorry for your situation. Can you describe your discharge? I know some women have discharge and they usually describe it as watery. I often have worsening of my symptoms after infections (flu for example) and had it after Covid infection too. This is not unusual since every infection cause your immune system to be super busy and than HSV use this to activate. As for covid vaccine, I've already read about people's testimonies about how covid vaccine caused outbreak. For some people every vaccine will cause outbreak and vaccination can be a trigger. Are you taking any antivirals?

I didn't try it unfortunately. Here where I live, the only antiviral available is acyclovir. There is an option to buy it in country near by but I have to have prescription from doctor and he doesn't want to give me one because I am not immunocompromised.🤦‍♀️ If you had success with acyclovir than stick to it for some time. I know we had discussion about pelvic floor dysfunction and seeing PT but I can't remember what your situation was ? Was your pelvic floor evaluated?

@spiritualized793you did everything right. This guy isn't worth your friendship and acted really immature. I mean...it is his right to not to have relationship with you but I don't understand friendship part. If you have any feelings towards it is not good idea to be friends with that person. When person is right for you and is really serious about you, you will now it. When I met my husband and had disclosure he immediately told me that he still wants to continue to see me. I remember him saying something like that he chooses a person, not illness or disease or infection. And just to mention...I had really tough time with HSV infection, horrible symptoms and complications but he stayed with me no matter what. This is love and this is how love should look like. I know it sucks to be rejected (or partly rejected) because it us huge blow on someone's selfesteem but look on the bright side. You will save lot of your time and won't waste it on a wrong person. One thing I thought about relationships and life is that whenever there are mixed signals involved you should run immediately.

@RingofFire can you ask your doctor to prescribe you famciclovir?

@Sonia I too remember reading article about HSV always being active. I believe this is true. But that doesn't mean you are always infectious. It is proven that you need to have certain amount of viral particles for infection to occur. But maybe herpes being always active means that people can always have some kind of symptoms like neuralgia.

@Flowerteacher55 I understand OCD part, I am dealing with it for the last seven years. It is mentally exhausting and life consuming sometimes. Let me assure you that everything is going to be ok. That moisture spot you saw probably wasn't a moisture spot at all but OCD brain has a tendency to see something that isn't there. Even if actually there was a moisture spot caused by you it would be a miracle for someone to be infected with GHSV after sitting there after you. First of all HSV becomes inactive very quickly once exposed to the air. Second of all there would have to be enough viral particles in order transmission to occur ( and who says you were shedding at that time). And in the end that person would have to be naked and would need to be rubbing vigorously with her/his genitals on that moisture spot in order for transmission to occur. And who does that?? 😀😀😀 You have genital HSV 1 if I remember correctly? Most of the people already have establisht oral HSV 1 infection wich makes them protected from getting infected genitally. So this is also a reason to consider. I know it is really hard with OCD because OCD brain likes to picture irrational situations and find one hundred reason and scenarios why something bad will happen. Even if there is a 0,0001 percent chance to happen, OCD brain will convince us that this can and will happen. Everything is going to be ok and there is no even a remote chance of somebody being infected after sitting on that seat after you. You are a wonderful young person and great supporter to all of us members here. Thank you for that! 😊

@Dutchy yes, NHS doesn't seem up to date or well informed when it comes to HSV infections from what I 've read. If you don't have sores, they will dismiss you. Herpes can manifest in so many ways and some people never develop sores but have other symptoms like nerve pain, symptoms that mimic UTI's, yeast infection and list goes on. I am not from UK but I was in contact with one of the doctors from there and he told me that they don't recommend or do blood test for HSV because they are not reliable. That was true in my case since I am still testing negative and I do have herpes which was confirmed by swab. Apparently standard IgG tests for HSV miss around 25 percent of HSV 1 and 8 percent of HSV 2 infection but that is not a reason for not testing.

@40sBritishMale so you didn't have IgG test for HSV or swab of your lesions? I know that in UK they don't do blood test because they are sometimes unreliable. I am living proof bacause I have this infection for 20 years and still testing negative on blood tests but I manage to get swabs two times and they came back positive. Nerve pain is common with HSV but I am not sure that your symptoms are for sure caused by HSV. It is unusual for outbreak to start day after (it is usually 2 days minimum) and first outbreak is usually on the same spot where virus entered the body (usually genitals). Symptoms you are describing are very much consistent to pelvic floor dysfunction which can be caused by lot of factors ( HSV infection is one of them too). I know there are lot of therapist for pelvic floor in UK and my suggestion to you would be to get your pelvic floor evaluated. Can you travel to France? I think you can obtain IgG test for HSV there. If I remember correctly there was a regular train line between London and Paris.

What you are experiencing is normal with herpes. Especially with primary outbreak. HSV virus lives in nerves, not in skin and since it lives in nerves it can cause all kind of neurological symptoms including urinary retention and bowel movement problems. Herpes is not just sores on the skin. Sometimes it can manifest like urethritis or can mimic UTI. I had the same experience. You can continue to take antivirals and just wait for infection to calm down. Take plenty of rest, eat halthy and if you can take immune and nerve health support supplements. I hope everything goes well for you!

As for antibodies and influence on symptoms I really don't have an answer. I asked doctor about that and he told me that antibodies are not only factor when it comes to providing immune protection and response to viruses. What are your symptoms exactly if I may ask? What made you think you have HSV outbreak?

Some people just don't test negative. Maybe it's due to strain because for example some HSV 2 strains are gd2 deficient and you will never produce antibodies. I don't know where you live but you can ask your doctor where in your country you can have western blot test. In my country this test is available only in capital city. It would be the best if you could have swab next time when you have your version of OB. Swabs are more accurate then blood tests. Unfortunately my symptoms are not better even though I have this virus for so long. I had lot of neurological symptoms and complications but that's just me. Most people get better over time and OB's become much less frequent. It is important for you to get correct diagnosis in order to act accordingly. Maybe you don't have HSV after all. But if you have reason to doubt you have herpes, then wait to have swab or try to obtain western blot test.

Yes, you can have negative test even though you have herpes. I am in the same position. Still testing negative after almost 20 years being infected but I had two positive swabs. Standard antibody tests miss 25 percent of HSV 1 infections and 8 percent of HSV 2 infection. My advice to you is to take western blot test if you can afford. Western blot test is much more reliable than standard tests.

@Flowerteacher55 no need to aplogize. 🙂 You are always helpful and so kind to all of us. 🙂😊 The study you posted altough is old, was very interesting to read.

@Flowerteacher55 thank you for your reply. This study you posted is about possibility of getting HSV 2 if you already have HSV 1. I asked about other way around. I was interested about statistics about getting HSV 1 if you already have HSV 2. @RingofFire gave me info which was helful.

Thank you very much for your reply. I hope Terri Warren is correct with this one. It's a shame that HSV 1 doesn't offer the same protection against HSV 2.

So, question is if you already have genital HSV 2 for several years can you get genital HSV 1?

@RingofFire I was in contact with one member from other forum who had ozone therapy. He had severe neuropathy caused by gHSV1 and he tried almost everything to reduce neuropathy. Ozone therapy was the only thing that helped him. Ozone therapy has many benefits so I am willing to try it. I too am not responding to antivirals and tried lot of things but nothing had permanent effect. I understand part about not knowing when do you have outbreak. I am in the same situation, I have constant prodrome symptoms so it is really hard to distinguish when I am having outbreak or it is just good old neuropathy.

@RingofFire I find acyclovir useless but I didn't have opportunity to try valacyclovir (valtrex) bacause it is not available here where I live. I hear lot of people find valacyclovir more efficient than acyclovir. If you are taking antivirals and using condoms and avoid sexual intercourse while having outbreak you can be sure that risk is really minimal. I am married and didn't pass it to my husband even though I am not using acyclovir. We obviously had luck. Please if you have opportunity get your pelvic floor checked. Look at the symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction and see are they similar to yours. Are your symptoms worse after sexual intercourse if I may ask? Gabapentin is used for treating nerve pain and even though it can have some nasty side effects I am willing to try it. Of course I will consult my neurologist and see what are my options. If you take regular precautions there is really minimal risk of transmitting HSV. Just be careful and open with your partner. There are people who are together for 30 years and there is no transmition.

@RingofFire for several years I was misdiagnosed with urinary tract infections. I had all classic symptoms of UTI's but my urinocultures always came back clear. It was in fact HSV infection which was causing me all those symptoms but doctors were obviously clueless and didn't recognize it could be herpes. At the same time I started having nerve pain in my legs and pelvic area and that lasted for several years. When it comes to transverse myelitis, it was in 2015 and at first I started having pin and needles sensation in my legs, it was horrible. Like ants are crawling on my skin. I went to doctor but he dismissed me claiming that I probably have anxiety. In the next few days I developed numbness in my saddle area and urinary retention and started having weakness in my legs and hands. Went to ER, ended up in hospital and was diagnosed with transverse myelitis caused by HSV. I am immunocompetent individual and doctors told me it can happen even to those immunocompetent. Acyclovir does nothing for me so I stoped using it. I am currently pregnant so I can't take any meds but soon as I give birth I will start taking gabapentin. I tried taking antidepressants few years ago but they caused me urinary retention. I already have urinary retention thanks to HSV and with antidepressants it was even worse so I had to stop taking those meds unfortunately. After childbirth I am considering to try ozone therapy, it is pricey but apparently efficient in treating viral infections and nerve pain. I don't know do you have access to pelvic floor therapist? Herpes virus causes nerve irritation then irritated nerves cause pelvic muscles spasm and dysfunction. It would be good for you to be checked for pelvic floor dysfunction. During the last several years I was in contact with lot and I mean a lot of people who are HSV positive and have some sort of neurological symptoms and complications. Those people were healthy individuals before contracting HSV and started having neurological complications after infection. I don't understand why doctors refuse to see that. HSV induced neuralgia is well documented and it is a FACT. Don't be disheartened by my experience, it doesn't mean you will have the same. I know several people who developed nerve pain after infection and then after 2 or 3 years their nerve pain went. Try eating healthy, take immune and nerve health support supplements and avoid usual HSV triggers.

HSV infections can cause all plethora of neurological complications unfortunately. Usually this happens during primary outbreak but some people (and I am one of them) suffer neurological symptoms even with reactivations or have permanent neurological complications even without OB's. Unfortunately medical community usually deny any correlation between HSV and neurological complications even though neuralgia/neuropathy caused by HSV is well documented and you can find lot of medical research about it. Currently there is no efficient treatment fot this, only thing doctors can do is to offer more antivirals and nerve pain meds. Don't be disheartened, lot of people get nerve pain for year or two after contracting this infection and then neurological symptoms go away and appear only with OB's. So my advice is to be patient and experiment with antivirals and nerve pain meds (of course consult you doctor always). The sad truth is that some people experience nerve pain for the rest of their life thanks to this infection. Eat well, sleep well, take supplements for immune support and nerve health and try not to stress too much. I will never stop repeating that HSV is not just skin condition because it is not. It is nerve infection and can cause serious neurological complications. These are the facts. With downplaying this infection we will never have better treatments and better medication for treating HSV infection. All the best and take care!