disasterhall

@Flowerteacher55 Hi Grace thank you for taking the time to reply. I had a busy week and read your response but am only now able to reply. I greatly appreciate it. He has no memory of having cold sores, but it seems like people sometimes have them as a child and then forget because they don't get them when they're older. Or some people are asymptomatic and have the virus but don't get cold sores. He did not have one at the time we had sex or after. Yes, I will talk to him about getting bloodwork and see if that is something he wants to pursue. He is not immunocompromised so that is a good thing and hopefully the risk of transmitting it to his genital is very low as you said, especially since he has been my only sexual partner I know that I must have gotten it from him. Do you mind me asking how often you get outbreaks with GHSV-1? Yes that is the part that is stressing me the most. I know I should avoid sex when potentially having an outbreak, but I'm not sure what a future outbreak for me will even look like. My first outbreak I had itching, burning when peeing, urinary retention, and a tingling weird sensation. I feel like I have had occasional itching and burning since the primary outbreak but I have not had any OB. The white bumps are still there and have not ulcerated and it has been 5 days since I saw them. I am trying to tell myself that with time I will learn about my body's response to this virus and be able to manage it better, but it is daunting to think about. And the thought of having to be careful about having sex with my partner and not to be able to be as spontaneous and have it whenever is a downer. I know that sex isn't the only thing that matters and you are right that there are many ways to be intimate, it just will take some time to accepting that. And like I said, I am nervous and I feel like I'm going to think every little feeling is a sign that I'm having an outbreak. Now I'm just rambling my feelings hah. Very interesting about the rashes with COVID. Good to know. Thank you again for your kind words and your help!

I have pcr confirmed G-HSV 1. I did not have any prodrome symptoms but have been checking myself everyday and noticed on 8/14 some very small white bumps in one area only. I've had no pain or felt anything unusual. When I think about it, I do feel some itching and a weird sensation but when I'm busy and not thinking about it I don't feel anything. Could this be an outbreak even though there isn't pain? Should I take Valtrex? It looks different than my first outbreak. I very much want to have sex again but I am very nervous about spreading this to my partner. If it is another outbreak then it's great that I don't really have symptoms, but it seems like I could miss a potential outbreak and therefore spread it to my partner. Any advice? Some background. 7/14 was the last time I had sex (vaginal and oral) with my partner (he is the only one I've ever had sex with). 7/18 started having pain, urinary retention, itching, burning in my genital area but I was away on vacation and knew it wasn't a UTI because my urine was clear. I chalked it up to irritation from going to the bathroom frequently because I had stomach upset for a few days while away. 7/24 I check myself and noticed 4 individual sores in my genital area. 7/25 get a pcr test of the sores, Dr has me take 500 mg valtrex 2x/day for 7 days. 8/3-sores clear up, still have tingling and itching feeling occasionally. PCR test was positive for HSV-1. IgG and IgM were both negative making me believe this was a first time infection. 8/6-I get diagnosed with COVID and have a high fever. 8/7 I start feeling tingling, burning, itching in my genital region so I take 500 mg Valtrex 2x/day for 3 days. I have been checking myself everyday with a mirror and a light and I was unsure if I saw any bumps, but didn't see any sores. There was no more burning and only an occasional itch, but on 8/14 I saw a very small area of redness with some tiny white bumps. However, I have no other symptoms at the moment and this is not what my initial outbreak looked like, which was individual and unmistakable sores like a canker sore. Do you think this is a second outbreak? And am I going to have to check myself everyday for the rest of my life to make sure I don't have any sores so I don't accidentally transmit it to my partner? How do you distinguish what is and isn't an outbreak when it can appear in different areas? He must have given it to me but he's asymptomatic and I don't know if he recently acquired HSV-1 orally from sharing a drink or something or if he's had it for a while and thus has antibodies and would be more protected. Lastly I asked about daily meds and my doctor told me that only if I have a lot of outbreaks, more than 8 or so in a year will they prescribe them because they start to lose effectiveness if you're on them all the time. I was prescribed doses for my outbreaks only. That's a scary thought but from what I've read I didn't see anything proving that they lose effectiveness. I've heard some people say to take it for the first year and other people who say it's better not to take it so your body builds up a defense. Thoughts? Thank you!