overthinker123

Thank you so much for your advice! All this gets so confusing sometimes and I also hope you figure out some answers soon! I went to the OBGYN today and they told me the cause of this was dermatitis and that unfortunately this is something I am going to just have to deal with because its going to keep coming back. I did not get a swab done because they told me that they did not believe it to be herpes despite my long and very confusing history. If you don't mind me asking, did you also get your initial GHSV1 outbreak swabbed? Or were you able to determine it through blood work? Thank you again!

Hi thank you so much for your kind words and resources! I have a vagina and these cuts occur near the bottom in the perineum area but specifically on the left side. I have not been to the OBGYN yet in regards to these cuts because I always was under the impression it was due to what I was eating. As far as triggers, I kind of thought that they were related to alcohol because I have noticed them occurring after drinking. When I had the initial outbreak, I was experiencing flu like symptoms which is very common and what has lead a lot of doctors to say it was a genital herpes outbreak, however, what seems to throw them off is the cultures coming back negative. I know the swabs are not 100% accurate but with the two obvious outbreaks I did have, I was sure to test between 24-48 hours of them appearing. One doctor said that due to the cultures coming back negative they believed it to be an aphthous ulcer (canker sores) which is pretty rare but also not contagious. When these sores appear they resemble HSV and also have flu like symptoms. I was not given anything other than a lidocaine ointment which did help significantly with the pain. The first time I noticed these sores, I was given Valtrex but it did not seem to help very much. The cuts I have been getting, however, just appear. I became irritated down there last weekend due to shaving and it has been pretty irritated since but the cuts were not there last night and appeared this morning. Other than this, the cuts just seem to appear. I talked to a nurse at my OBGYN's office and explained just about everything I have said in this reply and in my original post and she says that she does not think it is herpes and may be the soap I am using? I have an appointment with an OBGYN tomorrow to check out the cuts and get them swabbed, but I fear they might just tell me what everyone else has been saying. So sorry for another long post, but like I had mentioned earlier, I am starting to really lose hope in trying to figure this issue out and I feel like giving as many details as possible may help me get more answers. Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

I have had HSV1 on my mouth since I was a kid and I never had many flareups nor has it ever caused many issues for me. A few years ago, I noticed something was wrong in my genital area and had it checked out the next day. At first glance, I was told it looked like genital herpes. The culture came back negative, but I was still left with so many questions. A few months later, I took a blood test that told me I was positive for HSV1 which was not news to me, and it did not answer if my issue was herpes or not. A little more than a year after that, the same issue presented itself and I went to the doctor immediately. They took another swab which came back negative, but also diagnosed me with something that was not herpes. For about a year now, I have noticed I get these paper cut like cuts in the same area extremely frequently. I talked to my doctor about it when I first started to notice them and they told me it may be because of my diet and not to worry about them too much. These happen so frequently it is honestly difficult to keep track of, but at the worst of it, it felt like I would get a cut it would heal in a day and a couple days later, I would get another one. Now, it seems like I get these about twice a month, but they heal extremely fast. There is no crusting over, they are just little fissures that appear one day that are extremely painful and heal in a day. Does anyone have any answers to what may be going on? Or if anyone has been through anything similar? It is very difficult for me to process sometimes because I just do not know what is going on and I feel lost at this point.