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Thanks for all your help @wcsdancer2010. even though this doctor specializes in herpes, it may be time to start seeing someone else! in your opinion, do you recommend a general doctor or a dermatologist?

@WCSDancer2010 well that's the strange part. the doctor I went to SPECIALIZES in herpes. It was pretty amazing to find him and he seems to know so much, but after things not being what he thought they were I'm not sure what to believe. He actually told me my boyfriend didn't need to get tested for HSV1 because if he had it orally that wouldn't mean he had it genitally so we still wouldn't know. I guess this means if he had it orally without symptoms I could still give it to him genitally? just tired of being confused and scared to touch him.

Hi! I was diagnosed with HSV1 genitally in 2010. I was in a relationship (still am) and was very fortunate to have a supportive boyfriend throughout. However I started getting strange pains in my butt and itchy pubic area about two years ago that no one could explain to me. I was nervous about this connection to herpes, and so refrained from sex with my bf for a YEAR while searching for answers to if this was contagious or not. Finally found a doctor who explained that these symptoms were something called pudendal neuralgia. The pudendal nerve was probably upset from my first outbreak and that's what the pain and itch were from. And that it was not something that I could spread. This was great news and I could finally get out of my head and stop worrying. Hadn't felt it for awhile and then they came back at the same time, followed by what I was concerned was a new outbreak. I didn't understand the connection so returned to my doctor. I had no real lesions, so the doctor told me he thought it was just an anal fissure. and the neuralgia beforehand was just a coincidence. He took a swab to calm my nerves though and make sure it wasn't an outbreak, but told me I really should not expect anymore outbreaks as it was type one below the waist. However the test came back positive as an hsv1 outbreak! This sent me back into a worry spiral, feeling like I can never really tell when I"m having an outbreak/contagious and didn't want to go back to a time where I have to be celibate out of fear and uncertainty. He said the feelings from neuralgia was just prodrome period. Why didn't he think this before?! He told me to go on daily suppressive therapy so that I no longer had to worry about it. SO (finally here are my questions): 1. He prescribed me famvir. Does anyone have any experience with this drug and are there any downsides from taking it daily? Will I be preventing my body from fighting the virus on its own if I take it constantly? 2. The pain in my butt and itch have not gone away but actually have been made worse during my time on acyclovir and as the outbreak has gone away. So how do I know if I'm still contagious? How do I know if I"m able to have sex again if I'm on the pills and don't have an outbreak but still have the feelings of "prodrome"---even though the outbreak is now over. Is it actually prodrome or could it just be the neuralgia as he first explained it? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I went to see him three times this month and can not afford another doctor's visit right now.