Graceandpatience

I notice the boards are filled with teens and 20's here. I am 58 years old. I have been married, faithfully for 30 years. My husband and I haven't had sex in four years (therapists are involved). I have never had a blistery ,burning outbreak, ever, that would make me suspect herpes. I've had two kids (now in their 20's) and all my life have seen regular doctors, and OB/Gyns, had a zillion types of bloodwork run and never, ever heard that I had herpes. A month ago, I had major flu type symptoms for a week including painful urination that made a jolt of stunning pain and what felt like lighting bolts in my wrists and hands at the end of urinating. Then I got what I thought was a yeast infection. It cleared with the drug store vagisil treatments and right back twice. Then I got the fire ants in your underpants feeling and the painful blisters and went to my doctor who said it looked like herpes and confirmed that diagnosis with the swab test. 58 years old! My husband is getting tested and he swears he's been faithful, too, so the only explanation for this is that I contracted this from someone I was with before I was 27 and never knew it, and the virus has sat dormant in my body for 31 or more years until now. I am stunned, angry, confused and panicked. I am also feeling like the medical world must be missing something huge in their research if this could happen. Everything I have read says you have your first outbreak which is usually severe, within weeks of contracting this virus. Again, it's been four years since I've had sex and prior to that, 26 years with the same man and no outbreaks. Either this virus is way more powerful than we think, or I'm like the Virgin Mary with and STD.