somehelpplease

Frankly, those MDs are fallible humans. Where are the real herpes researchers? Also, fallible humans, but who might actually know something.

Oh, thank you for that. But still, how did I get chicken pox and my good friend who even came with me to the doctor get shingles? I think there’s more to these herpes viruses - that’s just too much of a coincidence. The docs don’t know..I asked. I still feel terrible, even if there was no way I could know I was contagious at the time. That's just it - maybe I didn't give her the virus, but the exposure somehow activated it? :-(

I appreciate that. Thanks :-)

Thanks, Beowy. The shingles is more than discomfort in her case - she is in terrible pain :-(

I guess my question is: can "dormant" herpes viruses (including HSV and herpes zoster/shingles) activate when exposed to an active virus? Or, is it, as they say, caused by a weakened immune system? Sigh.

I feel terrible. It turns out I had chicken pox not a herpes rash (per my earlier post). Go figure. I get every travel vaccine on the planet and no one mentions varicella because of the assumption that everyone about my age or older has already had the disease (the vaccine only came out in the 90s). Well, I now feel worse than when I had that awful rash. My good friend, and a cancer patient, was exposed to my chickenpox. Now, a couple weeks later, she has a terribly terribly painful case of shingles. I’m super upset because it’s too much of a coincidence that exposure to my chickenpox did not somehow activate the shingles. Does anyone know if that’s possible??!! She’s in terrible pain and I feel responsible.

Thanks again, Dancer. Regarding the CDC claims about mouth sores, they're wrong wrong wrong in my case :D I guess I'm weird :P It was 100% HSV1 confirmed by a swab test – first for the HSV virus and then for “typing.” I’ve had canker sores and they were different, usually on the soft tissue. The herpes was on my gums and the roof of my mouth. Maybe my nerves are wacky somehow. A few years back I had pityriasis rosea (confirmed by a biopsy) – a painless, self-limiting, but ugly rash the dermatologist said was likely caused by one of the many herpes viruses out there - but I had an unusual inverted pattern to my case of the rash. And now, gosh, this rash on my neck/arm/torso could well have been H caused by that ultra rigorous scrubbing at the hot springs :-/ I'll definitely go to a specialist and confirm that this wasn't an initial outbreak of HSV2. I need to know for the sake of my partner, although it's strange to have an STI that was not transmitted sexually nor in my groin area :-( Your description of the HSV (clusters of fluid filled blisters) looks pretty much exactly like my rash. The doc is sticking with varicella/zoster, but at least the meds worked for either type of rash, so no harm done there. But I will definitely see that specialist. And even if it is H, it shouldn't be the end of the world?! Eek. And if it is, I hope it's HSV1, which my partner also has (and which I already had in my mouth), and so no real risk of spreading it any further. HSV2 will be another challenge altogether...

I talked to the nurse and the doctor is sticking with varicella or shingles. It was a blistery (initially painful and then itchy) rash (almost) entirely on the left side of my body. I'm still super baffled about how my antibody level for HSV could be *that* high. Maybe in response to the chickenpox/shingles? I need advice from a physician who really knows these herpes viruses :-( Or maybe just stay on the Acyclovir as prescribed and pretend it never happened.

I never considered the HSV-1 an STD - I probably caught it from my friends' 10 year old kid who (eerily coincidently) had a cold sore soon before my dreadful mouth sore outbreak. But if this arm/neck/torso rash turns out to be HSV-2, will I have to disclose to my current partner (and any future partners) that I have an STD? It hasn't affected those parts (at least not yet). Sigh. Yup, I'm worrying like crazy.

Thank you, WCSDancer2010! The mouth sores were definitely herpes. Strange, I know, but this was in the US and my doctor said that herpes (especially a first outbreak) can behave like that. I now get it every once in awhile, but nothing as bad as that first outbreak - just one sore in exactly the same spot on the roof of my mouth right behind my upper front teeth. I keep some Valacyclovir on hand to help stop it in its tracks when that happens, which usually works. In a strange way, I’m probably lucky that I get it inside rather than outside my mouth because no one can see it! But my strange inside the mouth herpes is partly why I’m worried about this rash. It’s nearly healed so I probably can’t do a swab to know for sure if it’s herpes and the strain. But there should be a blood test to confirm whether I’ve also contracted HSV-2? If it's acting like an original outbreak, then it would have to be the other strain of herpes, wouldn't it? :-( Or maybe the HSV-1 somehow traveled to another part of my body? I don't know much about this but I thought that if you have a strain of herpes affecting one nerve (in my case my mouth nerve) then you're immune from it going elsewhere? But that's just my uninformed guess! I hope hope hope I didn't contract the other strain of this virus :-( no sex, just some lady scrubbing my skin off in rather unhygienic circumstances. I’m heading back to the US soon and will make an appointment with my regular physician to check all of this out!! But how to stop all the worrying?! Sigh.

I posted this question in a different herpes forum and received a reassuring reply, but I’m still a little worried and so maybe someone here can help as well? Thanks in advance. I’m currently overseas and to my horror woke up about 10 days ago with a rash. I saw a doctor and his first impression was chickenpox, but I’m pretty sure I had chickenpox as a kid. They ran blood tests (including varicella and HSV) and the results for the HSV were quite worrying. The test was HSV ½ IgG. I’m guessing that means it tests for both type 1 and type 2? The trouble is I have what seems like an exorbitant antibody level. It’s 1:44000! The normal range is indicated as 1:<230 (the units are IU/ml). Does anyone know if that’s as crazy high and scary as it seems? I definitely have HSV-1. My initial outbreak involving multiple super painful sores on my gums and the roof of my mouth was in early 2012. Swabs confirmed it. I’m worried that this rash isn’t chickenpox at all but a herpes rash. Either a new HSV-2 infection? Or my existing HSV-1 spreading to my arm? I did get this very rough public bath scrub down (something they do at the local hot springs here). They used the same scrubber on everyone :/ It could be chicken pox or shingles too. My varicella zoster IgG was 1000 (with the normal range indicated as < 150). But that’s far less scary high than my HSV IgG. The medication I’ve been on for the apparent chickenpox (Acyclovir) has definitely helped, but shouldn’t that work for herpes too? Thanks again.