Sil88

No, i think we've all had that with or without H.. a rash from friction, chemicals, or a hundred other causes.

- You wore a condom during penetration, so there should be no reason why you'd feel a needle like pain in the tip. If you caught herpes from protected sex with her, it would be on the exposed areas of skin especially if you had a cut from shaving. - That blood and urine test likely won't cover herpes, so don't worry about them saying you have it. - Sore throat and sickness sounds more like some yeast or bacterial infection. I wouldn't link it to the flu-like symptoms people describe with herpes. - Did you eat asparagus or something? Smell of urine can be heavily influenced by what you eat. If not, again I wouldn't link that to herpes. Relax and what will be, will be. I think you'll be fine.

If you're wearing pants you shouldn't have to worry.

Did they specifically tell you the blood test was for herpes too? Usually the bloods they take at a GUM clinic are for other infections.. HIV, syphillis, hep. I've tried to get a blood test with the NHS, but they were adamant that they only use swabs. You can pay a private company to test your blood for antibodies though.. just make sure it's type specific since 70%+ will come back positive for hsv1 anyway (impossible to determine location). Also bear in mind they are not completely reliable - these two things together are probably why the NHS decides to spend its budget elsewhere.

Glad that you're not too bothered either way, but I'd still say it dorsnt sound much like herpes. The pimple may just be a pimple, folliculitis, ingrown hair or from shaving, and a sore throat is probably just a sore throat, which would cause swollen nodes anyway. Plus the swollen nodes should usually be local to the infection. You ask if anyone gets away with this kind of contact.. its statistically quite difficult to spread herpes, so I'd say the majority do. My outbreaks dont really hurt, but they always redden the skin in that area, and it kinda burns. Everybody is different, but it doesnt seem like the pimple youre describing.

I'm not clued up on health supplements, but I've been taking a vitamin C and vitamin D tablet each day, and try to regularly eat biopot yoghurts. Another funny coincidence - I mentioned I started having digestive problems.. well, constipation wasnt one (although ive heard acyclovir can dehydrate a lot - you're supposed to drink extra water) but I did have a minor case of piles. I agree with you about not overmedicating though, I'd rather train my body to fight it effectively in the long term..

If he has just acquired it recently like the shakes/back pain suggests, it would be too early to show up on a blood test (need to wait 3 months). However, the NHS doesnt cover herpes blood tests, only swabs of blisters.. so unless he paid privately or it was imperative for the hospital to find out, I'd be skeptical that he's been tested. Maybe ask him to try and get a copy of the results, because the numbers can show how accurate the diagnosis is. Unfortunately, hsv blood tests can be pretty inaccurate.. part of the reason we dont use them in the UK.

Thats funny, you wont read about it, but I had lower back pain around that time too.

If its to do with herpes.. I had uncontrollable shakes for the first few months, but never since. I think that would only be during the initial stage. At a time when your body's trying to fight a new virus, I think antibiotics can hamper the process because it indiscriminately kills bacteria in your gut. I dont think your boyfriends stinging whilst peeing is likely to be H..

Yea I was reading about that the other week.. using that logic, you could say the breakup was equally to blame for her death. Her hand written letter to Jim was publicised too, and it sounded like so many intro posts on here. I wish she couldve found some help.. maybe she did visit here. Although I cant blame a mother for wanting revenge, it seems a bit opportunist given that they were estranged, and the daughter didnt want to press the case whilst she was around. The thing that seemed to bother her was that Jim wouldnt accept responsibility for giving her H.. clearly he is used to people threatening to steal his fortune, and will be extra cautious so long as the legal threats remain. I doubt the mother's case will be successful, as how can anybody prove that she didnt already have one of the STDs beforehand? HSV1 is especially suspect. Very sad anyway.

Yea, the number just tells you how many antibodies youve built up, ie. how long youve had the virus. Nobodys gonna make contact with sores in your urethra so you ought to be a bit less of a risk, but they might not always appear there, and you will still shed the virus across your trunk region. Always recommended to disclose.. even in worst case scenario its quite difficult to spread, but we mention it for the 'what if' result, and the peace of mind. Your boyfriend showed his colours a bit.. Who knows - if he isnt lying about his results, and is responsible enough to test again in 3-4 months, you might see him come crawling back!

Try googling 'ladies compression shorts'. I'm not sure if they'd help, but at least the material would be evenly spread around the trunk area and I think they're designed to reduce friction. Pains me to say, as I did like the skirt idea..

My H journey has been a little more complicated than it should've been - lots of unusual symptoms, fatigue, rashes, digestive and nerve problems which have generally been fading over 2 years or so. I just assumed I was one of the unlucky ones whose immune system went crazy, and started to work on reducing stress. This morning I just had a thought.. When I was first diagnosed with H, I also came back positive for Chlamydia, so the nurse gave me a strong blast of antibiotics - 2 large pills at the same time. "A round of antibiotics permanently changes the immune system, as it indiscriminately kills bacteria. Since the good bacteria is killed along with the bad bacteria, the body’s ability to manufacture appropriate immune cells is altered." I'm thinking the antibiotics basically put a big strain on my immune system in the early days of building antibodies against hsv and that's why my body overreacted in the long term. Wondered if other people who've had a rough time of H could relate.

Yea the second one nornally isnt too far behind the first, dont worry. You can be glad its acting as it should. By the way, i forgot about God.. actually meant Ghandi! Either way, i also thought God was punishing me at the time.. goes to show the stress we go through. I left my God-loving ex a few months previously, and I was sure she'd prayed for it..

Hey, welcome to the club! Funny how much you can tell about someone from one post, and all of it tells me you should be fine with this; you clearly have a lot to offer which far outweighs herpes. As you know though, its easy to get sucked into a cycle of bad thoughts and emotions that builds momentum until you find a way to snap out of it. I guess a 'mourning' period is alright (albeit ott to describe it that way), but helping others as a next step is surely a good idea. As G-man said, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. You mention youve always been that person though, so I hope you manage to treat yourself at the same tine. By singing 'let it go', do you mean let go of the anger towards your ex for doing this to you? Thats another step worth working towards. Anyway, 1 month in and you're already making progress.. keep it up :)

No worries - my thinking would be: I probably have hsv, which is nothing unusual.. majority of cases are oral.. I only have reason to suspect my hands.. therefore it's unlikely to be genital, so there's no need to disclose or worry. At least until there are any developments. I have whitlow, and aside from the redness and swelling, the sores usually have white centres beneath a fair amount of skin, and come in sets of 2-5. Shame there's no strict rules though.

This is exactly the argument that goes on in my head all the time. But we should try to avoid confusion and contradiction in our explanations - and since I'd rather be happy, I'll mainly take the angel's side.

At the moment, I'd agree with this bit: "I began to think that maybe this test was non type specific and maybe i just have HSV-1 antibodies like most people do." Im not really sure why your doctor ran this test at all; it hasnt shown anything unusual, yet causes panic. This isnt worth stressing too much over, even if you get whitlow most cases are hsv1, and its absolutely possible to have it in one location and not the others. Yes, get a type specific test if it will stop your mind overworking. But you may be left with the same assumptions I'm making. When was the last time you had the sores on your hand? Its difficult to pin whitlow down, the sores dont usually open and it looks similar to other conditions. Are they quite angry and painful?

Firstly, there's no point waiting. Regardless of the test results, sex is never 100% safe; you should just take precautions like the condoms, and ask her to play her part by taking suppressive antivirals if it would make you more comfortable. But even if you abstain and come back negative in 3 months, what are you gonna do? Break up with someone you like so much? Her behaviour is a bit confusing after knowing each other for 2 months, but the fact that she told you at all proves she cares about you. She must feel a weight off her shoulders, but she still failed to tell you soon enough. Now she'll be wondering how you react to the situation, so I would tell her what you told us - that herpes itself doesn't bother you (she's worth the risk), but she needs to help you to trust her. Also, next time she has an outbreak, wait a couple of weeks after it's healed before having sex.

I would get in touch with Kaspersky - they may be able to run a scan to determine whether your phone has herpes or not. The only possible way your phone could spread herpes is if someone with the virus, whilst active, did the same as you moments beforehand - and you didn't wipe it down.

I'd get another blood test done to be sure it wasn't a false negative - a visual diagnosis isn't reliable at all, since it can appear in such a variety of forms. Could the blood have been caused by a small tear during sex, given the fact that you were inactive for 8 months?

You don't think you had any outbreaks... so you've had a blood test which said you're positive for hsv1. That would be the case for 80% of the world population. What made you get that test?

I've heard mixed answers about them giving out meds. They'll definitely give you antivirals to take during an OB, but you need to tell them it's happening regularly for them to give you suppressive courses, but in my case they were actually pretty keen to give them to me - must depend which Gum you go to and which doctor you see. Still have a few boxes I've never used! I tried to go without the meds as much as possible, I get an OB roughly once a year now (from once a month originally) So you probably won't be prone to them for long, and if you don't manage to get the suppressive pills I wouldn't worry about it - should be at the back of your mind so you get to fully enjoy Oz.

Hahahaha Franklin the Turtle, man.. Two things struck me. Firstly, people are scared of the unknown and these two combined know nothing about herpes. A little info would go a long way. Second, the reaction was looking pretty bland, so much that the guy (who wants this to get millions of views for $$$) has to keep repeating 'you did it, you gave it to me, I should be mad not you, you gave me herpes etc etc' That's not the way to deal with anything, and would piss anyone off. So he kinda recreated the worst case scenario.

Yea I caught it through a torn cuticle, but the blisters appear further up the finger.