Hello. I'm new to this group. I was diagnosed with HSV 1 and 2 last year (February of 2014). My guess is that I got HSV 1 when I was very young as I had cold sores all my life. Not all the time. Maybe once a year. I'm not sure when I got HSV 2. I've been married for 6 years. My spouse does NOT have it. I was not unfaithful. My first outbreak was in Feb. of last year. It was so so minor. In fact I went to see my gyno because I thought maybe I had a yeast infection or something. I did have a small bump that I thought was an ingrown hair. They swabbed it. That came back negative for HSV. But my blood test came back positive for both. I wasn't totally freaked out. But still a little taken back, mostly because it definitely drives me a little nuts that there are so many unknowns. I will say that from age 18 till about 21, I got BV quite a bit. Or at least that is what they treated me for. It only happened when I got my period. And not every month. I'd say a few times a year. Maybe those were outbreaks and I just didn't know. I never had any sores or anything....or at least not that I knew of. After age 21...nothing. I haven't even so much as had a yeast infection since then. I'm 36 now! Last February I went through IVF to try to have a baby. Very stressful. I'm sure that's what brought on my first "outbreak". My gyno gave me valtrex and although the outbreak wasn't bad and clearly almost cleared up, I took it. Since then I've had about 5 or 6 outbreaks (always minor, I'm talking like 1 blister), almost always when I get my period. I take the valtrex at the first sign of it. I get some prodrome symptoms (I think). Like nerve pain in my butt. I only really notice it when I sit on the toilet. It's kinda hard to wrap my head around this since my guess is that I've had HSV 2 for god only knows how long. My stress is under control. I eat well. I exercise. I am taking l-lysine. I know that for some people the outbreaks will lessen as time goes on and the body gets it under control. Now for my question...I'm wondering if I should stop taking the valtrex at the first sign of an outbreak? If I just let my body go through the outbreak without suppressing it with the valtrex, will my body get a handle on this quicker? I hate to complain about it because like I said my outbreaks are very manageable. But it's basically been every other month since the initial one and I'm just at a loss. Although it sounds like a lot of people are in that same boat. Thanks for any help, advice, etc.!