Sadpanda

You sound a lot like me, I've had chronic yeast issues usually around the same time every month, but I'm finally getting it under control. I took so many Diflucan over the years I think I'm resistant to it now. And I haven't had an outbreak since switching to Valacylovir 500 mg a day. Acylovir never worked for me and made me very tired for some reason. Also, I switched to a menstrual cup instead of tampons and pads and that has been a godsend. It keeps everything much cleaner, drier, and outbreak free. Another godsend is boric acid suppositories, they wipe out not only yeast but bv as well if you're prone to that. They are NOT for ingesting orally but inserting vaginally for a few days to up to 2 wks depending on the severity of the infection. The most I have to use them is 3 days and the relief is amazing. I also take Queen V probiotic, which has other antiviral and anti yeast ingredients like garlic, turmeric, and grapefruit seed extract. The symptoms of yeast and herpes are similar, but most outbreaks would have at least one sore as well as intense tingling prior. But doing all of these things as well as wearing loose cotton underwear has helped me immensely. If I ever feel "off" I pop in another suppository and I get relief quickly. I of course wouldn't use boric acid WHILE having an outbreak, because you definately don't want it in your bloodstream. But for chronic yeast and bv, its a miracle cure. Hope this helps and good luck!

I usually fill at Target and it's $5 copay. Without insurance it will be $191 they said. They also said they could Match competitor online coupons and I found one for Kroger for $21. Which is Better than nothing. But I will have to go in and show the coupon each time to get the discount. But yeah I was shocked as this is the generic form of valtrex and it's still outrageous. I wish I could find an affordable online pharmacy that's legit.

I would say tampons because you're supposed to keep the area as dry as possible.

So, I'm losing my insurance and I'm going to go from paying $5 a month to $191 a month (Which I can't afford) unless I find a discount place to buy valacyclovir. Please help since I tried going without it and I can't. :(

I'm finding out. In the next few weeks I'm having a breast biopsy, a custody hearing, and my fiance is losing his job at the college he teaches at because it's been bought out. I havent been sick or missed a dose of valtrex but today I got that familiar papercut pain where I always do. And sure enough, theres an angry red painful blister. Oh yeah, the lawnmower caught on fire and my printer scanner died too. It's super challenging to destress during times like these but obviously I need to.

@Yogini25, I *did* have papercuts in the same spot each time after sex, but not after starting Valtrex over a year ago. I haven't had anymore cuts or lesions. I've had outbreak symptoms here and there, but rarely and they are very mild. Never an actual outbeak or lesion anymore. Since both me and my fiance have had the gamut of Std tests and both are clean except for hsv2, we have switched to lambskin condoms and those have been a lifesaver as well. I've always had irritation issues (even before herpes), and have tried almost every kind of condom and lube you can think of. They smell weird, but I've had zero issues with lambskin. No irritation, no papercuts, nothing. My vagina is finally at peace. Lol. Lambskin aren't recommended for Std protection as they are porous, just pregnancy protection. But I believe making the switch to those, organic natural lube, and daily Valtrex have all worked together to keep things content down south.

It doesn't say anything about hsv2, but I'm assuming the same. Not really thrilled about the tone in this article, but yeah. Anyone experienced this firsthand? http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/herpes-kills-your-butthole-neurons-and-makes-you-constipated/

For treating me like a regular person, unlike nearly all the medical staff I've encountered since diagnosis. I always put hsv2 and Valtrex in my health history, because my future health and medication interactions are more important to me than what someone thinks. That being said, it always raises questions and today was no different. I went in for am earache and she asked what I took the Valtrex for and how often. She said herpes? And I said hsv2 yes very quickly. She said ok then, herpes. I felt the usual wave of shame i always feel, but instead of treating me like I'm diseased and hurrying through the appt, she made small talk during the rest of the exam. Even my dermatologist's ma didn't want to be near me so I really appreciated being treated like a person again. To me the questions are unnecessary since I'm pretty certain the meds we take can be used for all forms of herpes. It shouldn't matter which I have. But I always tell the truth, regardless. Anyone else get treated differently by medical staff once they know about your status?

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Things are better for now. It's like the next day he was back to his old self, which bothers me. Because of course I didn't forget about it that easily. We talked it out and things are ok but I'm still proceeding with caution. Thanks again and hugs to you all!

So you know that point in a relationship when you finally feel secure and all is going well but then you see the aloofness in his eyes, the disinterest in your convo, and he nit picks you out of nowhere for no reason? Yeah my rare night out ended in tears because we are to that point already. This October would be our 2 year anniversary, and we've been engaged since Christmas. I haven't had to deal with dealing with H by myself, but now it's looking like I'm going to. And I just turned 40, yet another strike against me. Much love to those going thru it alone..

Aw thank you, I appreciate that. And don't be afraid of the meds, they are safe and life changing. Some of us have chronic symptoms and nerve pain, and the meds really do help. Sometimes it takes time to find the right one for you, I started with acyclovir but it made me very tired. I have zero symptoms with Valtrex and it's changed this virus for me to basically something I hardly think about anymore. I remember the day I felt normal down there after months of not, and it was such an awesome feeling I had to post it on here. And thanks to the Valtrex, nearly all of my days are like that. And I remember secretly judging people too because I didn't know that much about herpes. One of my roomates in college had it, and I remember wanting to tell every boyfriend she brought home about it (she never disclosed to them). I did tell one of them, but it was too late unfortunately as he already had symptoms. And then another friend in the U.K. that I was visiting had it, and I didn't use his claw foot rub the whole wk I was there. I bathed the best I could in the sink. And of course I didn't know either you could get it from condoms, or I wouldn't be here either. I wish there was more awareness, it's rediculous that there's not. And my giver also played the innocent card, but 80% of people with hsv are asymptomatic. So he could be telling the truth, it's hard to say. I also notice that men usually have milder and less frequent outbreaks, it seems, in my experience and from reading on here. My giver finally did say sometimes he would get a sore on his nose that wouldn't heal, and after researching i discovered that could be herpes whitlow. He apologized to me, but as far as I know never went in to her diagnosed since he was symptomless. You are so right about how you handle the virus, and once your symptoms are under control you will not only feel better physically, but that in turn helps you emotionally and mentally as well since you're not constantly being reminded of it. I was afraid of the meds at first too, but they have really changed my life for the better. Take care and God bless you too. :)

Awesome story! So happy for you! <3

I am so sorry. my story isn't quite as romantic (or well written), but my giver was actually someone I had dated 12 yrs prior while I was in college. Out of the blue one day (literally the day after I changed my fb status to divorced), he friends me and mssgs me. He invited me to visit him (he had moved about 2 hrs away), and I thought sure why not, nothing else to do and he wanted to catch up. He was a social butterfly so I assumed it was just a friendly meet up. But he had bought wine, and the hours flew by. Eventually it was too late for me to drive home safely, so he asked me to stay and I said sure. He showed me the guest room and said he'd be downstairs, unless I was "ok with cosleeping". Stupid naive me said "sure that's fine", but I set myself up for physical stuff that I wasn't expecting. Not trying to play a victim, I just should've been smarter. Anyway, he said he brought condoms but was "clean" and had had a vasectomy if I didn't want to use a condom. I said no, we are definately using condoms. Long story short, we had sex that night and again the next morning. That morning I felt this intense tingling sensation on my opening and I was swollen. I thought it was odd but maybe it was a side effect of great sex. Nope. A couple of weeks later in mid Summer I found myself in urgent care with the worst flu like symptoms ever and a horrific papercut lesion near my opening. I was misdiagnosed there and also at planned parenthood, it wasn't until the following February (and many outbreaks later), that I was properly diagnosed with hsv2. I was devastated and had horrible symptoms for mths, but have been living fairly symptom free since taking Valtrex daily. I've forgiven myself (and my giver), since then, and have been finding new ways to instill peace in my life. Of course I still wish i had never visited him in the first place, but now I'm just coping with what I've been dealt. One unexpected benefit is that I haven't been sick for over a year since being on meds either. Usually I get strep, the flu, or some kind of illness at least once a year, but nothing so far, knock on wood. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I think not. I've also been taking much better care of me to reduce stress, like going to the beach by myself with my kids, taking long walks and doing yoga. Coloring has also helped me unwind after a long day. Once you get your symptoms under control, life can be as it was before and perhaps better. Even sex is better (in my case, anyway), it's like things are more sensitive now but in a good way. So don't despair, we've all been there and we've all pulled through. There is a light, hang in there...

If you're having an ob I was told taking a Diflucan can make it worse. Yeast is more of a burning itch, herpes is an unbearable itch usually. Watch out for intense tingling before symptoms worsen, that's usually an ob coming along. Last time I went to the dr for abdominal cramping, they took one look at my chart, saw I had herpes and put me on an antibiotic cocktail trio, and ran the gamut of std tests on me AGAIN, even though I said I was engaged and monogamous and had been since last testing. So I took all the meds and guess what? All labs were NEGATIVE but all those antibiotics gave me a mth long yeast infection from hell. Never again will I be pigeonholed just because I have herpes. Drs don't seem to know (or care to know) about it, so we really have to take charge of our own health unfortunately.

When I had my outbreaks, (haven't had one in a long time thanks to Valtrex), mine were like papercuts and they were always in the same spot and usually the wk of my period or the day after I had sex. I went 7 mths without knowing I had hsv2, and had been misdiagnosed twice by urgent care and by planned parenthood. I unfortunately had spread it to my current fiancé before I even knew I had it. Herpes is sneaky like that. We were both diagnosed at the same time and both currently take Valtrex daily. It's been a lifesaver. Hope this helps and good luck...

Ditto what whitedaisies said. I was misdiagnosed twice until I was finally swabbed and tested positive for hsv2. I had outbreaks every mth for about 7 mths that I didn't know were herpes. I thought they were yeast infections too since they felt exactly like that.

Ok, so my bf of a year in Oct was diagnosed at the same time I was in Feb. since then, we've been on 500 mg of valtrex daily for suppression since we both had had frequent outbreaks before we knew what we had. We both have been ob free since, but this wk he noticed a swollen red area on his scrotum about an inch or so all around. Today he said there's a red spot and scab. Could this be an outbreak? It looked nothing like his previous ones. He has had a lot of stress at work lately. He doesn't have the itching and soreness that he did with the previous outbreaks either.

That's awesome! :)

What everyone else said. I too was having constant symptoms for months until I was on antivirals daily. Since then I haven't had any outbreaks and rarely have symptoms anymore. But before I was on the daily meds, I had constant burning and nerve pain. I'm on valtrex 500 mg daily now.

I had them every month the week of my period, always in the same spot. Haven't had one since I've been on valtrex though.

Maybe it's just me but I put it on all the forms that I have H2 and am on Valtrex, even at the dentist and the dermatologist. Is it wrong that I don't care what they think of me? I'm more concerned about drug interactions than anything else. No one had asked me about it or treated me differently (with the exception of my gyno who diagnosed me, but it's hard to find a good gyno here anyway). So yeah, I was fully prepared to give the lecture on statistics, stigma, etc, but so far, no one has said boo to me about it.

Oh wow, sorry to hear that. I'm kinda worried about this happening to me since I never got a bad primary ob either and was actually misdiagnosed twice. Went about 8 mths without knowing I had H. For some reason what I thought were monthly yeast infections (with papercuts that I thought were from sex), actually got worse and the symptoms hung around nonstop for a few mths, during diagnosis and after. I started acyclovir and that didn't work so I switched to valtrex and it took awhile but I've been doing very well on it. Haven't had an actual ob since I started it back in Feb. Hope this helps and you can get some relief soon.

@WCSDancer2010, thank you I will try that next time. @girlnamedhope, so sorry the meds didn't work for you. Have you tried famvir yet?

So sorry to hear that 2Legit. But it sounds like things are getting better for you. Thanks for all the information. I'm on a probiotic too. Thinking of switching to all cotton tampons since I read synthetic fibers can harbor microbes. Seems like when I do have issues, it's after my period or after sex. I have a script for lidocaine, but haven't used it yet. I'm thinking I should keep the area as dry as possible for now.

Good idea, I will try that. If I squat or sit a certain way I'll feel a shooting papercut feeling where I usually get sores. But I just looked with a flashlight and mirror again and there's nothing there. I can't see or feel anything when I look for it. It's when I'm working or doing anything I mentioned above that I get the shooting pains. Also feels irritated too. Not sure if an ob is on its way or not. I've had these symptoms for several days now and still no sores yet.