Sadpanda

Ugh, sorry to hear that. I haven't felt "normal " down there since valentines wkend, right before my last ob. I didn't have lesions that whole time but definately had extreme irritation and redness. I actually had a day this wk when I felt pretty normal, then bam a new blister today. Are you on meds? I'm back on valtrex indefinately now. It seems that no 2 hsv infections are the same. My bf had a horrific first ob all over his scrotum and base, and hasn't had one since. I've had one every mth since the initial one last summer. And wasn't diagnosed till last mth, after several trips to the dr and wrong diagnoses. But I'm really curious too as to when the normal feeling comes back. It seems like I'm always having issues lately even long after an ob.

@Bslydell I think mine have always started as blisters, but I didn't notice till after I was diagnosed. I always saw them at ulcer stage, when they hurt. And they are very small, like the head of a pin. Right now I have 2 side by side, but they usually cluster in 3s, all to form a small spot less than half my pinky nail size. But I know it probably won't always be that way. I'm hoping these will go away without rupturing since i Dbld up on valtrex and found some lemon balm extract. I know a lot of doctors misdiagnose. I was actually misdiagnosed for a yeast infection during my initial ob last summer. Even with lesions present. It wasn't until my ob last mth that I saw my obgyn and she took one look and told me I had herpes. The viral culture she took was positive. I know there are other conditions that cause sores besides herpes, but they are hard to diagnose. Hope you can get some answers....

I'm not sure what else it could be. Usually I get papercut style lesions in the skin on the left side. This is way above that, on the inside of an inner lip. If it becomes an ulcer I will not want to pee at all based on where it is. I just had unrealistic hopes. I was having an ob once a mth before I realized what it was an diagnosed. Then I freaked out and tried suppressive meds, but couldn't handle the side effects so I tried to cut the doses on half, then stopped them completely last wk. I guess that was a mistake. But my bf has it too and only had one ob, in jan. He's not on meds but has them in case he breaks out.

I went off the meds for suppression on the 13th. I was feeling great for the first time in a looong time. Avoiding triggers, getting plenty of sleep, taking Epsom baths when things felt weird. So far so good until NOW when I saw a new blister in a part where I never get them! Ugh! I feel like crying but can't because I'm at work. Took some valtrex and I'm going to try to find lemon balm cream later. Does anyone know where it's sold? Ugh I'm so depressed all over again. I hate this virus!!! ;(

I tried both of those meds and also had bad reactions, but the acyclovir was worse for me. I haven't had any meds in 4 days and feel much better physically, but last night I started having shooting nerve pains like I was starting another outbreak. So I took an Epsom salt and tea tree oil bath, and some lysine, and today no pains yet. I was just dx'd last mth, and I freaked out and opted right away for suppressive therapy, but now I'm realizing that probably wasn't the right choice for me as I'm really sensitive to meds. So I'm going to see how my immune system handles it over time, and take supplements and avoid triggers in the meantime.

Well I've been off meds for 4 days now, and so far so good. I did get some shooting pains on the opposite side of where I outbreak last night. So I soaked for an hr in a bath of Epsom salts and tea tree oil. I took some lysine and went to bed early. Felt great today with no more symptoms so far, knock on wood. Today was my first "normal" feeling day in a looooong time. No irritation, pains, or tingles. God how I missed this! Hope it continues for awhile at least.

Just took my first ever Epsom bath and it was AMAZING. I didn't realize how soft and soothing they were. Things seem dried out and less irritated atm. Don't know if it's the bath or the fact that I took my last acyclovir this am, but I'm no longer feeling like crap. Also, my bf had his "post diagnosis" appt with his pcp today. She is only giving him an "outbreak pack" like episodic therapy. She won't prescribe him suppressive unless he has more outbreaks. And he explained to her that I'm on suppressive, and she said that's not recommended except in pregnancy or to prevent a partner from getting it, (which we don't need). Weird.

Thanks, I'll try that. Today and yesterday I took the usual 800 mg of acyclovir. But I honestly don't know if I'm trying to have an ob or not right now. STILL having horrible itching and burning (no lesions yet), still have body aches but today I also have tingling and numbness in my fingers and hands. What causes that? Plan on taking a salt bath after work. Someone tell me I'll feel normal again. :(.

*also, I found out it WAS my birth control that was causing the insane burning itch from hell. I looked up the reviews last night and so many other women had the same thing. I was scared it was another ob coming on, but I have been off of it for 48 hrs now and already am improving. Stay far away from aviane, toxic stuff..

Today I started taking acyclovir again and didn't have the back pain, but it made me feel crappy all over. Like I was coming down with something. The valtrex never did that to me, just the back pain. Not sure which one is worse. I'm tempted to see how I do without the meds. I'm scared, but tempted. I don't want to feel like crap every day, but I don't want to experience peeing with lesions again either. Does anyone know if the crappy muscle pains goes away after time with acyclovir? And how effective is episodic therapy? Do you still get lesions when you take as needed?

@MissingMe, I'm sorry. They are not the same thing. I was referring to acyclovir and valtrex being essentially the same medicine. However, acyclovir does not hurt my back the way valtrex and the supplement lysine do. It doesn't make sense to me since I thought valtrex and ayclovir were the same thing. I'm switching back to acyclovir today. It's not as effective as the valtrex, but I can't handle the back pain anymore. It kept me up last night.

*and on a side note, I am loving the crazy dreams the antivirals are giving me. I never have dreams otherwise, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

Yes! I cannot WAIT for that day to come again! Thanks for all the advice, I'm thinking I'm one who def needs the meds for awhile. The lysine was making my kidneys hurt too so I quit that. Really curious why ayclovir didn't do that to me when it's essentially the same medicine...

Thanks for the info, will do. And I think the irritation I have is from this new birth control I'm taking. I thought it might be another ob starting, but no papercuts or discharge, or flu symptoms. Buts it's making me crazy. Think I will stop it and see if that helps. Not like I can have sex anyway. Also, I only have 3 refills for valtrex. I'm hoping they won't give me a hard time about wanting to use it longterm if I do get used to it. Are there ways around that? My bf's doc doesn't want to start him on meds unless he has frequent obs...

Thanks everyone. Maybe I will stick with the valtrex awhile longer then and see what happens. Is it kidney pain or muscle pain? The area where I have it feels like it's in the kidneys, but my pee is fine. When I called my dr, the nurse said "valtrex doesn't cause backpain, you must've hurt your back". But I didn't, and I didn't have the pain before the valtrex, even when on acyclovir. I switched to valtrex because I was still getting ob symptoms with the ayclovir. It's crazy that my bf and I both were newly diagnosed, and I've had at least one ob a mth and he's only had one and isn't taking meds.

Thanks so much! :). So are you currently taking antivirals? The valtrex was causing me backpain in my kidney area, so I've been cutting them in half. Since then, no pain but I'm hoping that's enough to keep the outbreaks at bay...

Newly diagnosed and apparently I've had it awhile unfortunately. My most recent outbreak was the worst so far, and it started almost a month ago. Even though the papercut sores have healed awhile ago, I STILL feel itchy, burny, and irritated with the same discharge as the outbreak. I've been taking Valtrex, olive leaf extract, and a probiotic daily. Will I ever feel ok again down there? Or will I always have some kind of symptoms like these? My boyfriend has hsv2 as well, but has only had one outbreak. We have not had sex in a month due to these issues, which don't seem to be going away. I was recently tested for everything else too, and all was negative. Anyway, looking for advice, hopeful stories, etc. I just want to feel normal again at some point and try to have a normal life.

I was using Bactine on my "papercuts" before I ever knew I had hsv2 and was diagnosed. Each month I would get them usually after sex or during the week of my period. The lidocaine did help a lot with the pain, but I had to reapply throughout the day so I took it to work too. I have the spray version. I'm not sure if it made them heal faster, but they didn't multiply and they didn't get worse. I think from what I've read and others experiences, I think it did help to heal them a little faster compared to the norm. And this was before I was diagnosed and started on the antivirals. I DIDN'T use Bactine on the outbreak I had during diagnosis, and took Acyclovir instead. It was the longest outbreak I've had yet, so maybe there is something to be said for the Bactine....

Thanks guys. The week I found out, I was prescribed acyclovir 3x daily for 7 days. Then I was prescribed it 2x a day as suppressive therapy. I started to feel another ob starting not long after the one before it had healed. So my dr switched me to generic Valtrex, 500 mg a day. I'm also taking olive leaf extract and a probiotic. I was taking Lysine as well but it was making my kidneys hurt pretty badly. Since the Valtrex, I haven't missed any doses but I still feel weird pricking pains down there even though I can't see anything. I also feel achey again all over, and itchy like a yeast infection. I haven't felt "normal" down there in over a mth. Is that typical? Will I ever feel normal again? I'm so grateful for this site as it's nice to have some non-judgemental, informed support. I will also be seeking a new obgyn as I feel like mine was not very understanding/empathetic when diagnosing me. Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I'm learning a lot from the other stories on this forum.

Hello. I've had issues since last August, when I had reconnected with an old flame from 12 yrs ago. We were safe, but apparently not safe enough as I've had what I thought was a yeast infection the week of my period every mth since. And in August, the first time we slept together, I woke up swollen and in pain. A few days later I found myself in Urgent Care with the worst flu-like symptoms and pain down there ever, and was wrongly diagnosed with a yeast and a bacterial infection. I took all the meds and went on with life. In Sept, I had gone to Planned Parenthood for what I thought was the gamut of std testing, just to be on the safe side, and of course all was negative. (not tested for the H of course, which at the time I was unaware of). Since October I've been in a wonderful new relationship with the most amazing, intelligent, thoughtful man ever. However, every time we've been intimate I wake up the next day with a "papercut" in the same spot, and it stays there for several days. I thought it was because I hadn't had much sex in the past several years, and with condoms I've been getting dry, even with lube. Fast forward to January, and my poor sweet boyfriend breaks out in a horrific rash all over his base and scrotum. He goes to the dr, is ALSO wrongly diagnosed with an "allergic reaction", and is given a topical ointment which did nothing to heal him. Eventually after a couple of wks he scabbed and healed, and we continued to believe that he had just had an allergic reaction and thought nothing more about it. Fast forward to Valentines weekend. We actually get the weekend to ourselves, despite our hectic schedules, kids, jobs, etc. We go away for the weekend and have an amazing time. However, the very next day I wake up to light bloody spots and the papercut thing again, in the very same spot. I waited it out for a few days but things got worse. I called my obgyn, she wanted to see me this time instead of just calling me in the standard Diflucan. She took one look and called out to her nurse to grab an hsv culture kit. Then she broke the news, it was either hsv1, or hsv2, but I would find out in 7-10 days when the culture was complete. Then I got the call, extremely positive for hsv2. I was shocked, devastated, and even more so that it became clear that I had also infected this wonderful new man in my life. I broke the news to him and he was very understanding. He got tested as well and was also positive for hsv2. He didn't have lesions for a culture, but took the antibody blood test. He was told it was a recent infection based on his counts. I feel terrible. And how were 2 different people so wrongly diagnosed? And why didn't I get an initial outbreak like the ones I see online? Is that coming later for me? I did feel awful that day in August and could barely drive I was so weak with a high fever. But I wasn't covered in sores. Just the one papercut area that the Urgent Care dr told me was an ulcer from yeast. I wish I had known then what I know now, then I could've prevented myself from spreading this to someone else. Does anyone else have a similar story? Also, we have not been intimate since Valentine's weekend. He's still very much in this (as am I), but 1) I don't want him to outbreak again like I have continuously each month with my papercuts, 2) I don't want ME to outbreak again from having sex again, which is obviously a trigger. But we're still in love, in spite of our recent diagnosis. I feel very lucky as I know it could've easily gone the other way. I'm just looking for some advice, or to find out if anyone else had a similar story to mine.