JenPhoenix40

@BoldAsLove welcome, and know that things get much easier the further you get from your diagnosis. I was diagnosed 2.5 yrs ago on my 40th birthday. Yay me lol. Welcome to 40, and here's a little viral friend to accompany you on your journey. But anyway, my initial OB was as you describe, but the sickness only lasted 24 hrs or so, and the lesions were minimal. I take valacyclovir daily now, and don't have OBs. Initially, they'd happen when I shaved, intercourse, and especially backpacking. FRICTION. So keep that in mind. Stress and alcohol can also lead to OBs for some people. The most important thing right now is to understand that this isn't anything that should affect how you feel about yourself. It's a minor skin condition. One in 4-5 people in the US has it, and about 85% don't even know because they may not have symptoms. Let that sink in. It's incredibly common. It doesn't mean you've been promiscuous. I'm 42 and have been with a dozen men, and I got it. It's the luck of the draw. I have friends, male and female, who've been with WAYYYY more people than me and are negative (to their knowledge anyway). Also, intercourse isn't required to contract it. Oral and just skin to skin contact in the "boxer region" can be risky. This forum is awesome for support. I told my mom. I also told my BFF of 37 yrs. That BFF has an alcohol problem and told everyone she talked to, blaming it on drinking too much. Her mom, both brothers, sister in law, 18 yr old son, and her bf know. Luckily, her mom and one brother are like family, so they were understanding. So be careful who you disclose to right now. It's your story, and you should be the only one telling it. That BFF is no longer in my life other than an occasional facebook interaction. I wish you the best of luck. With time you'll have a better perspective. For me, my first thoughts were, "It is what it is". I can't change it. All I can do is live with it, so in my mind that meant there wasn't much need for worrying and stressing over it.

I've read that, too. Hard to keep from thinking of all of my buds who've slept with 2-5x as many men as me, yet they're negative (to their knowledge). I'm 42, and my friends are close to that age and most are now divorced. I try to educate them, but they still have unprotected sex and believe they don't have it and won't get it. Same with my guy friends. One who's never been married recently commented that he'd "been with as many women as Magic Johnson", yet he has never had symptoms so assumes he's negative.

One more thing...the guy and I are still together and happy as can be. We're celebrating our 4th Christmas together this year.

Hi @Silverlining1012. I just came back to the board after a year, so I apologize for the big delay. I have genital HSV2. I take 1000mg of valacyclovir daily because I'm in a relatuonship and he's negative. I don't have OBs. When I was on 500mg pills I still had them sometimes, but they were fairly minor. On another note... I'm 2.5 yrs out and rarely even think of what I call my little viral buddy. :) Life is good.

I have HSV2, and take Valacyclovir daily. I don't have OBs. Hypothetically, wouldn't I be less likely to pass it on (statistically) vs if a guy is having casual sex with women, and receiving oral sex, who don't know their status? I know his risk with me is about 2%. One in 4-5 women have it, and 80% don't know, if I remember correctly. So i wonder what the chances are in any given casual encounter? If doesn't matter for me because I'm in a 3.5 yr relationship. I just had too much thinking time on my hands today lol.

My doc said she'd up me to 1000 mg for 90 days and then come to see her and do bloodwork. I dread seeing what that'll cost, but if it works it's worth it.

That's good to know. I feel like I'm having an OB or tingling once a month at least! I messaged my doc about upping to 1000 mg until I see her again. I have backpacking and vacation coming up in less than 2 weeks. Both always trigger an OB, and I'll be backpacking for 4 days, then go to a resort for the next 4 days. I reallyyyy hope I can avoid the dreaded visitor this time. Luckily, an OB usually is only one lesion. It could be much worse.

I also take about a teaspoon of lysine every day

For those of you who didn't have great luck with valacyclovir as suppresive therapy, has there been anything else that helped? I'm taking 500 mg 1x per day. Is it common to need a higher dosage? What about Famvir? I guess I'm also going to clean up my diet, cut out alcohol and maybe caffeine, and hope for the best. I started olive leaf extract liquid 2x per day, and I take fish oil, turmeric, vit D, and a multi vitamin.

Thank you!!! I had a feeling it might take time to build up in your body. Good to know!

I'm hypothyroid, so fatique is nothing out of the ordinary for the past 15 yrs. However, I don't get a second wind anymore once my little bit of energy is exhausted for the day. In addition, the amount of energy I have normally is much less than it used to be. I was diagnosed in early June 2015. I've been working out 3 to 4 times a week since July 2015, so I theoretically should have MORE energy. I also seem to fight OBs often despite valacyclovir daily. Nothing major, but a tingle at least once a month. I'll take 2 pills a day for 2 or 3 days and it rarely turns into a full OB. Is all of this normal? I'm an active person. A typical weekend involves a day of kayaking and a couple hour hike, plus going balls to the wall at the gym 3-4 times during the week. This fatique is now mentally draining me. I wonder if I do too much physically and cause my body to look at it as stress.

I skipped it for a few days and ended up with a prodrome. :( At least it wasn't a full on OB.

Hi all! I'm debating on whether to pick up my script or wait until Monday when I get paid. Lots of unexpected vehicle expenses came up this week, so money is tight. If I miss 3 days, is it going to take a week or so to build back up in my system? I'm in a relationship, so I don't want to endanger him. I can hold off on any sexual contact for the next few days.

And I'm happy to say that life is perfectly fine. :) I think I took the diagnosis pretty well a year ago. "Welcome to 40, and oh yeah, life just tossed an H-bomb to you" was basically what I felt like. It is what it is, and I couldn't change it, so might as well accept it. I had been dumped by the love of my life in January. The one who made me think that soul mates really did exist. Then in May I found out I had herpes. Me, the person who'd only slept with a dozen men and I'm 40 yrs old. I still wasn't over soul mate dude really, and decided not to date to avoid the talk for awhile and just focus on me. I joined a gym and contacted soul mate dude to see if he'd still want to kayak since we did it every weekend previously in summer. He immediately called and we began about 6 wks of ONLY kayaking. No chit chat during the week or afterward. Life was pretty good. I realized I could easily handle just being friends. Then mid-July he called me on a weekday at lunch (which never happened) and was distraught. He's a really healthy guy, and had just left the doctor with blood pressure of 190 over something or other. He confessed to being a closet alcoholic, and I had no clue. I asked him if he wanted to meet in town somewhere and talk since he was so upset. We sat in the park for an hour while he cried and poured his heart out to me about how well he'd hidden his alcoholism for 12 years. He said he didn't know who else to call, but he needed to get all of that off his chest. He quit drinking that day. While we were at the park, I told him I had herpes. Briefly explained it, and told him I just felt the need to tell someone. We left with a plan that I'd keep him busy in the evenings since that was when he used to drink. Fast forward about a month, and we were very slowly progressing to dating again. Looking back on it, it happened just like it needed to. I had time to process my new found viral friend while he was focusing on his recovery. When we finally admitted to ourselves that we were actually dating again, it felt like a huge relief because he was completely ok with my virus and loved me no matter what. I had disclosed to him as a friend, and I'm glad I did because it avoided the anxiety of having to do it later and wonder if he'd bail. So here we are...happy, happy, happy. He's remained sober (fairly easily). The first OB that I had gave me a lot of stress because I had to tell him that I couldn't have any sort of relations really. His response nearly made me cry. He told me not to stress over it, that he'd found the person he intended to spend the rest of his life with, and this was a minor issue. THANK GOD. That was a long, drawn out story, but my point is that if it's the right person, they are truly accepting. I've stayed on meds to prevent transmission and don't have any side effects, so herpes really is a non issue. The only reason I think about it is because I take a pill every day. Oh, and when I backpack that friction always causes an OB!!

I bought powdered lysine and use it daily. I sprinkle it in my oatmeal, or add to a smoothie. No taste, so it's easy. Not sure if it actually helps anything. Only trigger I've noticed was when I drank a preworkout that had arginine in the top ingredients. Had a bump the next day.