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Hello! I've had herpes for about 2 and a half years now type 1 and I'm still confused on the whole outbreak situation. What is an outbreak supposed to look and feel like? Am I supposed to always have blisters or something visible? How do I work out whats an outbreak and whats not? I've got the difference between herpes and a thrush fissure down (yes I am one of those people!) but I feel like I might be paranoid that I'm having outbreaks a lot more than I actually am.. I don't actively know of anyone else who has it around me so I still don't really know whats supposed to go on.... any help appreciated!

@Alissa This is so so inspiring and so helpful to people like me who are still in the "who will ever want me now" stage. Your post has made me feel a bit more hopeful about the future!

hi, @bk2124 this is a really reassuring story. Would you say it's better to let someone get to know you for a while first before considering becoming romantically involved with them?

@WCSDancer2010 I was diagnosed by swab, it was direct contact with an up and coming cold sore (we didn't notice at the time) which I assume is why it managed to make its way there or am I just disgustingly unlucky? Thankyou for the links I'll read through them all, i've mostly just been leaving the outbreaks to themselves they've only been very mild since in initial one but I will try and attack it from the outside from now on! I am quite disappointed that I've had four outbreaks after reading that many people with hsv1 don't ever get an outbreak again, but again maybe i'm just unlucky. sigh. Thank you for your help!

Hi, i've had hsv1 for nearly a year now and I'm on my forth outbreak.. I'm starting to see a correlation between getting colds and the herpes coming up. Does any one have any tips on how I can control this a bit more? Also now i've had this nearly a year can I expect outbreaks to become less frequent at all? I remember when I first got hsv1 on my mouth that I had quite a few cold sores in the first couple of years before they completely died down. Will it be the same sort of thing for this?

I got it last year, had a really bad first outbreak and then two really minor ones since where I had about 2 sores each time. Hoping over time that it'll die down, so far i've seen mine come up when i've been run down physically or had a cold so make sure you're keeping yourself healthy!

I feel like I'm quite a rare case.. I already had HSV-1 for years before I managed to get it genitally, so I get quite paranoid that I could transfer it somewhere else seeing as having it before didn't help me last time.

@hippyherpy Apparently so.. "Herpes Zoster Oticus" hurray

@Irene I think so far the paranoia might be the worst thing about it!

1. How do people keep the area clean? 2. Whats the recovery time for an outbreak, more or less? 3. How do you handle an outbreak while on your period and using pads? Are infections likely? 4. Can you swim with open sores or should you wait? 5. If in the bath, can the water carry the herpes to infect anywhere else?

I think i'm just having a panic as I think i've found my third outbreak and have thought back to all the ways I could have spread it around because I didn't know it was there! I'm also worried now as this is the third outbreak (HSV-1 btw, 1st in june 15, 2nd jan 16 now third april 16!) but the symptoms seem to have become less and less with every outbreak, the first was horrendous and the second was liveable but I was still aware of its presence but this time I genuinely didn't know until today when I woke up and the sore must have burst as it hurt a little. It's a good thing obviously that the symptoms aren't severe but I thought I knew myself quite well and would always be aware when it came up..

Thank you for answering, What if you didn't know that the sore was there and you were washing yourself and then washed your face? Is that possible? I know i''m just being paranoid about nothing but its a scary thought!

Hi, maybe a silly question but my one genuine fear seems to be passing herpes into my eyes.. Has that ever actually happened to anyone? Would it come up straight away if you had passed it on?

@WantThisToWorkOut Hi, this is what happened with me and my boyfriend. He gave me HSV-1 through oral, he didn't realise he was about to get a cold sore and like you wasn't clued up on them. I was exactly like your girlfriend when I first found out and I would just like to say, Please just let her be angry for a while, if it has only been 2 weeks you have to let her process it emotionally. She is going to scream and shout, she is going to cry, she is going to say she hates you but in the end she is still with you. Yes she has said she doesn't know if it will work out but she's upset right now just let it all calm down. Don't offer her advice on it, she'll throw it back at you with a "you have no idea how it feels" and to be honest ..you don't. All you can do is apologise and stick with her and let her know you love her. If you were a strong couple before you will get through this. Give her time, possibly show her this site and what you've written. I'll happily chat with her about it all, I'd love to talk to a girl in the same situation! Hope it all goes well for the both of you!

This helps a lot, it's nice to hear that people can be nice! Of course you will definitely be ok, you've got this! Herpes will never stop the show!!

Hiya, I got HSV-1 "down there" from my partner about 9 months ago through oral. It is very possible but apparently quite rare to pass "down there" unless there is an active breakout. Depending on if you meant your partner already has it on his genitals he can pass it to you through unprotected sex so I would be careful, he can also pass it to you through oral if he has HSV-1 on his mouth. I also get cold sores so already had the HSV-1 in my system but it still managed to have it passed onto me in the genital region.. My advice would be ALWAYS use condoms, it's just not worth the risk, if you can't guarantee protection then i'd just be really careful to make sure there are no outbreaks active before you do what you have to do haha

@wscdancer2010 Thankyou for all this information, I will definitely look at it all! @Bambina3 Yeah you're probably right!

I usually wait like 3 - 4 weeks until I feel completely alright and confident that everything's gone.

Hi, Things aren't going well with my current boyfriend, the guy who gave me HSV-1 about 9 months ago. The thing is i'm quite scared to lose him and start looking for someone else. I'm feeling quite over whelmed by "no one else will ever want me" feelings and I'm getting myself down. I don't really want to be rejected by people for something I had no control over. I guess i'm just wondering if anyone has any stories where anyone's been nice and accepting and still wanted a romantic relationship with the person infected..

Nome of mine gave been painful. I onky notice them from wiping and washing. Just feels a little tender when you touch... Doesn't bother me to sit, walk or exercise. Hi Again, Sorry. Is there any way to actually know if its a 2nd herpes outbreak? This seems so different to the first that I'm starting to think what if its something else.. My boyfriend complained of a really bad smell and a 'syrupy' discharge (I didn't realise I was having an outbreak at this point) and I've had itching, soreness, the discharge and maybe like one sore but I've just read somewhere that a second outbreak shouldn't smell? It doesn't smell at this point but because of what my boyfriend said I'm now worried it's something else.

So the recurrents are nothing like your primary. They're just annoying and not painful. Start soaking in Epsom salt baths daily until symptoms subside and buy bactine to spray thee affected area several times a day and it should be fine in days. Mine was horrendous too and w severe neuropathy and the only thing I get since then, is redness in my groin crease and a single or couple bumps that never turn into anything else. So don't worry. Are you on meds? Nope, you should be fine. Are the recurrent ones ever painful or just uncomfortable? I had a spare pack of acyclovir from when I was first diagnosed that I started taking as soon as I realised it probably was a 2nd outbreak but otherwise I haven't taken anything for it since the first outbreak cleared up.

Hiya, Just a quick back story, 6 months ago I was diagnosed with HSV1, after my now boyfriend unknowingly went down on me with a coldsore. To keep it short and sweet it was a horrendous first outbreak accompanied by a skin infection, I'm talking your downstairs dripping green goo, swelling so bad I couldn't close my legs properly, eventually and very painfully wetting myself in a luke warm puddle of bath water.. It all cleared and for 6 lovely months herpes was nothing but a lesson to tell my friends about (I have told my friends and family and also my boyfriend who was devastated that he'd given it to me everyone's all fine with it, herpes is not something to be ashamed of people, it's no ones fault and talking about it openly and teaching people to be aware is a good way of making the situation seem less of a situation) Anyway! I think I am having my second outbreak and I have realised I have no idea what to expect, my first outbreak was so bad and I assumed that they would all be like that? What I would like to know is what to expect, I know that everyone is different, but how have people here managed their second outbreak and what was it like? Do outbreaks differ in intensity every time? Will some be as bad as others or will they continue to get better and better until I can almost function normally while having an outbreak? At the moment this outbreak has been going on for maybe 4 days and so far I can still pee without pain and am only expierencing minor discomfort, does this mean its going to develop into sitting in the bath trying to hold on for as long as I can to prevent the pain?