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mister_marker

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  1. Dear mxpdc, please do not give up! It was by no means my intention to disccourage you by telling you about my situation. I also do believe that the body will eventually regenerate - but at least in my case, it cannot do so as long as my mind is still in turmoil. The tricky thing is, that this skin condition has become a psychological burden in itself. And a massive one, in fact. It is some kind of a vicious circle. In fact, I am having some ups (when the skin starts looking quite okay, without any visible irritations). But so far these were only short periods. As soon as I face the first stressful situation (at work, with my ex-wife a.s.o.) my skin immediately responds with outbreaks or by getting badly irritated again. I think the use of steroids has somehow harmed the skin, so it responds much easier to any kind of stress (before that i did have an ob only once a or max. twice a year!). For now, I think I would just need to have a longer stress-freed period in my life (the last two years I definitely did not have that). Then I believe, the skin would get the chance recover. Dear MMissouri - I am circumcised. But on recommendation of various dermatologists I have been continously using different creams. I do believe that in the end of the day, that has aggravated the situation. Especially, of course the steroide cream. But all these other creams probably also did more harm than being any good. As for the moment, I am not using any creams any more (only sometimes a soft zink cream when there is an especially bad irritation).
  2. Dear mxpdc, I am sorry to hear about this. What you are describing - use of steroids, following symptoms and your psychological state - pretty much matches my personal situation. I am still struggling with my condition myself. And now I am already going into the 2nd year of it. It seems each time, I am finally getting over it (the affected skin area on my penis seems to look almost normal again), it comes back at me full force. I have constantly changing skin symptoms, itching, rash, red dots, discoloration asf. that i neved had before. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The worst part is that I am always unsure whether I am facing a new herpes outbreak with atypical symptoms - or whether it is something else altogether. I am now on acyclovir suppressive therapy but so far this did not have much impact. However, I have quit applying creams and other stuff and try to keep my mind not too occupied with my condition (which of course does not work too well). On top of everything I have developed a severe anxiety disorder and also compulsive patterns of behavior which I cannot get rid off so far. And yes, also a depression whose severity is direclty linked to these skin problems. A year ago I have started psychotherapy. But so far it did not have too much of an effect. But then, I am also going to a period of massive stress and change in my life (divorce, I quit my job and I am having to look for a new one) and I do hope, that once I have started my "new life" these symptoms will also disappear. INterestingly enough, the symptoms started to aggravate when the separation between my wife and me became increasingly obvious, so I do believe there is also a strong psychological element in it.
  3. Dear all, thanks so much for your support. It's a good feeling to have you guys around. I just gotta learn how to cope with the situation adequately. Definitely, I need to make considerable changes in my lifestyle (food, less stress a.s.o.), als well as finding better remedies for curing my outbreaks. And your suggestions are really helfpul in doing so. Thanks again for that.
  4. Thank you two very much for your very helpful comments and advice!! It does feel extremely good to communicate to someone with herpes experience, finally. I got myself some stuff for my immune system. It contains several vitamins (among them vitamin e) and several mineral nutrients, among them zinc, iron, selenium, iodine and others. I will see how that works for start. I will also try to get some gold bond on amazon. Concerning my anxiety disorder - it is linked to a obssessive-compulsive disorder that has surfaced over the last years. Since my last outbreaks, I act compulsively e.g. when it comes to disinfecting my hands, wearing gloves when washing underwear, showering and things. I know this sounds super crazy and it also does feel super crazy. I started psychotherapy in December last year, but somehow I have not yet reached back to a stage where I can put my knowledge into action. I just have this powerful feeling of being contaminated and contagious.
  5. Dear 2legit2quit, der janedoe, thank you very much for your replies, it is of great help for me to get these feedbacks! It is of a great help for me! I do feel quite depressed about my current state, and which is worse on top of everything i started to develop a rather extreme anxiety disorder over the past year which is strongly related to herpes - somehow my mind is 24/7 connected to the issue. Which of course also puts me under constant stress. I also have this horrible fear of spreading the virus to my small son, and even though I read all the posts here on transmission, it somehow does not help me and calm me down. ANyways, I do have a question about bactine, since here in Germany it is not available under that name. I did read that it contains benzalkoniumchloride, basically it is just a desinfectant used for smaller wounds and cuts, is that right?
  6. Hello, it's my first post on this forum. I am from Germany and I am really greatful that I found you guys - it seems that the knowlegde of genital herpes seems to be considerably higher in the US than in Germany. Same seems to be true about the openness in which people share their problems with having the virus. Anyways, here is my huge problem (sorry, that it's kind of a long story): I have been diagnosed with genital herpes in 2009, since then i had on average 3 outbreaks a year which I could inititially manage well by just using aciclovir creme which my urologist had prescribed me. When I noticed an outbreak I used the creme for about 7 days (5 times daily). After that all symptoms were gone and the skin looked perfectly normal again. However, probably starting in 2014, I noticed that the creme did not seem to work that well any more. It took longer and longer for the ulcers to disappear. In January 2015, I had an outbreak after in the course of which - unusal for me - after 14 days the skin on my penis still did not look normal again; it kept being red, and even though the ulcers were somewhat dried out, you could still cleary see them. Slightly alarmed, I went to see a dermatologist and he told me that I had an eczema that had developed after the herpes. He prescribed me a creme containing cortisone and told me to use it for 14 days. I did as he told me, and yes, afterwards the skin was looking normal again. But unfortunately only for a short time. Then the redness and itching came back again. And that is where my nightmare started - until then all outbreaks had been in the same manner: itching, then dots, spreading out. Now I had just redness and itching, but no ulcers. I went back to the dermatolgist and he told me again that it was an exzema and that I should use the same cortisone creme again for 14 days and afterwards another creme containing urea. Anyways, to make a long story short: Ever since my skin in the affected area seems to be somehow "damaged" in that sense, that it does not look "normal" anymore. It always seems to be irritated, slightly red, and it is also continuously itchy (sometimes more, sometimes less). I just do not know what is going on any more. Now in the end of April, I clearly had another herpes outbreak in that irritated area, and it was much graver than anything I experienced before. In the meantime, I asked the doctor to prescribe tablets. Now, I took Aciclovir tablets (800 mg twice for 5 days, then 200 mg 5 times daily for another seven days). Additionally I use cink creme. However, now, 16 days later and after having taken the tablets, the skin in the affected area (even though it got better) is still red, itchy and irritated. And also the ulcers are somewhat dried, they are still visible as bumbs. From what I read so far in the internet it is rather unusal that a recurrent outbreak does last so long. It is really driving me into depression that my skin condition does not seem to go back to normal again. Thus, finally, my questions: What does that mean? Could it really be that the outbreak is still ongoing? And are the areas still contagious after that long a time (the dermatologist told me that herpes is only contagious for 3-4 days after an outbreak)? Should I consider going back to taking tablets? Does anyone have any advice on possible further treatment, also for curing the continuously irritated skin? I am also interested in your opinion about the dermatologists assessment that herpes can easily develop into an exzema after an outbreak? Has anyone of you ever heard of that? Thank you very much in advance and best regards from Berlin ....
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