hsucks

@RegularGuy I respect your opinion 100%! Thanks for your feedback! :) Are there things that you do besides home remedies that have helped you manage your outbreaks?

*Sorry for the novel, but please read!* I was diagnosed with genital HSV-1 almost exactly a year ago. I have been struggling with severe recurrent outbreaks. It seems like I've had a total of 1 month out of the past year where I wasn't having an outbreak. I changed my lifestyle; no drinking (I'm a 21-year-old in college so this was quite the challenge), eating healthy, exercising 6/7 days of the week, taking vitamins daily, suppressive therapy for 10 months etc. but NOTHING seemed to stop my outbreaks. I switched medication from Valacyclovir (Valtrex) to Acyclovir (Zovirax). Although it did help to reduce the severity of the outbreaks, there was no significant change. My doctor said I wouldn't need to go above and beyond with the "DIY" remedies because the medicine should be doing its job. My doctor also said that it is rare to experience recurrent outbreaks with GHSV-1. Well, I never thought I would get the herps and I never thought I'd be dealing with this sh*t for the rest of my life, but here I am! :) The medicine wasn't working as well as it could have and my 21-year-old body wasn't reacting well to this stubborn virus. So, I started looking up over-the-counter/home remedies to use to reduce the severity and prevent outbreaks via my medical textbooks (I'm specializing in infectious diseases) and the Internet; all in spite of my doctors wishes. I ended up finding so many that I had a hard time picking one to start with. There are 2 remedies that I researched that seemed to be effective and others have claimed to really really work which were: Vitamin E Oil and Oil of Oregano. I tried the Vitamin E Oil (32,000 I.U.) and applied to the outbreak 2 times a day with a cotton pad and practically drenched the area each time. After 3 days of using this, my outbreak has cleared up like you wouldn't even imagine. I'm in shock yet so happy at the same time. Once this outbreak has officially cleared I will try the Oil of Oregano and see how it will compare. Hopefully, it will be even better *fingers crossed*. I wanted to let anybody who looks at this to know, I almost gave up and let this virus take over my life. I cannot even describe how happy I am that I found something that finally works for me. This gives me hope to keep searching for something that will work even better. I want to share my experience with those who are struggling as well. If you have found any home remedy or over-the-counter "medicine" that works for you, please share with us and let all of us know about your experience!!

@hikinggirl, after your recommendation and some more research, I switched to acyclovir! Took the first dose this morning and already my symptoms have drastically reduced. This has never happened to me while taking Valtrex. Hopefully I will continue to have success with this. Thank you so much!!!

@hikinggirl, I have not! Did you have any success with Valtrex at all? Do you have any side effects with acyclovir?

I was diagnosed with genital HSV-1 almost a year ago. When I realized I was getting these outbreaks that were so severe and so frequent, I asked my doc to be on suppressive therapy. While this shortened how long the outbreaks last, I was still getting them constantly. I changed my diet, my lifestyle, literally everything. Whenever I get an outbreak, it 'clears up' (no redness, lesions barely visible as if they practically healed, just a mild itch) within 2-3 days. On the 2nd/3rd day, I get the WORST itching. I have tried EVERYTHING to make the itch go away. It seems like whenever I get the itch, the outbreak comes back full force and it is like a brand new one all over again, yet 10 times worse. MY doc says the best solution is to just leave it alone, but the itch is so severe that it is excruciating, it is impossible to just ignore it! Has anyone dealt with this severe itch? I am dying for more recommendations on how to control this!

Are you having a genital outbreak? Or an oral outbreak? With HSV-1 typically people only experience oral cold sores. 50%-80% of the US population have oral herpes (cold sores) and 90% of people have been exposed to it by age 50. If you have it orally, the chances of you passing it on by kissing someone are pretty slim unless you have a cold sore present. I was recently diagnosed with GHSV-1 and it gets better! You won't feel this way forever. In a couple weeks from now, you probably won't even think about it anymore!

About a month ago I was diagnosed with HSV genitally. At the time we thought it was hsv-2, but since my bloodwork came back, I only tested positive for hsv-1. I've never had a cold sore or anything like that, just the initial genital outbreak about a month ago. Since I now know that I have hsv-1 genitally, will I be prone to cold sores too? Or will it just be genitally? I'm so confused!!

I was just diagnosed almost 3 weeks ago and I'm also in my 20s. The first week was so incredibly hard. I'm almost 99% positive I got it from an ex who swears he doesn't have it, refuses to get tested, called me awful names etc. basically just in denial. After your outbreak is gone, what happened for me at least, you won't even think about it. I disclosed to my dad, who was the last person I would have ever wanted to know, and he said, "So what? Yeah, you have it for the rest of your life but once this is gone you won't even think about it until you think you have another one coming. You're extremely fragile right now, be fragile. You feel sorry for yourself, so go ahead and feel sorry for yourself. You feel sad and angry at the world, so feel sad and angry at the world. But there has to come a time when you suck it back and soak in the reality of it. Yeah it sucks, yeah its not ideal, yeah you wish you didn't have it, but you do and now you have to do what you can do deal with it. If you let it change your life, it will. Don't let it consume your every thought. Think of it as an annoying skin condition where you just get outbreaks every now and then. If you have an encounter with another guy, tell him, inform him, and let him know what you have is simply just an annoying skin condition you have to deal with from time to time. In three years from now, you'll look back and you won't even think about it anymore. You'll be alright." Those words made everything okay for me, hopefully this can help you, too. Now that my first outbreak is gone, I don't think about it anymore. If you need someone to talk to please please please inbox me!! It feels so refreshing to talk about it with someone who can relate. And sorry for the long post :)

I'm in my junior year of college and was just diagnosed a couple of weeks ago. What a confusing time! I also don't think guys our age are ready to take the risk. Mainly because of the negative social stigma that comes with herpes. Feel free to message me!! It would be so so great to talk about it to another girl my age thats also in college!

Those of you with HSV2, do you ever get those random tingles even when you're not having an outbreak? I'm still not sure what a "tingle" is really supposed to feel like. Sometimes I get these weird shocks down there. Not painful at all, just a little tiny spark or a shock. It's hard to describe! Does anyone else get these too?!

Hello! I'm 20 years old and was just diagnosed with HSV2 2 weeks ago today. The outbreak I had was by far the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. I would never wish that pain on my worst enemy. Being in college, the stress, the drinking, the drama, the bad eating habits etc. from what I know are triggers to outbreaks. I don't even know how to start a new lifestyle to prevent another outbreak. I'm having such a hard time accepting the fact that I have genital herpes *ew*. It's such a negative social stigma. Not being able to go out for margaritas with my girlfriends, or going to "wine down wednesdays", and managing my stress when finals come around and when I get my period, is going to be exceptionally hard to accept. My first outbreak finally cleared up and WOW does it feel good to walk again! I have only told my parents and my very best friends about my diagnosis. I feel as if the constant paranoia of having another outbreak is going to end up causing my second outbreak. Last night I felt these weird tingles every now and then, but it was all over my body. I've tried so hard to change my lifestyle these past 2 weeks, but since I felt the tingles last night I feel like I have no control over my own body anymore. I have no lesions yet but because of the tinglies I felt that it was a good idea to take the Famvir for a couple days, just to be safe. I guess I just want to reach out to those of you who have had multiple outbreaks. How did you know you were going to get another one? What are your outbreaks like? How often do/did you get them? Do you know what your trigger is? If so, how long did it take you to figure that out? Will I ever stop feeling disgusting and helpless? Can you get an outbreak literally right after one has ended? For the women: do you get outbreaks around the time of your period? What else can I do to prevent outbreaks? Any advice is helpful. Thank you :) and sorry for the long post!