oms2001

That’s what I’m starting to chalk the fatigue up to. It seems like everyone experiences different reactions depending on how their body deals with the virus. I’m starting to see more and more that it seems there is no textbook way anyone will respond to herpes. And I think there is still a lot doctors don’t understand... which is probably why my ob-gyn barely had anything to say following my diagnosis. I haven’t experienced anymore discharge after my initial OB. That actually cleared up really fast after starting the Valacyclovir treatment. I’m really hoping I don’t experience it again if I ever have another OB, because that was definitely one of my worst symptoms. I felt so gross the whole time it was going on. Do you still experience the discharge? It sounds like yours was more akin to normal vaginal discharge, maybe just more of it at the time of the OB? Mine was so bizarrely liquid that at first I thought I had peed myself.

Hi, So sorry to hear of your initial experience and troubles. :( but glad you seem to be doing better! I was diagnosed a couple months ago and I can say it definitely does get easier to cope with. I’m pretty much at the stage now of acceptance where I’ve just chalked it up to a normal thing that happens to a lot of people. And it seems for the most part that with time it only gets easier to manage. Just wanted to chime in and share my similar experiences with initial OB — I had the nerve/muscular/skin irritation as well... burning/tingling/pins and needles sensations. I’m still experiencing those symptoms now after my initial OB and I’m not sure how much I can attribute to herpes or my anxiety and spine issues... but it definitely seemed to get worse and more frequent following my herpes diagnosis. I also experienced flu-like symptoms (with no fever) before my OB, and I’m still getting on-and-off waves of those symptoms with fatigue, that come for a day or so then disappear again. I also had a very liquid discharge that saturated my panties, which is much of what sparked my initial herpes concern because it was completely out of the ordinary, and (mind you) smelled terrible. We’re talking, I bought some vagisil fragrance spray and was spraying that all over my panties several times a day to try to keep it at bay. It was bad. The discharge was definitely one of my first symptoms to appear though, as well as groin tenderness and the aches. I’m still trying to learn more as I go, but I figured hearing about as many initial experiences as a possible can definitely help to determine warning signs and try to corrrelate specific things to the virus itself. Wishing you the best!

So... I was diagnosed with GHSV-1 back in late November of last year. It’s been a hell of a whirlwind of health issues for me since then.. and I’m not entirely sure how long I’ve had the virus since I was diagnosed from a swab during initial outbreak. Prior to my knowledge of this, my boyfriend and I have had unprotected sex on several occasions, but we’ve been primarily using condoms now and I’ve also been on suppressive therapy with Valacyclovir (I didn’t start suppressive therapy right away... but have been doing it the past 2-3 weeks or so to see if it helped my symptoms at all, and for extra protection for my boyfriend). Since then I’ve also caught strep throat, which I was on antibiotics for and finished, and that has cleared up. In addition to all of this I still have swollen lymph nodes in my groin, as well as my neck (which I’m assuming is from the strep, but who knows?) and it seems like they’re just not getting any smaller. I’ve also been experiencing strange nerve sensations all throughout my body, but primarily in my legs, and occasional flu-like aches and fatigue that come for a day or two then dissipate. I don’t know if this is all from my body just trying to adjust with the new virus present in addition to being sick, or what. Anyway, I haven’t had any other noticeable outbreaks since then.. but I’m worried because I’m not sure if I can identify when I’m actually experiencing prodrome or not since I’ve been having consistent symptoms that should be indicative of that. We don’t know my boyfriend’s sexual health status in regard to herpes yet, because we are still waiting a few more weeks for him to get tested so that we are sure he is past the window of typical time it takes to build up antibodies. We were thinking of purchasing dental dams so he could perform oral on me, but I was wondering what the risk is of performing unprotected oral sex on him without knowing his herpes status? If he has either strain, am I pretty much protected at this point from contracting it orally since I have HSV-1 genitally? And would he still pose a risk of somehow contracting it orally even if we use a dental dam? I have no experience with them myself so I’m not entirely sure how effective they are at providing a barrier. Any insight on this would be much appreciated!!

So weird. I hope so too! Same here with my initial OB — cleared up relatively quickly after starting the antivirals. And thank you! Me too. Honestly even if this doesn’t last (but I sure hope it does) his reaction has given me a lot of hope for the future and possibly having to disclose to other people. It made me realize a little more how this whole thing is blown up to be a bigger deal than it should. In the end it’s just like any other virus that people deal with. I just want these lingering symptoms to go away.

Sounds like it! I have been having good and bad days.. today just so happens to be one of the bad ones. I’ve been trying to not obsess over it so I’ve just been occasionally logging into the forums and reading some posts/articles on it. I’ve been taking l-lysine for about a week now and I’m not really sure if it’s helping. I just recently started taking additional vitamin c as well, on top of what my multivitamins supply. I’m starting to think I may try the suppressive therapy as well. This all happened right when I started seeing a new guy and somehow he took the news completely okay and has been very supportive through the whole thing. We’re together now and he still has yet to get tested but it literally does not seem to phase him one bit. (I’m starting to question if he’s actually real or just a figment of my imagination, lol) But at the off chance he turns out negative I’m sure the suppressive therapy is a good idea to try for at least a few months until my body gets back to normal. I’m sort of thankful that I’ve just been dealing with the weird aches and nerve issues along with flu-like symptoms and i haven’t (knock on wood) developed another full-blown outbreak yet. But I’m starting to wonder if us having symptoms after the first OB with no signs of lesions is us having a second OB. I just thought that an outbreak would also include the lesions/blisters, but maybe this isn’t the case? You’re not dealing with any blisters currently, are you?

I, too, have been recently diagnosed. My first OB started with the flu-like symptoms and swollen lymph nodes in my groin, and shortly after the blisters formed. They were extremely painful during urination and sort of uncomfortable during day to day activity. I took the 10 days of antivirals and the blisters cleared up just a few days after I started. I finished out my ten days but toward the end of my meds I started getting prodrome symptoms again. Now I’ve been dealing with off and on flu-like symptoms for over a week after finishing my meds, and my lymph nodes in my under arms have been swollen and tender for about a week now. I’ve been feeling boughts of the nerve pains/tingling all throughout my body, not just specific to my lower region. I’ve also been dealing with nerve and muscular issues since the beginning of this year which my doctors have attributed to spinal problems/muscular tension so I’m not sure if the herpes being present in my system is just causing that all the flare up and is sending my body out of whack. But I’m starting to get a little concerned, particularly because my under arm nodes are swollen. Did your doctor advise you to start suppressive therapy right away? My doc wasn’t much help to be honest, I’ve been trying to educate myself as much as possible because I feel like they didn’t give me much guidance. I asked if they thought I should start suppressive therapy and they said to wait to see if it will be a further issue, essentially. But I’m wondering if getting back on the antivirals consistently will help fight off the prodomal symptoms. I just didn’t want to get on meds unnecessarily. I’ve been dealing with anxiety over the whole thing wondering if I have another underlying issue since the flu-like symptoms have been so persistent... so it’s a little refreshing to hear that someone else is experiencing something similar. Although, I’m sorry to hear that you are, but I totally feel for you right now. I started having issues around November 30th and it still has not completely passed. I’m starting to question how educated doctors actually are on this issue, though. If you don’t mind me asking, were you diagnosed with HSV-1 or 2? I have G HSV-1 so I’m wondering if the prodromal symptoms tend to be worse with one or the other. Forgot to mention, the fatigue and overall muscle weakness is horrible too. I’ve been miserable sitting at work all day and it’s affected my mood greatly. I’m sure my anxiety is not helping but I’ve been trying to quell that as much as possible.

So... I started seeing a new guy recently. A few days after having sex with him for the second or third time, I started noticing symptoms that I initially mistook for a yeast infection. Itching, discomfort, unusual/odorous discharge. I am prone to yeast infections so this wasn’t a huge surprise to me, and I was able to get diflucan prescribed from my Doc over the phone, which I started taking immediately. Well, a day or two later I decided to make sure what I was experiencing really was a yeast infection, so I went to an urgent care hoping to get help fast. At this point I was having pelvic discomfort and aches as well. They did an exam, tested for BV, trich, chlamydia/gonorrhea, everything came back negative. A day or two after that I started getting the worst symptoms - burning and irritation when urinating, excessive liquid discharge, etc. Finally went to see my OBGYN and she did a pelvic exam/swab test and suspected HSV, so put me on antivirals just in case. Well, while awaiting my results I started taking them and symptoms were clearing up very well. Now I have no more burning/irritation and I was pretty sure the OB was virtually gone. Now all of a sudden starting yesterday the flu-like aches started coming back, but no visible signs of OB. I was notified online that my results came back from the lab, and HSV-1 was detected from the swab, with no signs of HSV-2. I have since told the guy I’m seeing about my results, but I still have not received a call from my doc’s office with the results. Luckily, the guy I’m with has been extremely patient and understanding and is getting tested as well. My question is... is it normal to experience prodrome symptoms like the flu aches and nerve pains after the initial outbreak has seemingly disappeared? I’m sort of freaking out right now and it is flu season so I don’t know if this is related to the herpes or indicative of something else entirely. I’ve also read that valacyclovir can cause flu-like side effects, so I am unsure if I am having a reaction to the medication. I’m also wondering if it’s possible that this is the onset of yet another outbreak so soon. I’m still coming to terms with/learning about the virus, so I don’t feel like I’m extemely well informed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you