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Hi guys. I guess i could start off by just saying this was a huge slap in the face for me. I have always tried to be so safe and constantly got tested. Something I never realized was they do not test herpes on a routine testing. I mean, I was never really concerned because I've only had 3 partners who were supposedly monogamous, but here we are now. Confused, lost, and sad. I've come to realization that this is the new life I have to live and something I have to accept and it is okay to be a little more different than everybody else. I guess the only thing I need help with is some questions I need answered from people who have in my position. I had my first outbreak almost 2 months ago and my doctors did not catch it until the 6th week in. Agonizing pain and constant confusion. I did not have any sores, but more so papercut type cuts on my inner lips. I also struggled with weird discolored discharge that was cottage cheese like. I don't know why I am talking past tense, but i haven't touched down there to see if there are any more cuts or even feel a burn when i pee or wash up. BUT the discharge will not stop coming out chunky and WEIRD. Is this normal?? does it eventually go away? Also, I feel like my vagina is still inflamed and sort of red. Is that normal as well? I haven't gotten any answers from my doctors. PLEASE HELP ME i am going stir crazy.

my ex and I recently started messing around but were still seeing other people since we felt as though we wanted to gradually get back into it. so I shaved one day and then we knocked some boots lol it burned when I peed that day but it turned out to be just the "friction burn" if you know what I mean. 2 or 3 days later it started to hurt again. & I was on, lets say, a camping trip. so I was not at the liberty, nor had the privacy to look down at my vagina in all its glory. & I honestly didn't even think to check because of the environment I was in. I kept praying and praying that the burning would go away, but it wouldn't. some times peeing wouldn't hurt at all, and then one fateful night it burned like hot acid was being poured on my lady parts. It was all I could do to not let out a blood curdling scream. tears flowing down my face. that morning I decided to head to the ER after finding two red bumps on the top of my labia in the shower. this "doctor" at the ER had the bedside manner of an iguana. he was constantly insinuating it was my fault and couldn't manage a kind word to save his life. so after spending all day in the ER, this terrible ass doctor sent me home with some Valtrex "just in case" it was HSV2, saying it was not characteristically developed enough for him to give a diagnosis. My ex came and saw me and gave me some encouraging words. Since I did not receive a diagnosis, I decided to NOT take the Valtrex since I typically dont like taking medicine for nothing. I had to go back out to this camping trip and try to save face. but friends would ask, why are you walking like that and would wonder why im not helping out as much (& they were probably more upset than anything). I tried to do what I could, but I could not keep up the farce emotionally. & begged to go home, and was. I then decided to go to this clinic for a second opinion/more help. I had to wait a day because she didnt have an appointment slot the day after I left the camping trip. So Monday ER, Friday was my clinic appt. Thursday night though, the pain got worse and worse and worse. The only reason I didnt go to the ER again so I didnt have to run into this same jerk face doctor. In the mean time, I tried Epson salt bath, oatmeal bath, it gave me no relief. My appt Friday was SO much better. She was educating me on everything I wanted/needed to know and told me she thinks I MAY have a really bad bacterial infection down there. So I started to have hope. Although, when she took the swabs down there, I swear it felt she was trying to swipe my skin off with a lava knife. (dont ask) unfortunately I had to wait a very long time to get the results of that swab test, so I was researching everything that it could be instead of HSV2. She sent me home with Keflex (one 4x a day, for 10 days. forget the dosage rn), 800 mg Ibuprofen (one 3x a day), I started to take the Valtrex, and Lidocaine 5% and Bactroban (topical, 3x a day). In about 3 days, the lesions that covered almost my entire vagina started to close. I had my ex there the entire weekend holding my hand whenever I needed to pee (I was of course traumatized by peeing), he applied the Lidocaine and Bactroban for me (with gloves on of course) and was such an emotional rock for me when I was at my complete lowest. he is currently waiting on his results as well since he waited a while to get tested. I received some oral action from other people and he's had sex with someone else, but as for right now, we're not playing the blame game. He constantly is saying we're going through it TOGETHER. so for now, we are ok and still working towards a relationship. I finally got my concrete results Sep 7th and I was honestly devastated. The doctor stated she thinks it was a bacterial infection on top of the HSV1/2 There was no distinction on whether it was HSV1 or 2, so I still have some unanswered questions. He and I had sex recently and I think I am currently breaking out. I wasn't aware of the 7 day period to wait after everything is clear so I think im about to go through another scare. & we did use protection if you wanted to know. Anyways, I wanted to write this to get it off my chest to people who would listen and understand. so if you're still reading, thank you. you are a gem. Maybe someone can read this and somehow gain strength from it. now, im just trying to move on.

Hi, I started with symptoms of herpes on Sunday and although not yet had a positive test I feel broken at the thought. My husband and my partner both have absolutely no symptoms at all. Yes I sleep with both my husband and my boyfriend in a relationship dynamic not the norm but don't want judgement for that as we are 3 consenting adults who know our circle works. They have no signs of the virus and I have only slept with 3 people in my life unprotected and I'm 37. The other was my ex husband. I feel I have been responsible an not had one night stands or anything but still in this position. I know I'll probably never know for sure but some sites say you show symptoms 2 to 21 days others it can be dormant for years. We're all getting tested this week but not sure why I'm the only one showing signs of it. Is it because my immune system isn't as great? I have lupus so know one reason for blisters can be lupus too so not ruling that out either but feel distraught and not sure where to turn for true answers. It feels like the more I Google herpes the more confused I become. Any advice welcome.

I just found out that I have HSV1 and I'm having my first outbreak. Me and my husband recently separated and i engaged in oral sex with a new partner for the first time in 4 years. I noticed the first symptoms it about a week afterward. I did not know the guy had HSV1 and the next day he broke out with a cold sore in his lip. I didn't think anything of it and had no idea that it was possible to get genital herpes that way. Just a couple of days after the encounter I started feeling a little sore down there, but I thought it could just be raw and swollen from sex. At the same time I noticed a sore inside of my mouth that I passed off as a canker sore. Within a week there were so many sores in my mouth it was impossible to eat and even sucking through a straw was extremely painful. I started feeling flu like and achey, and lymph nodes in my neck and one in my groin swelled up. I still didn't have any idea that I had herpes. I assumed it must be strep throat or mono... And I still hadn't made the connection with the sore spot on my vagina... But within a day or two i noticed the spot was very very sore and it burned soooo bad when I peed. I decided to finally take a look down there with a mirror and I was shocked when I saw a white blister looking sore right where I had been feeling pain. It all pretty much came together right then that I had herpes. I started panicking and researching it and found out that I was experiencing all of the symptoms, and I immediately went to the emergency room to get checked. They took swabs of the sores in my mouth and vagina and broke the news to me that I had hsv1 both orally and genitally. I also had a bladder infection from the virus. I got a 7 day prescription for Valacyclovir, and started taking it immediately. Even after I started the medication two more sores appeared down there. I have one more day left and the sores in my mouth are completely healed and the 3 genital sores are almost healed as well. I've read that because I have type one and not type two the outbreaks happen a lot less frequently and are a lot less severe, and I hope that's true. I don't have medical insurance so it is not easy for me to see a doctor and pay for prescriptions on a regular basis.. i want to know if I have future outbreaks is it likely that it will not be genital and only oral? Because the outbreak in my mouth was much worse than the one down there. Is there anyone else here that's experienced an initial oral and genital outbreak at the same time?

Hello everyone, I recently found out I have genital herpes after going to the dr for a "UTI" that didn't clear up after meds. It was caught a week and a half after the first (painful!) symptoms. How long does the first outbreak typically last? Thankfully, it's not as painful but it's incredibly itchy? I've tried a warm epson salt bath, hydrocortisone cream, and ice packs (they help the most) but the relief only lasts minutes. Does/did anyone face this issue too? As for dating, how long after the sores disappear is it okay to have sex? I'm currently active on dating sites and don't want herpes to stop me, otherwise I'd never get back out in the dating scene. I've already done a lot of research and know that the virus can shed off me at anytime even without sores present and it can be spread when in contact with an open wound or mucosal membrane like someone's eyes, mouth, or genitals. I feel lost. I'm having a hard time with the itchiness and the constant worry of spreading it.