If both partners are newly infected, can you pass herpes outbreaks back and forth?

[Aurora_Mae]

I know it's hard to believe and I don't understand but my partner and I are both experiencing primary outbreak symptoms and I have received a positive diagnosis via swab. It's been about a month since first outbreak, I took antivirals and healed up nicely, but my outbreak came back after a week of stopping, and he's been breaking out and using cream....

 

The sores are less severe, but I think we are both going to be fighting this for awhile and our sex lives are suffering. My breakouts are mainly on my butt, and his on his groin... It is the same strain and I'm pretty sure I passed to him as I was the first with symptoms. I feel like we could have sex without any pain or problems due to the location and the fact it's less severe this time around.... We are both really worried that his infected penis (or my vaginal canal) may spread the virus around, or even the motion and fluids may spread the virus all over each other.... Is this possible?? Can we safely continue out sex life and not worry about having a million sores on our privates because of it? Or are we doomed to no sex for a year until the virus calms down?

 

Of course we would take it slow and use condoms to be safe.... But it's getting really hard to avoid sex with each other and I feel over the next year or so one of is at least is gonna be breaking out....:(

[Aurora_Mae]

Also, if both partners are infected but only one is breaking out, can that partners active outbreak trigger an outbreak in the other?

[mr_hopp]

If you two have the same strain of herpes — HSV-1 or HSV-2 — then you can't re-infect each other. The same basic considerations apply with how you would avoid touching your own outbreak then another part of your body when it comes to touching your partner. It's just as hard to auto-inoculate yourself once you have antibodies as it is to inoculate your partner on another part of his body. Again, just use common sense and wash up a lot during outbreaks and avoid having sex when either of you has an active outbreak. If both of you have built up antibodies against the same strain of the virus, then spreading herpes via simple asymptomatic shedding is highly unlikely.

 

"Also, if both partners are infected but only one is breaking out, can that partners active outbreak trigger an outbreak in the other?"

 

No, herpes doesn't work like that. But avoid having sex whenever there's an active outbreak. Here's an article on herpes triggers; mainly has to do with your own immune system, stress, what you eat, how healthy you are, etc. Much more likely that your partner might stress you out after a fight that produces an outbreak than anything else. ;)

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-triggers

[WCSDancer2010]

Adrial said it all... but I would add that you want to be most careful for the first 4-6 months as you have not built up the antibodies to it yet so you *could* spread it around more easily. After that time you are less likely to get it in a new area if you do happen to have sex with an OB - I personally would want him to use a condom if he gets it on his penis if he's having an OB simply because it's harder to monitor when you have an OB if you get it in the vagina ...

 

The "good" news is that H gives you the perfect excuse to find all kinds of other ways to get intimate ;)

 

http://herpeslife.com/keeping-your-partner-herpes-free-can-be-super-sexy/

 

 

[Aurora_Mae]

Ok so I passed the virus to him after my outbreak healed... Which I understand was from viral shedding.... So if his sores are all healed, but he is still shedding from his penis, can he spread the virus to my vaginal canal? Even if sex takes place between an active outbreak...

 

It's been a month and I feel as though the virus never really went away, the meds helped, but the itch remains beneath the skin and the outbreaks creep up here and there. I feel as though I am permanently contagious to myself. And my biggest fear is getting an outbreak in my vagina, since I would like to have kids one day and hope to do it safely and naturally.

[WCSDancer2010]

It IS possible but less likely ... and if he takes antivirals then the risk is even lower.

 

Whatever happens you *can* still have children naturally ... the Dr's will probably want you to go on antivirals for the last month or so to lessen the chance of an OB. I had my 2nd naturally (I could have with the first but the Dr scared me into having a Cesarean .. it was the 80's and I didn't find the into to the contrary till afterwards) and I wasn't even put on the anti-virals because that was a new procedure ... 25+ years later and they are still using the same protocol and it seems to work very well ;)

[WCSDancer2010]

It IS possible but less likely ... and if he takes antivirals then the risk is even lower.

 

Whatever happens you *can* still have children naturally ... the Dr's will probably want you to go on antivirals for the last month or so to lessen the chance of an OB. I had my 2nd naturally (I could have with the first but the Dr scared me into having a Cesarean .. it was the 80's and I didn't find the into to the contrary till afterwards) and I wasn't even put on the anti-virals because that was a new procedure ... 25+ years later and they are still using the same protocol and it seems to work very well ;)