When do I start to feel normal again!?

[Marie14]

I have had this for a little over a month ... I have had two actual outbreaks, but there is always tingling, some itching, and it feels raw or sore. Is this normal? When will this go away ... it is driving me nuts. I do not know how to cope with this. It would be fine if I had an outbreak and it went away ... but this just doesn't go away. There was about five days that I felt good, so i had sex with someone (the guy who gave it to me), thinking yayyy finally, but the next morning the tingling came right back. Can sex trigger an outbreak? Will this eventually calm down? Had this happened to other people? I just want to feel physically normal again. Ughhhh

[forgivenessandpeace]

I had really quite a lot of tingling and itching for the better part of my first year. And yes I found that sex (also with my giver) seemed to bring on the itching and tingling. One time I texted him after, "Did you give me herpes again?" ha.

 

Eventually it did calm down. My second year 2014 has seen only 3 outbreaks (I just recently started suppressive acyclovir) and a few weeks of prodromes including one memorable weekend of really sore aching lower back and legs. I spent the whole weekend with a heating pad. Now I suffer more the stigma and anxiety around disclosure to a potential new partner, should I ever get so lucky.

 

PS My giver was in touch with me again last night wanting to "see" me. For the longest time I continued to have sex with him because, well who else could I be with? No more. I'm better off alone for now. I wished him the best and told him that I forgave him for everything. Unbelievable how good I felt this morning :)

[Ladyf123]

Hey Corissa. Seems like I have the same thing going on. It is intermittent and the pain differs /varies. Sometimes it is a pinching / stinging, sometimes a tingle, and sometimes it is sore. Some days are better than others. My sore was healed and gone by the beginning of September and it is now November and I still feel these feelings. I believe it to be post herpetic neuralgia, Seems like that is something that isn't diagnosed quite often but I don't know any other way to describe/ diagnose this. I am on suppressive therapy and take supplements. It has really gotten me down and depressed. Herpes is bad enough but I don't want it to linger this long! Also this is about my 3rd year with HSV2, I don't understand why this time was so different. If any of you have ANY similar experiences and can shed some light / offer me some hope it would really make me feel better. It definitely isn't as bad as it was but it is SLOWLY getting a little better, I think? Hang in there .. not to mention that now I am getting small pimples /cysts on the other side of my vagina ... My mom says she has them too and they are nothing... but it is so annoying to constantly have something to worry about down there. I want to have children one day but I am terrified I will have bad OBs during pregnancy and the pain wil be worse ... Trying to stay strong. praying hard. Happy Friday. :)

[Sil88]

@ladyf123 have you tried removing the medication from the equation? I've been having lingering nerve shocks and wondered if it was a side effect of the valacyclovir. No theory, just curious.

[Marie14]

I am glad other people are having this happen. I thought that I was supposed to get an outbreak then it would go away until I got another one. No one told me that this could happen. I am not sure what to do ... it is getting me down. I am okay with the fact that I have herpes, but I want a normal life and a normal sex life. I am not sure how to do that if I constantly have symptoms. Is this going to go away?

[willow]

It does go away.. i was diagnosed i january of this year and around febuary i had the constant itchy feeling. Lasted a couple weeks. Epson salt baths do wonders!!! (Even if ur not having symptons)

I also endes up buying 2% lydocain jelly. It took the itchy away fro about 3-4 hrs. And u can get it over the xounter at any pharmacy.

Hope this helps a but.

dont worry, your body will soon create enough antibodies to kick it back to dormancy!!

[sickoflifelessons]

I just wanted to add a suggestion...I was diagnosed in February (had what I believe was my primary outbreak at the end of January - never had another outbreak). I had constant itchiness/swelling/discomfort (and now that you mention it, there was a pinching sort of feeling) for a several weeks (way longer than a normal outbreak would be). I was on valtrex daily and my doctor said that what I had did not look like a herpes outbreak. I can't even tell you how many swabs she took (over many appointments) and they all came back negative.

 

Finally (after like 6 weeks of this discomfort) she said that even though all the cultures for yeast and bacteria were coming back negative, too, maybe we should try some clindamyacin (a topical antibiotic that you can put on your lady parts).

 

Three days later - no more irritation...and haven't had any since (I finished out the antibiotics, which was like two weeks worth). The conclusion my doctor came to was that I had a bacterial infection that did was not tested for with the standard tests she had sent out (there are apparently many types/strains of bacteria that don't necessarily show up).

 

Even though this could reasonably a lingering outbreak, just because you have herpes does not mean that everything that is happening down there *is* herpes. Do you have a doctor you can go to - just to ask about a topical antibiotic - just to try? It is pretty safe; as long as you're not using antibiotics all the time it won't do any harm to try it.

[WCSDancer2010]

hey there. Sorry you're suffering. You have to remember that you are only a few weeks into this and your body has notdeveloped the antibodies to fight it off. So it may be a little while before your body gets full control.

 

I'm on my phone so I don't have the links with me but I posted them all over here with the different treatments you can do externally to try to get it under control. Perhaps somebody can point you to another conversation that contains the links.. I find that if you attack it with the antivirals internally and somebody external treatment tips we've posted like epson salts bath, hydrogen peroxide,, going commando, and the other things that we suggest, did you get the outbreak under control. And yes, sex does cause outbreaks at first, but that makes for a perfect excuse to find other ways to be intimate with your partner :)

[Marie14]

I have been tested for pretty much everything else as well due to my symptoms, and have been given antibiotics just is case so I am fairly confident that the symptoms are from Herpes.

 

I am glad that other people have experienced the prolonged symptoms without the actual sores, I was getting really worried that it just wouldn't go away. :)

[seeker]

Feels corissas arm, " feels normal to me".

[WCSDancer2010]

Here's the Treatment links to help you attack the little bastards from the outside :)

 

http://supporttruthanddialog.com/easy-simple-self-help-tips-for-relief-from-herpes-outbreaks/

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/4810/bactine-for-oral-and-even-genital-herpes#Item_1

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-treatment/

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-medication/

 

Links to some of the items suggested in the links

http://tinyurl.com/pmosahc Link to Alum

http://tinyurl.com/Aloecream

http://tinyurl.com/bactine

http://tinyurl.com/Oragelsgldose