Nerve Pain and Possible Complications?

[Dec14]

I was just diagnosed with HSV via culture swab when I broke out in ulcers this week. I began taking the Valtrex about four days in and I have noticed some improvement (day 7 of the whole thing), but then when I went to the store this morning walking around irritated everything again. How am I supposed to go to work like this? I still can only manage to pee without excruciating pain when I'm in the bath tub. Epsom salt baths have helped but how will I be able to tell when they are starting to scab over? They seem to just keep oozing. The other thing I noticed yesterday is shots of nerve pain in my thighs and tingling/numbness occasionally in my legs. Is this normal? It's a bit overwhelming. The other thing is looking for information I came across a "Occasional but rare complications can be meningitis or encephalitis". Is that true?! Now every head twinge or throb I have I freak out. It probably sounds ridiculous but Ive always been very careful with my health and in just the last few years started controlling my anxiety attacks. Now it seems like it's all spiraling out of control! Any information would be helpful.

[seeker]

hey there. relax first off. menin and enceph are very rare from herpes. very rare. my initial OB was believed to be mono, all the classic symptoms ( and mono is another herpes virus btw) I suffered 103.5 fevers for several days followed by 102.5 fevers for another week. I had an odd flash headache in the back side of my head also. I did get bells palsy from this but it cleared up quickly but did take my sense of taste away for certain things, which I have more than made up for with spicy foods. things will get better over time. your body will learn to deal with this. ever have a bad flu? bet it lasted a week. or the real mono? it can take months to get over. this is just some virus that's gonna be a pain in the booty for a bit then will become a minor issue.

[WCSDancer2010]

@Dec14

 

Hello and Welcome!

 

Sorry you are having a tough time - do know that the first few Outbreaks (OB's) are usually the worst ... so while this one sucks, over time, they will get shorter, more manageable, and less painful ;)

 

The Epsom salts baths are a great thing to do - we have a whole lot of other suggestions in the links below ... going commando was a HUGE one for me when mine were more regular .... check the links for ideas that may help you.

 

For going to the bathroom at work, take a large paper cup in with you and fill it with warm water ,,, you can then pour it over the area as you pee - not as effective as the bathtub but better than nothing :) Just make sure to dry the area as much as possible after... the more you can keep the area dry the faster it will go down.

 

And@seeker is right - meningitis/mono is incredibly rare ... so don't panic about that - the leg pains are normal and should subside over time. Get the hell off Google because it will convince you that you are dying of Berry Berry disease and Ebola before you are done ... especially if you suffer from anxiety :( - if you have a question come here with it ... we'll help you through it... ok?

 

(((HUGS)))

 

Treatments/medications

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

 

[WCSDancer2010]

Handouts + disclosure e-book:

http://eepurl.com/b4IPP

 

Herpes facts video

[Dec14]

Thanks guys! Going commando has helped. & I can do it at work because I wear scrubs everyday. As of this morning looks like some of the outer ulcers are scabbing over and I can actually pee without too much fear! So there is improvement. Besides being uncomfortable, would it benefit me to stay home an extra day? I wasn't sure if walking around for 10 hours would really inhibit the healing process?

[WCSDancer2010]

Hmmm - well, if the OB's are in an area that will get rubbed a lot, you may want to take a day off and give your body time to heal ... especially if you are a bit run down. Right now you are in your first OB's so they will come up a lot easier .... once the antibodies are doing their job herpes becomes a great "first responder" - over time you will find that stress and exhaustion (mental or physical... especially mental!) will often cause an OB ... so it becomes a good barometer for you to tell you to slow down ;) .

[kate33]

I take Valtrex daily to suppress it, and I suppose it has worked well. Not sure completely, as I am new to this whole thing. The best thing I have found, which I don't know if others have tried, is tea tree oil. Don't buy the cheap stuff at walmart/walgreens that comes as an oil, but rather you should try and find the balm. The most effective one I have found thus far is from vitamin shop. Once I look down south using a mirror and see sores, I put the balm directly on it around five times a day with a Qtip. (I do this at work, because you're right, the pain is unbearable and I cannot last an eight hour day where I'm constantly standing)It works wonders for me! My sores last less than three days, and the pain instantly subsides. Again, there is no doctor suggestion for this, this is something I read about online and tried, and it works for me but might not be for everyone.

 

I hope this helps :( And I'm sorry things are going so rough for you.. It's hard for me also to control stress knowing that the more I stress about stressing, I will have an outbreak. It's a never ending circle, but the right treatment has helped me. Again, taking Valtrex daily and the tea tree oil might be the best solution.

 

Have a happy holidays! And cheer up sweetheart, things get better.

 

[Dec14]

I am all about alternative/holistic medicine so I will try the tea tree oil. Things are clearing up pretty well now. I'm not having anxiety attacks all day everyday either. I still worry about unrealistic fears (hypochondriacs really shouldn't get viruses :) !) but it's getting better. The leg pain is a lot less and sleeping with a memory foam pillow has gotten rid of the headache. Not to mention you guys have helped a lot! Still extremely tired but I guess between the emotional and physically tolls that's what happens.

[WCSDancer2010]

There are a number of holistic suggestions in the links I gave you as well so if Tea Tree doesn't help, have a look at the other things :)

 

As for hypochondriacs and the virus - maybe you can use this time to learn coping skills for dealing with this kind of thing ... certainly reaching out for help is a GREAT way to help to relieve the anxiety ... anxiety grows exponentially when you keep all that worry inside :)

[Dec14]

Has anyone ever died from herpes? There was this Google story about a girl my age (25) about some sort of virus dissemination (not even sure what that is or if it's real?) anyways she died and now I'm freaking out about that!

[WCSDancer2010]

First rule of herpes: GET THE HELL OFF OF GOOGLE :)

 

I've never heard of anyone dying o f herpes - *if* it happened ...odds are she has some major immune issue going on ... odds are *if * it's true they likely had Mono which is a different herpes virus (HP4 )

 

You see - Chicken Pox, mononucleosis, etc are all Herpes viruses ...*occasionally* one of them manages to beat all of a persons immune functions and gets into the brain or whatever and that person and they may have other complications ... but odds are that they had some severe immune compromised issue going on ...

 

HSV 1 & 2 (genital or oral herpes) isn't a virus that kills people ... it just generally makes us uncomfortable when it's not hiding in the ganglion .... you see... there are a bunch of different Herpes viruses ..... from chicken pox/shingles to Mono to genital herpes ... which generally just wreak havoc with the majority of those who acquire them in some way or another.... if someone died of a "herpes virus" - its more likely it was Mono or something else ....but really , you need to be VERY careful of what you read on Google.... there's a LOT of really bad info out there :(

 

Basically, you need to get off Google ...... as they say ..." A little learning is a dangerous thing " :)

[Dec14]

Lol yes I have stayed off google since then! Happy to report that I'm pretty much back to normal after 2.5 weeks except for a little lower back pain near my spine. Otherwise I almost forget about it already! Yoga helps!