Pain!! .. and other questions

stayingpositive08 · April 19, 2015

I am a 29 year old female and was diagnosed 4 days ago. I had very mild symptoms to start off with and was confused by a lot of what the doctor was describing.. thinking to myself, what is he talking about?? It's uncomfortable but it's just some bumps. I was prescribed acyclovir and figured my symptoms would start to improve and then I would start figuring out how to live with this.

Needless to say I have not been prepared for the progression of symptoms. I would have appreciated a bit more thorough walk through! It seems from a lot of what I read on here, people don't get many answers until they are able to connect with others dealing with this.. How can that be?!

Anyway.. on to my questions. Is it normal for most people to be out of work for days?? I commute a long way on a train and bend and move all day. I literally could barely make it home the other day and have only left bed to use the bathroom. I'm now home for 3 days but even then I don't know I'll be improved enough.

How do I know if the medication is helping?? I've read so much that the first outbreak can last 2 weeks + but don't know how to tell if things are progressing or improving.

I've of course read to let the area get air as much as possible but my OB is between my bum cheeks so I'm worried there isn't enough circulation. I try to lay in ways to give as much air as possible but it's anatomically difficult!

Lastly, I am so inflamed and raw I have a very difficult time washing. Bought a syringe to try flushing so I don't have to touch the area. Does anyone else have experience with this??

Any responses are greatly appreciated. Reading through the various discussions have already helped me tremendously! It really does give hope during this bleak time.

StillMeButWiser · April 19, 2015

Yes this time can be extremely challenging and seem never ending. But it will improve. My first ob felt like electric shocks inside out in labia and clit area. Worse than birthing 3 babies. Fortunately the hospital gave me Percocet. I found epson salt baths helped with the pain, ibrophen for any inflammation/pain (I would piggy back this on the Percocet), applied aloe Vera straight from the plant to help with burning. I read some people use talc powder or corn starch to keep the area dry. Tree tea oil helps but will burn a little. Go commando. Sounds gross but actually is more comfortable than thong or undies. It always seemed like the itchiness, burning and pain would come middle of night/early morning when I was trying to sleep. The antiviral meds will definitely help. Good luck.

chikitta13 · April 19, 2015

I use stiz baths to help dry them out. And slather on coconut oil (pure organic) with tea tree in it. It's soothing and the coconut oil is actually an antiviral. If you haven't yet take some ibuprofen. Those meds should start kicking in soon and help your body heal. Hope you feel better soon!

WCSDancer2010 · April 20, 2015

Needless to say I have not been prepared for the progression of symptoms. I would have appreciated a bit more thorough walk through! It seems from a lot of what I read on here, people don't get many answers until they are able to connect with others dealing with this.. How can that be?!

Well, for one thing most Dr's (generally all Dr's other than OBGYN's and the folks at clinics like Planned Parenthood) are woefully under educated about Herpes. In their defense, they have things that are more important to them to keep up with like Cancer and addictions and mental illness and such - they get tons up updated every day on all the illnesses that may go through their door and for *THEM*, Herpes isn't a big deal... it's just an inconvenient skin condition in a really awkward place.

Also, remember that 80% never have an outbreak, and the other 20% will have varying intensities in their symptoms so the majority of them won't be so severly affected that they can't make it to work or whatever. Of course if you read on here, it may look like everyone has bad OBs but remember that people come on here when they are suffering and/or can't find answers so we don't get as many people on here who have minimal or no symptoms (they come on here more for mental support so you may not see their conversations if you are searching for topics that relate to OB's.).

The meds will take about 5-10 days to help - and to be honest, they work better if you get on them BEFORE your OB is that bad so they may not give you as much relief as you will later if you use them to slow/stop future OB's.

As for relief of the OB's, we have a lot of suggestions in the links below.... the Epsom Salts baths and Blow Drier will help a lot .. I personally love Ammonium Alum - others use Tea Tree Oil or Hydrogen Peroxide - you will figure out what works best for your situation over time, and these suggestions are a great place to start :)

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/6024/dealing-with-outbreaks#latest includes links below

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

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

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

Links to some of the items suggested in the links

http://amzn.to/1CHUzZE Link to Alum

http://tinyurl.com/Aloecream

http://amzn.to/1F10r3V Fractionated Coconut Oil

http://bit.ly/zincsoap Zinc Soap with coconut oil

http://bit.ly/Zinccream

http://tinyurl.com/bactine