The Dreaded Countdown Clock to Sex Keeps Getting Reset!

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

Just a venting moment for me, and wanting to see if anyone has some tips on what they do to not think of this so much...

 

In my old relationship, my boyfriend "needed" sex everyday (yes, he actually said that. yes, I complied. yes, I am so glad I'm out of that relationship now!). My new boyfriend of 4 months is totally fine with whenever he can get it - I keep him happy in other ways, and he's mostly just worried when I get stressed out when I have a symptom.

 

And most of my stress comes from "the clock", and it's seemingly continuous resets.

 

For example, I had a small tear from sex Tuesday. So in my head, I think - alright, assuming it's H, give it 3 days to heal, wait 5 days after that to be safe.

Then Wednesday - doc says he sees a lesion. Well, reset that clock.

Then this morning (Friday), I wanted to trim my hair with scissors (trying to avoid shaving irritation), was an idiot, and cut myself. Restart the effing clock, once more.

Then it's just like...who knows what's next?!

 

I feel like I have a timer in my head that I can't ever seem to get to zero with. I recognize this as a problem, and I'm trying to keep this in perspective. Hey, if I broke my back being hit by a cab tomorrow, I wouldn't be having sex for months, right? We're talking a matter of days.

[2Legit2Quit]

Are you on daily suppressive therapy?

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

@2legit2quit I am. I *think* it's helping.

 

If I look back since I got this in July, I can count 3-4 times when I felt "something" there - itching, burning, prodrome - and then got a lesion or blister. It still feels like alot of breakthrough OBs, but I am still so new that I'm hoping it will calm down.

 

HOWEVER, I'm having near-constant "other" symptoms that reset my "clock." I would bet that 90% of these are not H-related, but I understand that they could flare an H so I treat each one like a small outbreak: tears that happened during sex (felt the "rip", consistent scarring), a 3 week long, awful yeast infection (thanks, antibiotics post surgery), a pap, a biopsy where I couldn't have sex for 2 weeks, a burn from tea tree oil, a rash near my bum after wearing a thong and working out.

 

I have a meeting with my obgyn on Tuesday to discuss. I really don't want to go off suppressives, but an urgent care person said that the Vacyclovir can "suppress my immune system" and make it actually harder for my body to fight the virus. Is that true??

 

 

[2Legit2Quit]

Omg that doctor is a f'ing idiot.. It does nothing of the sort! All's it does it attach analog blockers to the protein that the virus used to cling into the cells and enter them. At this point the virus suspects something is going on and then tlour immune system starts going after the exposed viruses and killing them.. When it notices this, it goes running back into the ganglia, where our immune system doesn't go. Never listen to a GP about herpes. EVER.

[NothingGoodGetsAway]

@2legit2quit thank you for this answer, I missed your response initially! I was so sad to hear that maybe I'd been suppressing my immune system - ugh!

 

It's so helpful to hear how valtrex actually works, I never knew that before!!

[desertlove]

hey tip on trimming with scissors, use a fine tooth comb to have a barrier between the scissors and skin! Even before H, I've been scared of cutting myself so I trim this way!