I feel like I'm going crazy

[Luv2bblonde]

I have very mild OB that don't hurt. They just feel like moderate razor burn. I'm only on my second OB and started my valtrex a little later than I should of but its working. I'm frusterated that I didn't recognize any symptoms coming on. No tingling, no pain, no itching. I feel like the only thing I have control of is my diet and eating as clean as possible. I'm afraid I'll never get in tune with my body which I know is a bit irrational. Has anyone else experienced this? My OBs aren't like anything I've heard or read about. Any twitch or itch sends me over the edge, do I take the pills or am I so paranoid that I'll be wasting them? I feel like a crazy germaphobe. I even wash my hands in the shower with no systems cuz I'm afraid of spreading it on my body. Is this normal or have I gone to the dark side?

[MMissouri]

It's normal. I couldn't tell you for sure how my outbreaks start and I've had this for 17 years now. I assume itching but I never see any blisters so it could be H, it might not be. If you aren't in a relationship, maybe you could use this time to put the meds aside and see what happens?

[Luv2bblonde]

Ok thank you

[MMissouri]

You're welcome :)

[hippyherpy]

I don't understand why some people are more prone to get outbreaks than others. Maybe someone here can shed more light on this topic?

[WCSDancer2010]

I've had this 35 yrs and I still have some sneak up on me. Thankfully nowadays they are small and very controllable. But it wasn't always that way.

 

To answer your question @hippyherpy:

 

Why do some people get a cold every other week and others don't? Why does someone get Cancer from smoking and yet you see a 95 yr old Grandma who has smoked a pack a week her whole life who is fit as a fiddle?

 

I'd say it's likely (and this is a total ballpark guess)

 

45% immune system function (which includes any compromises to it from drugs or autoimmune disorders, as well as stress levels)

 

25% which type/strain you get AND *perhaps* how much of a "dose" you get at the time (ie, if you have it on multiple nerve ganglion, perhaps your body can't fight it as well as someone who got a "small" dose that hangs out on one nerve ganglion)

 

25% Genetics - one of the biggest breakthroughs in HIV treatment was when researchers found a man who had a gene that kept him from getting HIV. About 1% of the population carries that gene. Given that 80% of people don't express herpes (ie, have symptoms), *perhaps* they have genes that help to suppress the virus... which may be complicated by either of the above (which would explain why many have OB's many years after they acquire it)

 

5% Attitude - I firmly believe that for *most* people, if they resolve to learn to figure out what their body doesn't like (foods/whatever that cause OB's) and you don't buy into the stigma (ie, you don't have that STRESSOR in your life) that these people at least have less intense OB's. Yes, there are many who get ongoing nerve pain and such... or many OB's ... but I think the 95% stuff above is at play there.... AND... the Attitude can still at least *help* the body to fight it better. Even if it's just a little bit :)

 

OB's are just "shedding on steroids" - the body is shedding so much virus that the immune system sets out to fight it off which causes the blisters, just as you would get a reaction to any foreign body in your system. So the secret to reducing OB's is to keep your body in as good of a state of health/low stress so that the immune system can keep it "contained" in the ganglion (which is the only place it can hide from the antibodies).

 

The rest is likely not in your control, though it does seem that age does help to calm things down too. I have no idea what that is about. Hormones? Weakening of the virus? Lower hormone levels? Who knows.

 

The body is one of the most fascinating chemistry labs you will ever come across. The problem is that we continually do shit to compromise it. Drugs (Medical AND Recreational). Alcohol. Junk/Processed Food. Chemicals in our food. Chemicals in our cosmetics and skin care products. Stress from jobs and families and life in general. IMO it's not surprising that it can't always deal when that one stressor comes along and overwhelms it.

 

So it's likely a combination of things. Whether I have the percentages right or not (probably not!) doesn't matter. We can only deal with what we can control.... which is what we DO to our bodies, what we PUT INTO our bodies, and how we DEAL with what life throws us. Take care of your body, learn what it likes and doesn't like. And if you still can't control the virus, take advantage of whatever medical help you can. It's all we *can* do, after all, right?

[hippyherpy]

Would you say that anytime your immune system has to get to work on something else like the flu, cold, hangover, cuts, sunburns, etc. that outbreaks are more likely?

[WCSDancer2010]

Why do you think HSV1 is called a "Cold Sore"? Because many people get their OB's when they are sick :)

 

So yes, but I'd say STRESS of ANY kind will do it, and an illness/etc all that stuff are stressors.

 

I haven't had many OB's in years. Right now I'm getting minor OB's in my nose (where I also have it as I got it as a child and likely auto-innoculated that area when I first got it) constantly as I'm dealing with trying to get my ailing 88 yr old father up here along with financial issues and a few other things that are all piling up at once. For *me*, this kind of stress seems to be my main trigger. I had about 5 or 6 yrs where life was really smooth and great and hardly had anything in that time. Interestingly, while I know I'm under a lot of stress, I'm not feeling like I'm anywhere near freak out levels.... but the constant and unrelenting concern of when I will get the next message that Dad is in hospital again (he's 1000 miles away) is certainly having an effect on my body, and H is sending me that message loud and clear.

[hippyherpy]

Those little islands of non-stress have to appreciated.

 

Through appreciation of the good while you have it, that can actually put things in perspective so when things don't seem to be going so well, it doesn't come as a shock.

 

 

What you wrote makes sense when you think of people who HIV- from what I know, they often have herpes outbreaks due to compromised immune system.

 

Valtrex has some side effects I think.. like if you take two pills a day, it can be a sort of depressant. I wonder if that is actually counter productive to managing Herpes.

[MMissouri]

I wish I knew more about my outbreaks. It's kind of a double edged sword. Those that know where they are and what the prodomes are and those of us that are clueless. My first outbreak was horrid. I've never been able to tell for sure where I have them since. I do get irritated occasionally in the crease of my thigh were my underwear rubs but never blisters. So is that it? I mentioned itching occasionally. But nothing else happens.

I've also been very sick with a fever of 104, nada. I am stressed constantly with the single parenting, dealing with the ex, college, working full time, my diet is crap (Chocolate and coffee) and I'm expecting something to happen but it doesn't.

 

I just take any irritation and assume I'm not safe during that time. I don't know what else to do.

[hippyherpy]

I believe Chocolate and coffee are known to cause outbreaks.