Recently diagnosed with HSV-2; experiencing possible outbreaks on arms, legs, and abdomen

[JCole218]

Quick background information:

 

2 weeks ago I began experiencing typical symptoms of an initial genital herpes outbreak (although I did not know that at the time). I was experiencing an itching sensation in my genital region and discovered 4 very small bumps. They broke during that first day and I began to experience a burning sensation when I peed. The following day, I felt extremely ill; all over body aches, fever, chills, and nausea, and my entire vaginal region just hurt. The itching sensation was gone and had been replaced by a constant, pulsing pain that seemed to be everywhere (not just where the 4 tiny bumps were). I scheduled an appointment with my obgyn for the following day, and was diagnosed with HSV-2. My doctor gave me ZERO information on the virus, possible symptoms and/or complications, or how to maintain/not spread the virus. He simply prescribed me acyclovir (3 × per day for ten days) and sent me on my way. Within the next 2 days of leaving the doctor's office (day 5 of my outbreak), I began to experience what I now know to be urinary retention as well as constipation. It was extremely, extremely difficult to pee and only became more difficult as the days went on. My body would be sending me all the signals that I needed to pee, but when I sat down nothing would happen. My bladder would feel full, I would feel that urgent sensation you get when you HAVE to pee, but I couldn't get anything to come out. It got to the point where I could only pee if I sat in the bathtub filled with warm water. It was absolutely miserable. According to what I researched on my own, this can happen with the HSV virus. I drank and ate as normal, and regulated my bowel movements with the help of laxatives, prune juice, and fiber pills. The urinary retention and constipation issues lasted for about 7-8 days. They just recently began to improve yesterday and (with MUCH effort), I'm beginning to urinate and deficate on my own. I finished the 10 day supply of acyclovir yesterday.

 

Here is where my question comes in.

 

Yesterday I woke up with what appeared to be a rash on my right forearm. It is EXTREMELY itchy and consists of a bunch of small, raised bumps all clustered together. I don't really have anything to compare it to, because my genital outbreak really didn't consist of many lesions. I only had the 4 small bumps in the first few days and those were not clustered together. They were all in different areas of my genital and were so small I would have never noticed if they hadn't itched. Today, the rash on my arm has gotten worse. There are more bumps and it is spreading further down my arm. It has also shown up on my stomach, and there is a small patch on my knee. Is it possible these "rashes" are herpes???? This is my first outbreak with the virus, and tomorrow will be day 14 from the initial symptoms. I'm going to schedule an appointment with my doctor, but he was completely unhelpful during the first go round. I have a 4 year old son and am panicking that I'm going to spread this to him. I covered the rashes on my arms and legs, but am still very concerned that I will unknowingly pass this on to my little boy. Can the virus spread to other body parts 14 days out of the initial outbreak??? Expecially since my genital outbreak looked NOTHING like this????

 

Any advice or similar experiences would be very helpful right now.

[eels67]

Hey @JCole218 I can't comment on the rashes, but I had the retention problems you were talking about - I kept on my acyclovir a few times a day for longer than the 10 days to really heal properly and I now take it everyday as my suppressive medication, and since that initial outbreak haven't had any symptoms like that. I did find my gyny MUCH more useful than my GP - I know it's hard to get in sometimes to a gyny with short notice but they might be best (sometimes you can negotiate with their admin staff if you explain it's a particularly bad initial outbreak you need help with! They would probably get the severity of that) They just seem much more knowledgable on the specifics herpes symptoms, where as GP's can over simplifiy it. Good luck! Hopefully someone can advise if the rashes might be connected? x

[MMissouri]

Do you have any immune issues? Have you been outdoors a lot lately-could this be poison ivy or something similar? Perhaps a reaction to the meds? I have not heard of anyone having a spreading rash like this due to herpes. Can I say 100% that it isn't? No, because there are rare/odd cases that pop up occasionally. I'm thinking it is unrelated, but you may want to keep it covered until you get an answer. I'm sorry I don't have any definitive answers for you, but hopefully the doctors will.

[WCSDancer2010]

Well it's *possible* that you have auto-innoculated those areas ... and it's possible it's something else. I'd get to a DR ASAP and get them swabbed ... we can't tell you what it is or what it may be (and neither can any Dr) without the swab... that's your best bet for a conclusive answer.

 

 

[OutOfWit]

What did you find out?