Genital hsv 1. What am I dealing with?

[concernedbf123]

Hi All,

So my girlfriend just told me she has genital hsv 1. What am I dealing with here? Should I be concerned?

She referred me to this site if I had any questions and I have been reading up on some information and from the looks of it I shouldnt be concerned as it rarely sheds. How accurate it this?

I am a little concerned because the forums also state that there is a risk but its highly unlikely to spread from genital to genital but what about oral? Am I at risk for catching it orally?

I have been tested previously and am negative for both types of hsv. I always make sure I am tested for everything. I really love this girl and have know her since freshman year in college she is 23 and I am 26. I care about her so much but I'm not sure i want to contract this although she definitely defines and has everytihng I want in a woman. Can someone tell me what genital hsv 1 is and what it does to the body? Am I safe to have unprotected sex with her? We have always used condoms but after shes told me I've been a little less spontaneous in fear that I might contract her hsv 1.

I really dont want her to feel like Im pushing her away but its hard not to feel scared about this.

Is it really just a skin condition?
How come I have not acquired this yet? I have dated a handful of women and none have told me about any type of hsv 1. My gf said everyone has it in the form of cold sores on their mouths but to my knowledge I have not seen anyone with cold sores.

Can someone shed some light as I am very concerned and do not want to leave her without knowing the facts or what I will be dealing with.

[concernedbf123]

Should my gf take supprrssive Therapy just to add some more protection to condom use?

I know its not needed for ghsv1 because its.unlikely to recur but what happens if she doesnt take it, can the virus replicate and make her susceptible to get her sick (i.e get colds faster etc)

For ghsv1 is using condoms enough withouy supprrssive Therapy? We had unprotected intercouse last week. She had no outbreak everything was normal.  

[concernedbf123]

Haha! Start knitting girl! Lol

[gracefromHHP]

I knit a mean baby blanket :)

[concernedbf123]

Thank you Grace, I will be inviting you and petal to my babyshower :-) I will trust your info and will not freak out about this. If her ex isnt freaking out about it why should she even if its in another location who cares right?

It sucks that health providers arent up to date with their information and often give out the wrong information to scare their patients.

Thank you for your insight, should I have any more questions I will defintely be posting!

[gracefromHHP]

she won't have to worry about herpes until it's time for delivery. it's a less than 1% risk of transmission during delivery if she doesn't have an active lesion present. the overall risk of having a baby with a birth defect is 3% so the risk of transmitting herpes is even lower than that!!  Should she have an active lesion at the time of delivery, a c section will be done to protect the baby.

[concernedbf123]

Thanks Grace Im trying to take a chill pill about this so I wont add to her anxiety. She fears the transmission to me and I fear her leaving me because she thinks she will transmit this to me. Like petal says, she has never passed it on to anyone, I am going to believe that ghsv1 is nothing different. Its something that I will not worry about and will do my best to help her realize that. I am going to show my gf this post and have her read it and only this. My gf's problem is that she reads too much on the subject and sometimes gets conflicting ideas that make her cry and over think what hsv really is.  

Just yesterday we were talking about having kids and she started crying because she said now she has to worry about her hsv at birth and while the baby is in utero aside from before acquiring this she always said having kids would be a breeze now she will be extra paranoid.