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HSV-2 Symptoms / Dating
I am dating a woman who does not have HSV-2, but I do have it. I take Valtrex suppressive and use condoms to be as safe as possible. I also avoid sex when any symptoms are present.
This makes sense to me for "classic outbreaks", because those are usually obvious and (luckily for me, not a very frequent thing). But I have noticed that applying peroxide allows me to see tiny symptoms that I would not have noticed before, and these tiny red marks are present much more frequently (but are just redness, no blister, not tingling, no itching, no pain - hard to even see). These marks are also just on the upper right buttocks area only, not anywhere more sensitive or intimate - kind of like a barely visible rash, but with the classic HSV-2 ring-like shape, and in a general area that has had symptoms before.
The question is, should I not have sex whenever I can see these marks? I have been avoiding sex for a month because it is "symptoms" and people say to do that to be safest. But I recently read that HSV2 is active every few days in most people, less with suppression, sometimes just for 6-12 hours and barely making a mark, but still much more often "reactivating" than people realize - because the symptoms are small enough to be unnoticed.
Should I be so vigilant about these minor marks and refrain from intimacy if I can see "anything"? I am not sure how the studies on risk reduction have been done - do they consider avoiding sex during "outbreaks" to be just visible and obvious ones? Or do they really mean "any time any teeny tiny mark is visible"? I just don't know if the marks are a sign that the virus is asymptomatically active all over, so I should be really cautious, or if it just means that it might have been active in that one area last week for a few hours, and that it takes a bit of time for the marks to totally go away, and isn't really a big deal.
I am being very cautious for now, but my girlfriend thinks I am being paranoid to worry about such tiny marks (she can't even see them unless under bright light and right after peroxide used used on the area) . . . what makes the most sense?
Does anyone else have this issue?
This makes sense to me for "classic outbreaks", because those are usually obvious and (luckily for me, not a very frequent thing). But I have noticed that applying peroxide allows me to see tiny symptoms that I would not have noticed before, and these tiny red marks are present much more frequently (but are just redness, no blister, not tingling, no itching, no pain - hard to even see). These marks are also just on the upper right buttocks area only, not anywhere more sensitive or intimate - kind of like a barely visible rash, but with the classic HSV-2 ring-like shape, and in a general area that has had symptoms before.
The question is, should I not have sex whenever I can see these marks? I have been avoiding sex for a month because it is "symptoms" and people say to do that to be safest. But I recently read that HSV2 is active every few days in most people, less with suppression, sometimes just for 6-12 hours and barely making a mark, but still much more often "reactivating" than people realize - because the symptoms are small enough to be unnoticed.
Should I be so vigilant about these minor marks and refrain from intimacy if I can see "anything"? I am not sure how the studies on risk reduction have been done - do they consider avoiding sex during "outbreaks" to be just visible and obvious ones? Or do they really mean "any time any teeny tiny mark is visible"? I just don't know if the marks are a sign that the virus is asymptomatically active all over, so I should be really cautious, or if it just means that it might have been active in that one area last week for a few hours, and that it takes a bit of time for the marks to totally go away, and isn't really a big deal.
I am being very cautious for now, but my girlfriend thinks I am being paranoid to worry about such tiny marks (she can't even see them unless under bright light and right after peroxide used used on the area) . . . what makes the most sense?
Does anyone else have this issue?
You can also get a new girlfriend who already has the same type of HSV and then you wouldn't need to worry as much (assuming the new gf doesn't have anything you don't want to get, but that's the risk we all have to take).
I you like the current girlfriend you already have, then just try to be realistic and compromise - basically just do what she wants - there are no rules really.
I you like the current girlfriend you already have, then just try to be realistic and compromise - basically just do what she wants - there are no rules really.
No offense, but I think you are just being paranoid.
If you apply peroxide to skin anyplace, it will usually make it red in spots. The red spots from this could be anything. If you are crazy, go to the doctor and get it checked, but there is probably not enough of anything to show up in a swab test either way.
HSV symptoms can be minor but if it is not detectable to the naked eye and you do not feel any symptoms either, then it probably should not stop you from being intimate with your girlfriend.
Also, and someone please correct me if wrong, but HSV is usually most present where the active symptoms are, and symptoms in one pace do not mean it is more or less likely to be present anyplace else - I think this is correct?
Maybe someone smarter can verify this?
If you apply peroxide to skin anyplace, it will usually make it red in spots. The red spots from this could be anything. If you are crazy, go to the doctor and get it checked, but there is probably not enough of anything to show up in a swab test either way.
HSV symptoms can be minor but if it is not detectable to the naked eye and you do not feel any symptoms either, then it probably should not stop you from being intimate with your girlfriend.
Also, and someone please correct me if wrong, but HSV is usually most present where the active symptoms are, and symptoms in one pace do not mean it is more or less likely to be present anyplace else - I think this is correct?
Maybe someone smarter can verify this?
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
