I am having multiple bad throat herpes outbreaks, is this something else?

[RNJM990]

O

[auntiejessi]

I'm sorry you've been so miserable.

Has this been cultured this time around? You need to get it cultured to make sure it's not something else. Oral hsv2 rarely recurs, and I'd hate for you to be treating it as herpes if it's something like strep or something else, or even both - maybe you got strep, which triggered a herpes outbreak.

Have you been tested orally for other STDs, like gonorrhea in your throat? Has your partner been tested?

Be careful with the ketorolac. There is a black box warning on it that says you can only take it for 5 days consecutively. It can cause gastric bleeding, or some gastric damage (this happened to me, though I was on it for almost a month, skipping only a couple of days).

Does anything like chloraseptic throat spray help? Spray that stuff all over your throat, though maybe start small to see if it causes any burning.

I hope you start feeling better soon. It sounds awful.

[RNJM990]

Thank you so much for your feedback. Yes, I was cultured for everything. The only thing that came back positive was the herpes virus. By culture and blood.  But I don’t know why I’m having such bad outbreak even on suppressive therapy.

[auntiejessi]

I'm not sure why you are either, and you're on the highest dose possible of Valtrex. It an be rough at first, but if you've already tested positive on a blood test, that means your body has made antibodies already, and that should help calm things down (obviously, that isn't happening).

There is another antiviral, Famvir. It's more expensive, and it's usually used more for shingles than hsv, but it's worth a try. Maybe you'll respond better to that.

I wish I had more answers for you. If you figure it out, or you try Famvir, let us know.

[RNJM990]

I just realized the original  post never posted :  I am a 33 y.o. Female.  I was diagnosed with type 2 herpes back in February after a sexual encounter with a new boyfriend.  We had oral sex, which I performed on him. We did not have any vaginal penetration.   About 7 days later I got an incredibly sore throat with huge tonsils and was actually hospitalized because it was so bad. I was placed on acyclovir for 10 days after my culture of throat came back positive. Since then, I have had numerous small outbreaks, with one or two lesions that disappear in a day. Approx 20 days ago my infectious disease doc put me in a daily valtrex suppression therapy.  Three days ago I began with another terrible outbreak on my tonsils and more so on the back of my throat. I can barely swallow, am in an incredible amount of pain and have a lot of what looks exactly like you’d think a herpes lesion does. I went to my pcp (as my infectious disease doc was out this week) and she gave me 100 mg IV solumedrol and increased my valtrex to 1 G two times daily.  I am also talking Tylenol and ketorolac around the clock with minor relief. Could this be something else? It doesn’t seem to fit the description  of type two herpes in throat. Even my infectious disease doc was a little confused.
And if this is herpes what can I do!?! It’s non stop and I’ve been out of work a ton cause of it .  Thanks!