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Avatar universal

What to do now

I had my first outbreak about two weeks ago. What my Dr called. "Raging" outbreak. Most painful thing I have ever felt. Couldn't pee without crying. I was put on Acyclovir 3x a day and given lidocain jelly for the first few days. I just spoke to my Dr at PP again today and she sounded in a rush, she said to just refill my Acyclovir and continue the dosage as the same and that would be my suppressive therapy. I'm worried about the chance of my body building up a tolerance too fast. What is the likelihood of this? And also, I have started taking lysine. Am I on the right track? I feel a little lost and scared here.
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101028 tn?1419603004
since you have hsv1, we really don't recommend daily suppressive therapy. hsv1 genitally tends not to reoccur very often and it also doesn't shed much. since your partner has hsv1 orally, transmission isn't a real issue either as well as the low incidence of recurrences will mean not much of a disruption in your sex life either.

on average, about 1/2 of folks with hsv1 never have another obvious recurrence. of those who do, the average is 1 additional ob the first year and then 1 ob every other year. only a small percentage of folks get recurrences more often with hsv1.

keep asking questions!
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Avatar universal
Last note, I pulled up another thread for you to view regarding passing this back on to someone with HSV-1 orally and it's extreme unlikeliness. Spreading it to the person you gave it to you is 1 in a billion or the closest thing to impossible because you have the same strand of HSV-1. However if you are to meet someone else who carries HSV-1 orally, and you have it genitally, the chances of spreading it to his genitals is extremely, extremely, rare. Even if he doesn't have HSV-1, the chances of transmitting it to someone is really rare too because genital HSV-1 rarely sheds if at all w/o OBs.

Terri Warren (highly respected STD expert) says that in 30 years, she's seen it happen once and she wasn't even convinced it happened then at all. Here's the link to the thread:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Herpes/Spreading-Cold-Sores-or-HSV1/show/1822568

If you have any additional questions, feel free to shoot away! This is something that will not have a huge impact on your life and won't cause you health problems like the other STDs. You're not in the minority; over half of the population has HSV-1, and the numbers will continue to progress upwards to 85-90% HSV-1 when we're old! Take care.
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Avatar universal
You're welcome. You shouldn't feel like a minority or outcast in this case. It is estimated that anywhere between 57-80% of the U.S. population carries HSV-1 (oral or genital), and only about 10% of us will make it through life without acquiring HSV-1 antibodies. The issue with oral HSV-1 is that most people who have it are asymptomatic (they don't get obvious cold sores/OBs/and never do). I believe it's only around 20% of people with HSV-1 oral get recurring and obvious OBs.

You really have nothing to worry about and more than likely, you were bound to get HSV-1 sooner or later just like 85-90% of the population will. It's actually better to have it in the genital location in terms of shedding. It will only shed approximately 12 days out of the year or 3%-5% of the year. Usually, you will shed more during your first year (5%), but 75% of people with genital HSV-1 only shed when they have symptoms. Here's the study: http://www.herpes.com/hsv1-2.html

If you are to have herpes, HSV-1 is the one to have because you might never get another OB and the shedding rate is so low. Approximately 40% of people will not get another OB after their primary OB. Of those that do, we are talking maybe 1 or 2 each year for a few years and then possibly none again. Only 10% of those get recurring OBs (4-6/year). The shedding rate like I said is extremely low compared with oral HSV-1 and HSV-2. Whereas with HSV-2, people get outbreaks up to 10 times more than those with genital HSV-1.

To answer your question on the severity of OBs pertaining to the future, your next outbreak will probably be not anywhere near the severity of your first outbreak. I'm inclined to believe that you might not even notice an outbreak because it will most likely be mild, and pertaining to statistics, you probably will not have another OB again. If you do, it most likely will be mild.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the additional read!
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Avatar universal
If the person you are with now is the one who gave you HSV-1 genitally then there is no need to change your sex acts unless you're experiencing physical discomfort from OBs. His strain of HSV-1 infected you, so your strains are now identical to each other and are not different strains of HSV-1. However, if you are to meet someone else who also has HSV-1 orally, there is a slight risk you could pass it to them because their strain of HSV-1 wasn't given to them by you. However, that risk is like winning the lottery if you both have HSV-1 (despite different strands), right Grace? If you do stay with this same partner, as Dr. HHH, states, you can't transmit the infection to each other again either to mouth or genitals, but it would make sense to avoid sex during outbreaks due to physical discomfort.

I've attached a beneficial link for you to review/analyze that Dr. Handsfield responded to:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Partners-have-different-HSV1-genital--oral-/show/1129351
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Avatar universal
Good to know! I really hope more people my age are realizing how important it is to get tested. I live in a college town where our Main Street is a ton of bars and I feel like everyone has slept with everyone... Scary to think about what could be raging through our population! This was such an eye opener and a painful one physically as well. So from now on since I'm on acyclovir twice a day for suppressive therapy, my next one shouldn't be as bad right?
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101028 tn?1419603004
it's not an issue in this relationship but should you have a partner in the future that has hsv2, you are still at risk for contracting hsv2 which would mean more recurrences than you can expect to have with hsv1.
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Avatar universal
You rock. And luckily I have a pretty darn awesome relationship. Being open about talking about this has really eased all the weird fears I think get put in your head over the years. I'm still me :) just now I'm me with an extra passenger hanging out in my ganglion. I guess my next question is what's the likelihood of HSV 2 coming along since my immune system now has type 1? I feel like type 2 sounds more scary than 1.
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101028 tn?1419603004
was just being sure I understood which testing came back :)

since he has hsv1 orally and you have it genitally, it's really not much of an issue in your relationship from this point forward. avoid sex any time you have anything going on genitally just to err on the side of caution. he has significant protection against contracting hsv1 genitally from you.

keep asking any questions you have :)
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Avatar universal
That's what the ANP said on the phone today. Should I go up there again? Is this not a normal thing?
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101028 tn?1419603004
so your lesion culture came back as hsv1+?
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Avatar universal
I asked him to get tested too last week. He got his call today. We both just have hsv 1! Is that weird? He does have cold sores, has since he was a young boy. I've never had a visible one ever.
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101028 tn?1419603004
has he been tested to know his hsv2 status too or just knows he has a history of cold sores?
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Avatar universal
My best guess... Is that my favorite past time activity in the budoir, is what led his cold sore probably to my lady bits? I'm still slightly unclear on the main difference between the two complexes. I for some reason feel more relieved that I have 1, not 2.
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Avatar universal
That certainly helped unwind that stress! Nothing like Bones to get your mind off your own ailments :) I'm currently on hold waiting for the confirmation of whether it is hsv 1 or 2. I asked my man-friend, turns out he has hsv 1. I can't even believe that this time last week I was in so much pain and this week I'm all healed and feel so normal again. It's not as scary as I thought and I feel bad people are devastated when they find out. :( thank god acyclovir is so affordable! STILL HOLDING... And I was wrong! It is HSV 1!! Hmmmm.
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101028 tn?1419603004
no need for any vitamins or anything for herpes.

definitely confirm that your lesion culture was typed to know it's hsv2.

2 glasses of wine and lots of mindless tv :)  
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Avatar universal
It is hsv2 I think is what she said, I'm going to call again tomorrow. It was a swab test, not a blood test. And no I haven't read it! Now I feel silly! Where can I find it? I've been so stressed with school and turning 26, I feel crappy I almost made it out of 25 without any thing bad. But like you, I'm pretty "it is what it is" attitude about things in life. It's not going to kill me and I've toughed through worse :) I'm just ready to have a big glass of wine when I get home :) thanks for doing this, you make a gal like me breathe easier. What else should I take vitamin wise? I feel so much better this week. No sores anymore and not so stressed now that I know what it is, and my mind isn't running rampant with google sites.
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101028 tn?1419603004
have you read the free herpes handbook yet that we recommend in our read before posting post on the forum? it's well worth the read if you haven't.

do you have hsv1 or hsv2 genitally? what testing was done?

daily suppressive therapy is 400mg twice a day for acyclovir.

will you build up a tolerance to the herpes antivirals? no you will not.

is lysine effective for genital herpes? no it is not.

grace
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