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Flu-like symptoms without outbreaks?

Regarding PRIMARY infections: Is it possible to get flu-like symptoms of genital herpes WITHOUT ever having any primary outbreaks? I read somewhere that the flu symptoms are a secondary symptom preceding the first sores, but others have told me different things.
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Avatar universal
Grace, I get flu-like symptoms with recurrences, but never have visible lesions (I instead get burning pains in my thighs and hips)
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101028 tn?1419603004
even though mono and herpes simplex are from the same viral family, they have nothing in common other than that. how one infection affects you has no bearing on how the other will.
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I've been tested for every STD and STI except genital herpes, but I have never had sex skin to skin, and a person I met who I found out had hsv2, fingered me but over the top of my fabric. I was told it cannot be spread that way, and nobody thinks I contracted that, plus I have no visible sores. My vagina gets irritated when I pee...what I notice is also that usually the irritation which is slightly burning/stinging stops while I poop...  however this burning irritation has been for a year pretty much since I met the guy with hsv2...any suggestions of what it could be? or should I go ahead and buy a herpes test...my doctor won't test for it without visible symptoms.
If the guy only fingered you over the clothing, than you can not get hsv2. Herpes is only infectious from the location of infection - if he has it genitally, he is only infectious from his genitals, not his fingers.

Have you been checked for yeast or bacterial vaginitis? You can have either without ever having sex. It could also be a sensitivity to laundry detergent (especially if it's scented or has dyes- try the "Free" kinds, like Tide Free or something similar), toilet paper (especially if you are using scented or printed), wearing anything but 100% cotton undies, soaps (you really don't need soap - the vagina is like a self-cleaning oven, just use a wash cloth externally, but if you must, use a very mild soap like Ivory), douching (don't ever douche unless directed by a doctor) - you get the idea.
Avatar universal
Thanks Grace -- I guess it makes sense -- if your body is responding so severely to an infection, the virus is probably going to give you the sores too. I imagine, however, that there are cases of people have minor bodily responses without sores. I'm thinking of my own case, about a week of just feeling sort of sick, a slight fever, malaise, and swollen neck lymph nodes, but no headache, muscle aches, tingling, burning, genital pain, lower back pain, etc. No sores developed, but I still need to get a blood test. The problem is that my roommate was also sick at the time with cold symptoms (we shared drinks, had close contact, etc.), so I might have contracted what he had.

The partner about whom I am worried tested negative for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 after the potential exposure, but who knows how long it could take for accurate results to come in if he had just recently caught something. He went to the doctor who did a genital inspection and saw nothing alarming. However, I was certainly alarmed and surprised to see a red rash on one side of his penis, along with a swollen genital lymph node and a couple of red spots elsewhere. To say the least, I was really freaked out. He told me that it was from irritation and friction and that the redness/red marks sometimes popped up if he masturbated too hard while wearing his shorts (the location of the redness would correspond with his theory). He said that the red marks had been there long before becoming sexually active. So, he certainly didn't think he was having an outbreak or saw something unusual, and the tests confirmed it. Unfortunately, I am also sort of a paranoid hypercondriac, so I'm still worrying in the back of my mind. At the very least, if I do have HSV-2 genitally, I am asymptomatic.

The worst part is the psychological component. I have been celibate now for seven months, afraid of engaging in any type of sexual activity in fear of either catching it or spreading it. And I'm too afraid to get tested to learn the truth. I probably sound ridiculous, since this is really a minor issue in the scheme of things. However, compounded with other bodily insecurities, it makes me feel like others would find me undesirable, despite the high prevalence rate in gay communities.

Thanks for providing this forum. Writing that all out is helping me - I think getting tested is a hurdle I will be able to cross soon. Until then, no sexual activity for me! I wish I had been educated about this to begin with. Certainly, learning more about the virus makes it less scary, but it is also striking how easy it is to avoid it if you are educated about it.

Anyway, do you know if there is any correlation between people who develop/have averse reactions to mono and people who have symptomatic herpes?
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101028 tn?1419603004
if you are going to get the flu like symptoms, you are going to have lesions.

grace
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