2 years diagnosed and still very down

Keep your stress level low. And maybe see your doctor about anti depressants. Those emotions are big triggers for me. Your sex life CAN be normal! My bf and I both have herpes. We have a very happy sex life. He gave it to me and was completely horrified. he had no idea he had it. His break outs were very mild. I, in fact, tried helping treat his sores before we even knew what it was because his break outs looked like razor burn or chaffing (both real possibilities as he works construction during the summer and men often chafe in the summer). We only found out because I had symptoms of a bad break out so I asked him to get tested with me. I can asure you, a normal sex life IS possible! Keep your stress level and emotions in check and keep yourself healthy. This should decrease your break out frequency greatly! Hope this helps! You can get through this!

Hello Sadbutrue,

                          Sorry your having a hard time dealing with this, things do get better, Ive had it 5 years now, pretty sure I contracted it the same way as you, I just don't know for sure but my bf is either asymptomatic or just doesn't have it and I got it from a previous partner and it didn't show up for many years, anyways I suffered pretty bad ob's non-stop at one point it was horrible, its only the last 10 months I would say that Ive actually managed to control it, jeeez it was a nightmare the first 4+ years...so I know its possible to actually control it without tablets, although I did take the tablets for about2 ½ months because I was pregnant.

Well the tea tree oil works for me right before and during an ob, but what works best for me is eating a large ring/chunk of fresh pineapple, or drinking (non-concentrate) pineapple juice every day, do not miss a day otherwise you will have an ob, I have done this since my son was born n I came off the tablets and its working so far, if I do miss a day or two in a row I get an ob they are nowhere near as bad as they used to be, so I make sure I have pineapple in all the time, I bought a juicer for when I can't be bothered to eat it, and I get the organic pineapples, a little more pricey but worth it to me....

The headaches? I'd say eat well, avoid sugars, chocs, caffinated coffee/tea (although if you, like I was, are a heavy caffine drinker, don't just stop straight away otherwise it will give you headaches when withdrawing, cut down slowly, I did it that way and now just have a half caff with half decaff scoop mixed with a full scoop of decaff, so its just a quarter caff) alcohol, drink plenty of water, thats mainly the advice for the herpes too, but when I have the pineapple I can eat and drink what I like and so long as its not ott I dont have an ob, oh and too much sunshine/tanning can bring about an ob, also your periods, jeez arnt we blessed lol.

Also when you shower don't towel dry your lady parts, or leave them moist, dry yourself with a hair dryer on low heat setting.

Hope this brings you the relief you need.

Mandy

So sorry to hear.. I can completely relate. I auffwr from depression and anxiety. I take meda every day and still have symptoms every day and obs once or more a month. If it's not an ob, it is redness, itching, sensitivity, etc. I started taking valtrex twice a day for two weeks now and I'm still having symptoms and am having an ob. My obs aren't painful and don't get super bad, but now I realize that I'm likely to never have a normal sex life and I cannot be confident at all, that I won't pass it on to someone. I most definitely will w how things are w me. I too am at a loss for what to do. I've no idea what else I can do. I have some autoimmune disorders I've been diagnosed w and suspect that is why my body is doing such a terrible job suppressinf the virus. I don't get it.. My body did an amazing job suppressing oral herpes.. I never get sores on my lips... So I'm at a loss w this. So are you broken out the majority of the month?

I'm sorry for not replying to all you lovely people that wrote me a reply, it took me a while to take all your valuable information and I'm touched for sharing your own experiences, it really helps me knowing I am not out here, on my own with this. I'm going to start changing a few things. Very grateful for the tip re pineapple. Makes sense as I know from a friend who had a massive car crass and head trauma that the Specialist recommended pineapple daily, so thanks for that. The bit about the hairdryer, gotta say it's the first time in ages that I had a good giggle seeing me doing this, but I am going to take all the advice. Thanks so much. I'm having problems finding an antidepressant that suits me but my doc is helping me get there. I just can't believe the lack of knowledge with herpes at the STI clinics. Wish people were given more information about this, makes you feel like a bloody mushroom, kept in the dark and fed BS. For me the headaches are worse than the rash and sores, but I smoke and drink coffee, so it looks like I am going to have to start treating my body healthier, in a weird way, maybe this has been sent to me to get myself together. I'm nearly 50, very overweight, recently lost my 15 year old dog, so lacking excercise. Tomorrow I start to change. I will read the messages here, as they give me hope. Thanks all. Happy valentines day, hopefully I awake without a headache so my BFand I can at least cuddle up and enjoy the day. X

First and foremost, I understand how you feel even though I have the HSV 1 and got mild outbreak and had it once after my first. I am not saying, I am lucky because we are all on the same boat. And it is a fact that we have this virus for life since there is no cure yet available.

I know it is not easy dealing the symptoms but it is harder to deal with people´s mind about the disease.

Since the virus stays dormant, and becomes active only when our immune system is DOWN. So we need to keep our self HEALTHY, right? One way of keeping ourself HEALTHY is to stay away from stress. You need to find what are the things that give you stress. If the outbreak stresses you, if you are in an outbreak then dont get stressed but instead have the attitude of mind over matter.

Since, we have it we cannot change or undo, or redo.. we just need to accept it completely and deal with it.

How, read more about the disease. THis helped me a lot. Although it hurts that many of those who dont have it give so much bad reactions but it is normal. We just need to understand them. What is important, you understand and you are ok with it. This will reduce your stress.

what i do now is i tried not to stress myself so much, have time to rest, drink a lot of water, taking multivitamins. especially Vitamin C., exercise etc than can keep myself healthy.

we need to be strong...we need to be positive...we need to help ourselves...

 

Very true, for me I've only gotten one OB since diagnosed in September 2014. However two weeks ago i suffered from intense lower back pain. I think lower back pain is a significant symptom of OB that many persons with HSV overlook. It is a good idea to pay attention to your body for painful burning tingling in the genital area, intense lower back, swollen lymph nodes in the genital area.

I take Lysine and Vitamin C every day. I was given a prescription for Valtrex, but after reading online of the side effects of the long term use of Valacyclovir, I decided to use it only if and when I have an ulcer. So far I've been lucky, no ulcers. Trying to keep my life as stress free as possible, since I believe this is a major factor in controlling OBs.