Herpes 1

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My partner and I have been together for 3 years and recently after having some rougher & dryer than normal sex, my vagina got extremely sore. My vagina looked fine but was very hurtful to pee and I felt constipated. I also had pain in my groin. I went in to the doctor and she said I had an ulcer on the opening of my vagina. It was one very small ulcer. While she said it wasn’t typical herpes signs, (no fever, cold, stress, not clustered etc.) she wanted to test for it. I came back positive for herpes 1 and she claimed my ulcer was Genital herpes. I also had BV which i have been battling for the last 6 months. I understand there is a lot of cross overs between 1&2, but is there any chance she is wrong? like mentioned, I had only one ulcer and developed a small bump around my anus. Neither scabbed over or busted open. I also started bleeding vaginally, not heavy like a period flow, but enough to soak thru a panty liner. It worries me as I’ve received false positives/negatives from this same clinic before. It’s been about 2 weeks since the pain started after sex and it’s been 6 days since I was diagnosed. If my ulcer on my vagina isn’t herpes, could it be anything else? Or is it pretty much a guarantee? And if so, does that mean I’ll always have break outs on my genitals or is it possible to just have random cold sores and never break out on my genitals again? I’m sorry for the long post - this is extremely heart breaking to me as life had really started coming together for me, I’m a new mother and now am just feeling like a completely disgusting failure.

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5 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Cindy,

    Genital herpes comes in many shapes and forms, and people react to the virus differently (hence why a lot of people never show any signs and are a-symptomatic) I was diagnosed with HSV1 genital herpes a couple weeks ago and i didn't have the typical symptoms but rather just one or two very small ulcers that were barely noticeable and once i got it checked out & tests came back positive and i began treatment straight away and it has cleared up significantly in 2 weeks. Have you started any anti-viral medications yet? Symptoms begin to show and skyrocket  in your initial outbreak so without antiviral meds you should get significantly worse. So i guess one way is monitor the ulcers and if they increase in size, pain and numbers and really take over my body with serious sores, inflammation and intense burning pain i think you know the answer. You can always get a second opinion of course, but if your doctor swabbed the ulcers and thats what coming up positive from the tests, i dont think theres much else to say really. I know it can be quite scary to come to terms with receiving this diagnosis. Life is not over. Youll be able to have sex again, your sex life isnt over but youve just got to be more aware of your health and any changes that happen in the affected area. Im happy to answer anymore questions you have

    Cheers,

    Ross

    • Posted

      Thanks for responding Ross. It sounds like our issue was very similar. I never really knew how “common” this was. I am on acyclovir and started it as soon as she mentioned it could be herpes. That was last week Thursday. It has really subsided now and I don’t have any pain. Still no ulcers scabbed over that I’ve noticed... and I look at least once a day. Do you know the likelihood of my partner having it? Also, is it possible with all future break outs that they will be below the belt or since it’s type 1 it could be in the typical cold sore mouth area? I’ve asked my doctor all this but she doesn’t seem as concerned as I am. I do typically ask her (via messages) multiple questions so I can see if some go missed. Thanks again, I appreciate the input!
    • Posted

      Its too common to have such a stigma attached to it in my opinion, which i think forces people to suffer in silence than seek help and potentially be ridiculed or have assumptions made about them in the process. Just stay on Acyclovir and it should clear up before you know it. From what I've researched if you use protection and are taking suppressive therapy (500mg Acyclovir daily) the chances of passing it on to a partner is around 5% most studies say. Although apparently women tend to have a higher rate of spreading the virus to men than men to women according to my doctor. And that rates are a bit higher on top of that since your body is newly adjusting to the virus. The first 12 months you are at the most risk of passing it on to others. Just like genital herpes, people can have the HSV1 virus with coldsores, people can never have a coldsore or ulcers/sores on their bits in their life but still spread the virus just like us who are showing symptoms. If your partner has it, i dont know being exposed to it continually with you can cause symptoms to occur in him/her. You'd have to ask your GP that. But all in all It really does depend on how everyones body deals with it. This is where the science on herpes in general is still out on that. So you kindve have to play it by the ear. 

      Hope this helps,

    • Posted

      Thanks again, Ross. Do you take daily medicine for your HSV1? My doctor gave my a script to last 7 days and sent an additional 7 day script for me to pick up in case another break out hits. I’m curious as I’d prefer to take it daily if that’s an option and could maybe help prevent breakouts in the future. 
  • Posted

    I was given prescriptions for 500mg Acyclovir (20 tablets) with 5 repeats. I took 500mg (one tablet) twice a day for the first 10 days then one a day for the next 3 months to be safe which i'm doing now. I would recommend taking it longer than 2 weeks to make sure your immune system gets on top of it. So maybe ask your GP for longer use if you feel you need it. After 2 weeks  in my opinion the worst of the pain has subsided but the sores are still very much there and very tender to touch and still sideline you for any sexual activities for a while. Im hoping the sores are gone after 4-6 weeks after initial outbreak, which shouldn't be as long as every outbreak lasts if you're on suppressive therapy and taking care of yourself.

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