Positive Culture swab. Experienced months of prodrome before outbreak.

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Ok so I've been married for 2 years. Been with my husband for 8 years total. This past May I began experiencing horrible itching and tingling in the genital area. I thought it could be a yeast infection but it was off and on for months. I would experience what felt like tears down there. I couldn't sleep bc of the itching and burning but could never physically see anything. Fast forward to October. I finally said screw it, I'll make an appointment bc I can't take it anymore. I was going through high stress the week I made my appointment. 3 days later I thought I was having a full blown yeast infection so I was using Monistat cream to contain the itching. I ended up leaving work early bc it hurt so bad and was painfully itchy. Came home to a swollen vagina. Ended up getting lesions. Got my doc appointment moved up and doc swabbed and gave me a igm blood test (I know those are crap). Culture came back positive for hsv 2 but blood test came back negative for both hsv types. (Which I know is bs, plus I have had cold sores in the past) doc insists that it's a recent infection bc the blood test was negative. But I believe that I've had this for over 8 years and I just now had an outbreak. Could I have been having an outbreak off and on since May and months later finally had an outbreak that actually produced lesions? I'm so down on myself and scared. My husband has been by my side through all of this and we are in the process of getting him and appointment to get tested. I'm just worried that he somehow never caught it and then our sex life will be non existent. We had sex about 2 weeks after my lesions cleared up, but I ended up crying in the process bc I don't want to infect him if he doesn't have it. I'm depressed and can't think of anything but this. I just need some insight and hope that my situation is indeed possible that I could have been having minor outbreaks (or even prodrome?) leading up to the actual lesions. Sorry so long. This whole situation just sucks.

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    This isnt the end of ur life or sex life.. I found out I have hsv in august. I've been with my husband for 16 years never had an outbreak before august. Had a swab done and found out it was hsv 2. It seems ur husband is very understanding as is mine.. the best thing to do is educate yourself the best u can.. this Forum is one of the greatest things I found.its not the end of the world with this diagnosis yes it sucks that we have to deal with these lesions and the itching when we do get them but it goes away.. have u talked to your Dr about Valtrex on a daily basis? I take 1 pill a day and haven't had another outbreak since.. you're more than welcome to message me if you'd like

  • Posted

    I think it's entirely possible youve experienced one of the many atypical symptoms of GH. Some people never get lesions, just little irritated or itchy patches. Toward the end of my initial ob I had some of those, though at beginning of ob, had lesions.

    On your husband maybe getting it - get him tested? Then you'll know if he's got it too, or if it's something to be careful of. You may have gotten it from him. Men are more likely to be asymptomatic or not know they have it. If you really feel you're going to spend your lives together, maybe you'll decide to not worry at all and go unprotected. If he does get it, many times the symptoms are super mild or nonexistent and would be less of a deal than worrying about it. I will say too, seems to me as time passes, it gets to be less and less to worry about. I was only diagnosed oct 10 and feel way different already.

  • Posted

    Do the IgG blood test. If that test is negative for HSV2 (disregard your IgM results, as they're unreliable), then this is a very recent infection. If positive, it's pre-existing.

    As for your previous symptoms (especially fissures/tears), if due to herpes, those could well have been outbreaks, not just prodrome, and you are simply having a more classic outbreak now. It will be interesting to see how your husband tests.

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