Will it get better please help

Hi Mandy thank you so much for you reply. Do you think I should start taking suppressive therapy? Do you take it? I've cut out coffee and chocolate completely but I'm still young and like to have fun so i do drink alcohol on the weekends which I know can be a trigger. After the first year how many outbreaks was you having on average? I don't know what I can't do to stop me from thinking about it 24 hours a day. I'm from the uk and it feels like absolutely nobody has this virus here apart from me nobody talks about it at all. I don't want my boyfriend to catch it that's what petrifies me the most but I don't want to ruin out sex life xx

Hello Courtney,

                        I'm from the UK too, believe me there is lots of us suffering HSV here, I have only told my sister and boyfriend I have this and my sister informed me one of her close friends has it too, btw she is a beauty therapist and absolutely immaculate, it can happen to anybody and most of us don't know how/where we got this from.

I am currently taking aciclovir (suppression therapy) but that is because I'm due to give birth soon and its common practice to do so to reduce the risk of an outbreak round the time of birth as passing herpes on to a baby can be detrimental for the baby as they have very weak immune systems, the risks are minimal when you already had HSV before pregnacy and you do pass anitbodies on to the baby during pregnancy, midwives deal with this a lot and are not phased by it.

But throughout having GH I have not taken the tablets, because I'm pretty anti medication I believe we can deal with any affliction naturally and I have tried this throughout having GH, I just believe treating this naturally is much safer but that is my opinion and everybody has their own, so its your choice how you deal with it. You could maybe take the suppressive therapy when you are drinking (if its safe to take the tablets and alcohol together) I'm not sure, I would suggest though to eat healthy, drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest before you do have a drink.

The first year I was having an outbreak what felt like every 2 weeks to a month, then after the first year it went to about every month and a half, sometimes 2-3 months, it does ease down when you know how to control it and you get tell tale signs of when an outbreak is about to occur, like a tingle pain sensation down your leg/thigh/in or around your vj, or the itching burning sensation, at this point I watch what I am eating very closely, eat high lysine, get your immune system boasted, and look for the red patch where the outbreak is coming on and put tea tree oil on it a couple of times a day, this can stop the outbreak occurring or lessen the severity.

Do you know how you got HSV?The reason I ask is because I was 6 years into a relationship when I contracted this, had no idea where it came from at the time (now I think I got it from oral sex) and because my partner had no symptoms I was also worried I would pass it on, but at GUM clinic I was told my partner was most likely to already have this and be asymptomatic (have no symptoms, but have the virus) it seems men have less of a chance of being afflicted by this but can carry it and have no idea they have it, I know I have directly exposed my partner to the blisters (by having an outbreak without knowing and having sex, not until afterwards I noticed the blisters) and he still to this day (we have been together 11 years this year) has never had any symptoms of GH. If you are unsure how you got this and are still worried about passing it on,you can create a barrier between you and your partner during sex by using vaseline on the affected area, this can trap the shedding of the virus and stop it touching him, you can still shed the virus when your are not experiencing an outbreak though, this has been proven with symptomatic and asymptomatic people with HSV. 

I know its difficult to get the GH out of your mind but just try and think positive, like you have been given a wake up call and a new lease of life, imagine how HIV sufferers feel, GH is just an irritating skin condition, its not life threatening and many more people than you think have it, its no big deal, you can still have sex, partners, children, its similar to a period, it crops up every so often (hopefully not as often though) its annoying and you can't have sex while its happening, but it does go away and your back to normal, chin up I promise it gets better.

Mandy

Thank you so much for helping me it's nice to I'm not the only one with this. Even now after 4 years do you still get outbreaks every few months? At my local gum clinic the lady told me that alotnof people stop getting outbreaks altogether after 18-24 months, do you think this is true or do you think she's giving me false hope? It's weird because my first outbreak wasn't even bad I genuinely thought it was a shaving bump but my most recent out break was so horrible and painful and last ten days. Does tea tree oil speed up the process of getting rid of the blisters? Me and my boyfriend was on a break and stupid me slept with someone else and within three days nticed a bump so I'm assuming it was from him. Gradually I'm coming to terms with it I guess because it is considered a life long virus that's what scares me. Thanks so much for all your help xx

Your welcome, some people are fortunate enough to not suffer outbreaks much where as others do suffer them a lot, it just depends on the individual, but yes I still get outbreaks every couple of months, some people can go years with out having an outbreak, its pot luck.

Don't beat yourself up about it, life's about learning lessons and moving on, we all do daft things and regret it eventually.

For me the tea tree oil does speed up the whole thing, I have had to let it just take its course while preggers as your not supposed to use tea tree oil during such and its so painful and drags on for days with out the oil for me, I would suggest giving it a go, but I had to experiment with a few different oils to get the right one (100% pure natural tea tree, its about £7 my last one was from boots), its got to sting the sore, tea tree oil is anit-viral thats why it works so well.

Mandy

 

So unfortunately you stil suffer quite a lot of outbreaks considering you have had it nearly five years. I know it takes time to adjust to it and in sure it will get easier with time. I guess I can live with the outbreaks it's the thought of passing it on that really scares me. It's been two weeks since my last outbreak I've been eating super healthy and cut out chocolate and coffee and peanuts. Do you know what brings on your outbreaks? Are your outbreaks still painful now or don't they hurt any more xx

Yes I do, which even at GUM they said should not happen but I'm easily stressed out, I have one son already who in the sweetest way does not shut up for more than 1 minute, his dad works most of the day but when he comes home he talks just as much as his son does and they bicker like mad, I have two big dogs and I'm doing a uni degree, I have suffered with depression in the past so I'm easily emotional too, lol just bad luck something always seems to get me emo or stressed its my worse enemy, so I think thats my trigger stress/emotions.

The outbreaks are still painful usually, but its the pains in my thighs/legs/vj that occurr what are the most painful now, I can usually treat the outbreak within 2-3 days and it scabs over, whereas at first it used to wake me up in the night stinging and itching it would last days, now when I treat it that doesn't occurr I can sleep through, the outbreaks do become less severe, I have even had them appear without warning, it has got easier for me, I just need to deal with stress/emo more appropriately.

Other things I do to reduce outbreaks is wear comfortable underwear through the day and wear no underwear at night (I still wear my pj's though) I don't wear tight clothes other than leggings which are breathable, I never use a bic shaver down there, I use ironically a beard trimmer and just trim, that way I can't cut and don't need to touch much of the skin, I found that shaving or irritating down there can bring on an outbreak.

I understand you are afraid of passing this on, I was too, the guilt and emotions associated with giving something to somebody you care about i know it can worry you a great deal, but the chances are he might never get it, might already have it (be asymptomatic) or is so in love with you that it wouldn't be a problem if it did happen, love is after all the strongest emotion there is and it can get over anything, if it did happen he knows you would never have meant to and if he placed himself in your position he knows what it would put you through, if you undertand what I mean by that, you obviously care about him, so try not to worry about it, use vaseline if you can't stop thinking about it (lol sounds kind of wrong but you know what I mean by that), keep clean and watch out for the signs of an outbreak, other than that they say mind over matter, think positive and not omg what if, just enjoy yourself.

Mandy

I’m only 14 and I got herpes somehow 1 year ago I have bumps but they aren’t sore but they are definitely herpes because they are clustered together.Im just wondering i haven’t had an outbreak but I have the bumps and is there any way I can get rid of those bumps but still have herpes?

Hi Cormac,

This does not sound like herpes to me.  However if you can get tested that would be the best for yourself and potential partners. A boyfriend of mine also had small bumps on his shaft and he was told by his dr that it definitely was not herpes. My personal experience is never with clusters of bumps. I have one itchy large bump that if I'm unlucky turns into a sore. When you first get it, it seems to always become a sore quite quickly as the virus hasn't established yet. So while to be sure (because everyone is different and some people don't have any symptoms) you'd have to be tested, it really does not sound like herpes. If it is herpes, use a little tea tree oil on the bumps. It can potentially kill the virus if you catch it early enough, as well as decrease the sore time. But as I say, I've had the virus for 20 years and it really doesn't sound like anything I or my partners have ever had. Good luck!! 

Wow!!!! You give me hope

Hello Andrea,

I have ghsv 1 too . for 10 months now. Only one OB so far. Was on acyclovir but it got me serious psychosis, muscle spasm, and insomnia, so I am no longer taking it.

However I am getting constant itching down there which is very annoying and disturbing my work.

Have you experienced the same ? How long would this last ? Will it ever go away ?

Ghsv1sufferer

You need to see your GP. Don't delay as it could have severe outcome.

I too ended up in hospital for 3 days suffering from all sorts of pain and depression. I even had to see a psychiatrist to take medications to stablize my emotions. Now I am feeling better but still getting constant itching down there which is making me stressful. I bought some tea tree oil yesterday and wipe it on the itchy area it seems to help. Better than taking acyclovir which is causing a lot of side effects. Still on antidepressants to calm myself down.