Genital Herpes Simplex 1?

by Creap

Genital Herpes Simplex 1?

If you have genital herpes - you have Herpes Simples 2. If the herpes is on your mouth, you have herpes simplex 1. Their names come from the location where they occur. You can go to WebMd.com and type in herpes and read everything you want to know about this problem.JB is incorrect! But it is a common misconception - people are ignorant about genital herpes type 1 because they want to believe that oral cold sores are somehow 'different' from big bad 'genital herpes'. I've been told that I must have hsv-2 on Y!A before, when I have hsv-1, and I should know because I am the one with it!

I caught genital hsv-1 five years ago. My boyfriend got cold sores from being a kid, and one day several years into our relationship he passed it to my genitals through oral sex. My boyfriend was a nurse, unlike JB he was aware than hsv-1 could cause genital herpes, so he avoided giving me oral sex when he had symptoms. Unfortunately we were both unaware that hsv-1 can spread when no symptoms are present, and he had none when he infected me. Having said that, I don't think we'd have done anything differently - you can't go through years of a long term relationship avoiding oral sex because there is a low risk of transmitting genital herpes.

Strangely enough, my sister also has genital hsv-1. She caught it about 12 years ago. Neither of us caught cold sores as kids, so we were both susceptible to catching it genitally as adults.

The first year I had it, the virus felt very active. I used to get tingling in between outbreaks, and sore skin on the buttock and down the back of one thigh following the path of the nerve.I got about 6 outbreaks the first year, and have averaged 4-6 every year since. However, my outbreaks are incredibly mild - no worse than a pimple. Just tends to be one bump, which comes out in a couple of pinhead sized blisters and heals completely within a couple of days. No pain or anything.

My sister has only had three outbreaks in 12 years, however the outbreaks she has had have been far more severe than mine.

I had one outbreak about a year after I caught it that was worse than my first. I ran a temperature and felt very ill with it. I love how they insist on telling you that only 50% of people with ghsv-1 experience a second outbreak. It really gets your hopes up, but that has not been my or my sister's experience.

My outbreaks do move around. My first outbreak, I never had blisters, just a rash and fever and a 'cut' but now I do ger a couple of blisters even though they are tiny.

I don't find it hard to deal with. More difficult psychologically than physically. Physically, absolutely no worse than getting the occasional pimple down there.

My outbreaks last 2-4 days max these days. I tend to get prodrome - sore skin that tells you the virus is activating down your nerves - then a small tender swelling. The swelling gets 1-3 tiny blisters on top, which I have to watch out for because they happen so quickly and tend to burst and vanish immediately. As soon as the blisters burst, the swelling goes and it all heals straight up.

As for medicine, I only take valtrex as episodic therapy - when I am getting an outbreak. I live in the UK, it is very difficult to get the national health service to pay for valtrex, and I really don't think it is necessary for hsv-1. They normally prescribe 10 tablets to be taken over 5 days, but I read a study that concluded 4 tablets taken over 2 days were just as effective in treating outbreaks, so now that is all I do, if I bother at all. If you don't take it as soon as you feel the first warning signs, there is no point in taking it. If you manage to take it straight away, it can stop the outbreak completely.

As for taking it to prevent spreading, I don't think that I would bother if my partner didn't already have hsv-1, because a majority of the population have it orally, and it is five times as infectious orally so I don't feel the need to worry about my genital infection.

My boyfriend has oral herpes hsv-1, so we don't have any worries. We don't use protection, or take any other precaution than avoiding contact when either of us has an outbreak. Once you catch it once and produce antibodies to the virus, it is very rare to catch it again.

I've told a few people I have it and all have been universally great. I've never had a bad reaction.

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