Hello everyone!

Well I think I am experiencing an initial outbreak. My doctor says that it is herpes, based upon what she saw visually, but I am waiting on results of blood work and a culture to know for sure.

I first noticed blisters on Wednesday of last week, and as it got worse I started to do some research based upon my symptoms and I was flabbergasted when I realized mine were classic intial herpes exposure symptoms. Before this, I was completely ignorant regarding this infection, and had never even given it a second thought.

I still have questions about how this happened, and I've found the whole thing to be traumatic...but I've been lurking around on this board for a couple of days, and it has made me feel better to know that I am not the only one.

I look forward to chatting with all of you and I'm sure that I will have lots of questions...

Welcome to the boards!!!

If you have questions, ask away. Keep in mind , Herpes can lay dormant in the body for some time before anything happens. The orginal meaning for Herpes in "creeping" or "creep" and it fits. The virus sleeps in the nerve base, usually in your face or below the spine. A Trigger, like stress , lack of sleep , illness can wake the virus up where is can cause issues. Also Herpes is skin to skin contact so even if you used protection, it is still possible to contract.

Also H is extremely common and you are not alone at all. We are here to help you with questions, concerns and if you want to vent, then do that as well. Never blame yourself . It;s not your fault and many people have H and don't know.At least you took the time to find out. NOw you can get the proper treatment needed.

Take care of yourself and if you have any questions , ask away

sweethalo ~

When do you get your test results back? I'm glad to know that your doctor went through with getting you tested to see if you have it and not solely rely ing on a visual diagnosis OR an opinion alone.

Are you still unsure as to how you may OR may not have contracted herpes? As for being "exposed" to the herpes virus please keep in mind that you either have it OR you don't have it. Sometimes healthcare professionals like to read back from the test results that you have been exposed based on those results. Well, that means that if you actually have antibodies then you have herpes.

Anyway, I sure hope you don't have it but if it turns out that you do have it there is hope and herpes is very manageable.

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Herpes Help

Angela & Isis,

Thanks for making me feel so welcome.

Angela -
In answer to your questions, I think I know how I got it. I had not seen this man in over 3 weeks, and then 5 days after I had contact with him, I developed symptoms. And I have not been with anyone else, but he doesn't have any symptoms and swears that he doesn't know of ever being exposed to anyone who has herpes.

Upon doing a visual, my gyn suspects that I also have a secondary infection, such as gonorhea or chlamydia, due to the discharge. When I shared this with my partner he was completely stunned and says that he had no idea.

He went to a clinic for testing of the full range of stds, and the doctor he saw said she didn't see any sign of any infection, but he is also waiting for his lab results.

He was able to wait around for a couple of hours and get his HIV result, which was negative, and that makes me feel better, as I'm certain that my HIV result will be negative also.

So now I'm just waiting for the other test results, I could know something as early as tomorrow (Monday), but atleast by Wednesday.

In the meantime, I have gotten medicine and am feeling much better.

Hello everyone

I heard back today about my lab results... finally...

HIV ~ negative
Chlamydia ~ negative
Gonorhea ~ negative
Syphillis ~ negative
Herpes:
Type 1 ~ POSITIVE
Type 2 ~ negative

So... I do have type 1 genital herpes...in light of some of the other possible outcomes... I am actually quite relieved.

First, I am relieved that all of the other things were negative, because that means that my partner was being completely honest with me regarding his activities...

Second, I am relieved that it is type 1, as I am understanding the breakouts will not be as severe or frequent....

I feel very fortunate to have a partner who was completely supportive, even though my doctors initial diagnosis didn't make any sense. We both could have made ugly assumptions about the other, and being that he had absolutely no symptoms, he could have said that it wasn't his problem.

We have learned so much about each other and our loyalty to each other. We have found ourselves being almost (... almost) thankful for this situation.

I still have questions... but feel like I can finally exhale!

That is good news and honestly you just have the good old fashioned herpes virus that over 70% of the population has in the U.S. Usually the initial infection is the toughest and recurrent ones are sometimes so mild that you may not notice them. Every once in a while just check to make sure nothing is breaking out. I've noticed sometimes there may be a little breakout but no pain or indication of a breakout, so just get a mirror and double check.

Take care sweetie , you are on the path to recovery

was it your blood test that was hsv1+ or the lesion culture and typing from the actual sores?

betsy