To be absolutely over life with genital herpes

@singlemum93

Your description of
“shooty leg pains” is really spot on! The other description I read on a forum of “heavy dead leg pain” was also accurate.
I have had pain and tender patches on my lower stomach and round my waistline in past outbreaks.

Oh I also find Nothing topical works only makes it worse!!
I tried- sudocrem, Vaseline, lidocaine cream (numbing cream) nothing really works. My advice is keep the area clean and dry and salt water baths as much as possible! Also I put sanitary pads in the freezer them put them in my pants. (Haven't had to do that for years) but please know it will get better

I feel your pain literally!
I am someone who has suffered with HSV type 1 also. Had my first flare up about 4 years ago and continued to be a problem. I got pregnant and my pregnancy I had herpes the entire 9 months and Drs wouldn't prescribe me antivirals until last stages of my pregnancy. They too couldn't understand how I had it all the freaking time! In the end I opted for everyday antivirals. Although they did really work for me and at least took the pain away. Maybe try different antiviral as there is a few out there! Once cleared up after pregnancy I took one a day for a year and then stopped. Now I only get breakouts occasionally and start taking the antivirals as soon as I feel any sort of itch or shooty leg pains etc and touch wood I've not had a problem.
However I know it's far from ideal.
Things that make mine worse or breakout:
Being tired / not getting enough rest
Being stressed
Sex
Wearing tight clothing
Thrush ( using thrush cream made even worse)
I'm 4 years in now and things are so much better I barely think about it. My advice would be keep trying the antivirals and stay on them long term for at least a year before coming off them!
Good luck

Oh that's true, a doctor friend suggested lanocaine cream which is a local anaesthetic, for when it's really bad.

I think I previously had capsules but read that the liquid was more effective so have used this for the last few years. I really hope it helps you, it is so awful and not something you can have a whinge about to friends when it is awful as it's so socially stigmatised as well. It will get better, just hang in there.

Would a topical numbing cream help? Like Emla cream? I know it won’t cure it but I might give you a break from the pain and discomfort

As you haven't got a bath.
Consider a paddling pool in the shower or a bidet bowl on the toilet to use with the Epsom salts.

Exactly @RubyRubyRuby321 it’s not so much about dosage but about taking them at regular intervals. Apparently the virus starts to resurface again after only 12 hours so you need to be taking them at say 8am, 2pm, 8pm for example. Once a day isn’t enough to keep it at bay.

@Harassedmum123

i agree with your comments about dosage, it has to be high enough and relentless enough to fight the virus and you can very often keep it from becoming a full-blown outbreak if you follow this.

@PotatoCatkin

Good point about periods!

I cocked up my HRT a while back and that seems to have brought on an outbreak. Luckily, the antivirals warded off a bad one and it was gone within the week.

I’m so sorry to hear it. I’ve not tried valaciclovir, I have only taken Aciclovir. There used to be a Herpes helpline (maybe still is) might be worth getting in touch with them. They were so helpful to me on my bad days.

With the antivirals, one won’t help unfortunately. Can you take the whole supply? You need to be taking around 600mg per day as suppression. For the past two years I only take 200mg in the morning and 200mg at night and that is enough for me. Now and again I get the tingle or the tell tale ache in my thigh so I up my dosage and take an extra 200mg around lunchtime too for a few days until the aching goes away.
When you were taking the antivirals were you taking enough of them per day? Any less than that and they don’t work unfortunately. I really hope the pain eases and you can enjoy your holiday. Don’t worry about the wine- in my experience it didn’t matter what I cut out, the attacks were as bad whatever I did.

Have you considered trying something to stop your periods just in case they are a trigger and stopping them could help break the cycle?

I have every sympathy OP, it’s absolutely rotten and I remember feeling thoroughly miserable for the first few months after infection. I even got signed off work for 3 weeks because walking was absolute agony.
Like you I didn’t have much luck with the antivirals (but defo worth another shot at them if you can). After many years of outbreaks these are my golden rules:

Daily cool baths / showers and drying with a soft clean towel
Large seamless (very important!!) pants, which prevent your skin rubbing against itself and causing friction
*avoiding walking long distances (again, avoiding friction)
*As pp have said - rest! Give your body every opportunity to fight the virus with lots of sleep and avoiding stressful situations (where possible)

I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but your body will start to manage the virus and the outbreaks will become much more manageable… and one day you’ll realise you haven’t even thought about herpes for weeks! Hurrah!

I take daily dose of antiviral twice a day. It really helps me and I've been doing it for under 2 years.

Lysine and arginine compete against each other, so while it’s beneficial to take lysine, it can also be helpful to cut back on foods high in arginine, typically milk chocolate and nuts.

I think you deserve and need two weeks off work somewhere sunny - that's my prescription!

OP I really sympathise, I have HSV1 orally, had it since I was a toddler and like you my immune system just doesn't seem to deal with it. Antivirals do help me so I am lucky with that.

Can I recommend an American site, Westover Heights. It is run by a nurse who is a specialist in STI's and HSV in particular. She can give great advice and might be able to help.

Good luck.