Genital Herpes

[GreenBalloonClub]

I have been to the doctors today who has swabbed me for genital herpes. I have now got to wait over a week for the results.

If you suffer from this, do you get sores in the same area or do they appear in different parts of your genital area?

I used to work in a GUM clinic. Yes, sores can appear in different parts of your genital area. In our clinic they could tell by sight if you had HSV or not and would provide certain treatments before results came back. I hope you aren't in too much pain, and perhaps your gp gave you anaesthetic cream if so? Works very well, esp if you have pain when peeing. Also take a jug of water into loo and let it flow over area while you pee, makes it much less painful in early days or at onset of attack. If it is HSV attacks generally become much less severe over time and often less frequent. Hope that helps a bit

Also, my DP was misdiagnosed with urethritis when he actually had the herpes virus. He had contracted it from a non symptomatic xp. I caught it from him after going on the pill after he had been tested and given all clear for stds. Ask away if you can think of anything else you want to know. My dr was incredibly helpful, informative and kind, which helped a lot as I was really upset at first

Thank you both for replying, it is the first time I have been able to come back.

I don't have the awful 'text book' attack where the area is goes through stages, it is like a couple of ulcers. I have been reading the nhs website and not everyone has that first awful herpes symptom attack of feeling dreadful.

When the sores re-appear is it in the same area or do they move around the genital area?

Does the above make sense on what I am trying to say?

Yes it makes sense!
I am glad your symptoms arent too bad.
Mine used to reappear in the same place rather than move around, now after a few years it's nothing more than a slight itchy feeling very occasionally if I get an "attack". Got less painful each time and occurred less frequently each time too. Hopefully as you have had mild first attack it won't cause you too much of a nuisance in the future.
Sorry for my rambling replies, have 2 rowdy toddlers so had to write in stages and struggle to concentrate/make sense

rainbowrainbowrainbow thanks for your further reply.

I have a few questions, which I hope you or someone maybe able to answer:

How long do they last from start to finish?

How do you know when you will have an attack?

How do you make sure that other family members don't contract it? I am worried about dc getting into my bed and catching it from bedding etc., or if towels get too close to mine.

Hi GreenBalloonClub
In answer to your questions... I can only give my own perspective, but everyone's experience is slightly different.

How long?- about a week from first itch/tingle to no symptoms at all. That's with taking a 3 day course of Aciclovir tablets as soon as it starts. It used to be longer without them.

How will you know?- the physical symptoms are usually the first indicator. Being ill, stressed or rundown make an outbreak more likely to happen.

How do you avoid sharing it?- it's not as easy to catch as that! We don't share towels anyway but DCs in your bed is nothing to worry about. Imagine it as a cold sore in the wrong place (in some cases it is exactly that) so obviously no sex as soon as you realise one is starting, apart from that, get on with life as normal.

I was diagnosed 10 years ago but DH has never had symptoms and we don't use condoms. Luckily I saw an expert on the subject when I was diagnosed and he answered my A4 page list of questions and allayed a lot of my fears.

I had herpes of the genital kind when I was seventeen, which got frozen off (might be warts now I think about it) but since then I've only had one more attack, when I was pregnant with dc2, it was literally one wart and nothing else since.
So it doesn't have to happen on a frequent or even semi frequent basis.