Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Women's health

Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have medical concerns, please seek medical attention.

Original poster

Genital herpes?

29 replies

CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 29/04/2021 15:21

NC for this
Last week I felt sore 'down there', upon inspection I noticed a few spots which looked like blisters, they were quite painful. They seem to have scabbed over now and aren't painful at all. I have tried to get a GP appointment but not been very successful.
When I googled it suggested genital herpes .
My question is, although I do get cold sores (not had one for a couple of years) I've never had genital herpes.
Does this mean DH has cheated? Or is it possible to get them there if I already suffer from cold sores?

OP posts:
Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 29/04/2021 15:27

DH gets cold sores too I meant to add

OP posts:
Hill1991 · 29/04/2021 15:40

I would push to get a gps appointment, also it could be a fungal or bacterial infection due to sweating

Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 29/04/2021 15:44

@Hill1991 thank you, I'll keep trying with the GP. It's more or less cleared up now though

OP posts:
maz82 · 29/04/2021 15:50

I unfortunately caught herpes from my dp. He suffers from cold sores. I'd never even had a cold sore before and still don't but often get a flare up of the herpes when I'm extremely stressed.

bodgerandhismash · 29/04/2021 15:51

I had genital herpes about 3 years into relationship with DP. I also immediately jumped to "has he been cheating"? But the HCP I saw said that it can lie dormant for many years and then read its head with blisters when you're otherwise stressed and run down. Do try to be seen by a GUM clinic if they come back though.

bodgerandhismash · 29/04/2021 15:51

*REAR it's head!

Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 29/04/2021 15:58

Thank you for the replies. I haven't been particularly run down or stressed so not sure why they've flared up.
I'm so glad I didn't accuse DH of cheating! Obviously he knows about them but he said it's probably because he gets cold sores, when I looked online i saw sexually transmitted disease mentioned.

OP posts:
CervixHaver · 29/04/2021 18:28

If your DH gets cold sores and then gives you oral sex, that can lead to Genital Herpes.

I know this, because that's how I caught them. The consultant told me that when I was laid in a ward on a catheter (had a very severe primary outbreak that stopped my bladder working. I was 7 months pregnant and terrified as Genital Herpes can kill a newborn baby).

You need to see a Doctor whilst the scabs are still there (when scabs have formed, you're no longer contagious). If not, the doctor can do a specific blood test to check for Genital Herpes and a test can also determine whether it's a new infection or not.

CervixHaver · 29/04/2021 18:30

Another thing the GUM consultant told me, was that 99% of the population of the world has Herpes. It just lies dormant until something in particular brings it to the surface.

For me, it was a new infection which had come from my partner, as I said above

Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 29/04/2021 18:33

@CervixHaver he's never given me oral sex with a cold sore, I don't really do oral sex so I've not got it that way

OP posts:
CervixHaver · 29/04/2021 22:00

[quote CantThinkOfAnotherUsername]@CervixHaver he's never given me oral sex with a cold sore, I don't really do oral sex so I've not got it that way [/quote]
If he's touched his cold sore or bedding/clothing has and then somehow that has touched you down below or something to that effect. Essentially if you shared a bed whilst he had a cold sore then the chances are it will happen :(

Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 30/04/2021 05:41

@CervixHaver thank you, that makes sense

OP posts:
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep · 30/04/2021 06:08

Make an appointment at the sexual health clinic urgently and they will swab the sores and find out. Don't wait for the GP - they will only direct you to the GUM clinic anyway.
If you've already got cold sores it's highly unlikely that you'll get them on the genitals as well. You can't be passed the virus if you already have it. It's vital to get an appointment today and find out what it actually is, the clinic will explain about transmission too.

Battleaxeoutofhell · 30/04/2021 06:11

The type you will catch via oraal sex isn't genital herpes, it is oral herpes but on your vagina,which is much milder.
However you absolutely can catch it from him even if he doesn't have a cold sore at the time. The virus is present even when you cannot see it.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep · 30/04/2021 06:18

@Battleaxeoutofhell

The type you will catch via oraal sex isn't genital herpes, it is oral herpes but on your vagina,which is much milder. However you absolutely can catch it from him even if he doesn't have a cold sore at the time. The virus is present even when you cannot see it.
She already has this virus though so it's highly unlikely to catch it again in a different place due to the way the body produces antibodies. It is possible. Only the GUM clinic can really answer what's going on.
Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 30/04/2021 08:29

It's not on my vagina exactly, it's more next to it, where the buttock meets the body if that makes sense

OP posts:
Original poster
CantThinkOfAnotherUsername · 30/04/2021 08:30

I read it can be anywhere in that area though.
Think I'll make an appointment and see what's going on

OP posts:
Purplewithred · 30/04/2021 08:38

In the olden days when oral sex was much rarer you tended to get HSV1 around the mouth and HSV2 in the genital area. Nowadays when oral is much more common there is more mixing of the two, apparently. Herpes on the genitalia is pretty common - maybe 1 in 10 women have it - and all the stuff about catching it from oral, from touching, it lying dormant for a long time, appearing on the sacrum rather than the genitalia seems to be pretty well documented.

To get a diagnosis you really need to attend a sexual health clinic when you have symptoms, I believe.

Battleaxeoutofhell · 30/04/2021 12:13

Beep, true. Sorry!

CervixHaver · 30/04/2021 21:34

@Battleaxeoutofhell

The type you will catch via oraal sex isn't genital herpes, it is oral herpes but on your vagina,which is much milder. However you absolutely can catch it from him even if he doesn't have a cold sore at the time. The virus is present even when you cannot see it.
That's not what the consultant told me whilst I was on a ward, in front of all of his colleagues who nodded and agreed.....
maryjosephandtheweedonkey · 30/04/2021 21:40

Doesn’t definitely mean cheating at all, herpes is not tested for at ‘full’ STD screenings and the vast of majority of individuals with it don’t notice any symptoms so are unaware they are carrying the virus, so it’s difficult to ever be sure whether a partner has it or not.
Herpes from oral sex is still classed as genital herpes.

WellIWasInTheNeighbourhoo · 30/04/2021 21:56

I got shingles there once, is it just on one side and did you have chicken pox as a kid?

cancancan · 30/04/2021 22:05

I had something similar the other month.... I did see a GP but she couldn't test for herpes as I would have to go to the sexual health clinic... which during COVId I didn't want to do.

I had no idea how I couldve got it if that's what I had... been with DH for 15 years!

It was weird it came up a day or 2 after having a colposcopy at the hospital and having A biopsy...

bubblebath62636 · 30/04/2021 22:36

If he's touched his cold sore or bedding/clothing has and then somehow that has touched you down below or something to that effect. Essentially if you shared a bed whilst he had a cold sore then the chances are it will happen sad

This is false.

The virus dies quickly outside the body. Please don't spread false information.

www.ashasexualhealth.org/five-things-you-should-know-about-herpes/

CervixHaver · 02/05/2021 02:31

[quote bubblebath62636]If he's touched his cold sore or bedding/clothing has and then somehow that has touched you down below or something to that effect. Essentially if you shared a bed whilst he had a cold sore then the chances are it will happen sad

This is false.

The virus dies quickly outside the body. Please don't spread false information.

www.ashasexualhealth.org/five-things-you-should-know-about-herpes/[/quote]
This is what I was told by my GUM consultant. There was two of them there and were both very insistent about how contagious & transferable the virus is. I prefer to believe medical specialists, thanks.

Please stop reading nonsense on the internet!