Question:
Me again. The stupid guy who had sex with a girl unprotected
after she told him that she had herpes. I can't afford another
doctor visit, so I'm here again seeking wisdom on my
condition which seems a-typical to me.

This girl is gets very squirlly when I bring H up and, although
she gets credit in my book for disclosing her infection to me,
I don't really know how much of what she tells me is 100%
factual. Or that she's ever even seen a doctor for that matter.
She claims she was diagnosed with herpes but she doesn't
know which type. She said she's only had one breakout, but
that it was horrible and all over her genitals. There was no
mention of facial symptoms that I recall. We engaged in
unprotected vaginal and anal sex, and we both gave and
received oral sex from each other over a course of about
6 encounters. About 3-4 weeks ago I woke up with two white
fluid filled blisters on a bed of red rash looking skin about the
size of a quarter. One on each inner thigh roughly about the
area where the head of my unit hangs to. The blisters grew
and I had a crawling skin sensation in the groinnal area.
Believing I knew exactly what was happening, I did the only
thing I could think of to do...I consumed a whole bottle of
echanesha, a half of a bottle of multivitamins, and a dozen
or two L-Lysine pills in a matter of about 2 days. Quite rapidly
the crawling stopped and the blisters shriveled up and went
away without 'weeping' as they would call it. Still I felt it would
be best to see a doctor. When I saw the doctor she took an
ice pick, or whatever they call them medically, and stabbed
me in the hardly existent scab of the larger blister and
retrieved a sample for testing. The results came back negative
for either type of HSV.

From that point until now, I have had no significant activity in
the genital region. No burning, crawling, discharging, or full
scale blistering. A few tiny single bumps from time to time that
never seem to mature, but I would assume they are related.
But here where it get's interesting, or maybe starts really
sucking is a better assessment..About a week and a half ago
I started getting what appeared to be white heads on my face,
only with a MUCH larger payload than any whitehead I've ever
seen. Then after a stressful gig preparation (I'm a musician)
and an a-typically prolonged exposure to the hot Arizona sun
(the gigs location) my face has been alive with activity. My gums
are red and veinny looking, my lower lip has bumps on it
(no white fluid in these) interestingly enough there has been not
a thing on my tongue yet or roof of my mouth, extra chapped
lips (but only one semi significant blister and one other tiny
blister on my lips which were both white fluid filled) but my
cheeks and chin have born the brunt of it. I've had scores of
these white fluid or discharge or whatever I should call it filled
bumps on my face. There cropping up constantly. Most of them
never mature to much (probably because the use of choraphor
has been introduced to the game) but they just keep coming. I
even got one on my earlobe that was semi significant. But the
very worst of all was on my face about where a labret piercing
would be. (above the chin but below the lips and centered) This
was a trio of blisters on a brightly red skin base that after
choraphor scabbed over a dark grey and very hard to conceal
color and is still healing.

Do note that I have a tooth dangling in my head by a nerve
that I'm afraid to have extracted for fear of further aggravation
that may have further aggravated this topside breakout. Also
note that my genitals have had no exposure to the sun,
therefore I cannot be certain that conditions down there
wouldn't be similar provided I had. And on a final note..I have
been taking 1600mg of Acyclovir a day, which I purchased
from an online 'no prescription needed' supplier, for 5 days
with no noticeable signs of benefit. (provided I couldn't be
certain that my conditions wouldn't have worsened greatly if
I were not on the medication, they have not seemed to improve)

So know that you know my life story, does anyone have any
insight for this financially deficient emotional wreck of an author?
:cry: Any would be most appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

The EEDIOT

Answer:
LOL I'm sorry for laughing but you are a rather amusing person to listen to.
About your symptoms, it sounds like herpes to me. Seeing that you have come into contact with someone that knowingly had it, the chances that it's what you have is very high..and it's very possible that you have just received a false negative on the test. About the ech and all the vitamins, you can't take ech everyday (I'm an herbalist) and still expect it to be effective. Once meds, and that includes herbs, are in your system for an extended period of time, they lose effectiveness. Specifically with the ech, try 5 days on, 7 off. Also, taking that large of quantity isnt doing you any good either, just because it's an herb doesnt mean that you are safe from it harming you in large doeses. Lysine is also not ment to be taken on a daily basis. You are getting alot of the amino acid from the lysine, and that doesn't count the amount you are ALSO getting from the foods you eat. With the lysine I would only take it when you feel that you may be experiencing symptoms...if you get tingly, or feel that crawly feeling coming on take 2000-3000 mg for a couple days, but not any longer.

So, I would back off the pills and see hit the std clinic, explain your symptoms and see what they say. Don't take just one doctors word, because to be honest, half of them don't know thier asses from a hole in the ground when it comes to herpes. You are better off hitting the std clinic just for the simple fact that they know what tests to run and what exactly to look for.
Giving your profession, you are probubly up alot, and party alot right? I'm just assuming of course, but that could be alot of your problem. Herpes becomes active when your immune system is low. So lack of sleep and not taking care of yourself properly is just going to cause you to have more frequent and more severe outbreaks. The best rule to live by with this is..if you are tired, sleep. If you are hungry, eat. Try to cut down on drinking hard alcohol...any hard drugs that cause your system to drop is pretty much out of the question. Like I said, I dont't know what you are into, I'm just putting it out there so take what you want and run with it. I do drink beer and wine and I smoke herb everyday. It doesnt seem to effect my outbreaks. I have very very few and very minor outbreaks. I'm talking, my last one was 2 and a half years ago. But I dont take pills, I barely take asprin for headaches. I drink teas and infusions..with the expeption of my beer and wine. LOL
mmm..that's all I can think of right now. Hope some of that ranting helped.

Answer:
Delilah, I'm interested that you're an herbalist, and also that you seem to have been living fairly successfully with your herpes. I'm fairly knowledgeable about nutrition (as a layperson can be!) and make sure that I take precautions for any medical ailments (preventive and otherwise) through my diet. Can you recommend anything specific that could help fend off further attacks?
Thanks

Answer:
Thanks for all the Delilah. So given the info provided, would you say this is most likely a hsv-1 infection? Or is it impossible to tell? I ask this because I would assume telling a new partner about my coldsores would be widely acceptable, whereas hsv-2 would all but end my sex life.


EEDIOT

Answer:
I don't know about Delilah, who probably knows much more than me, but when I had my test taken I asked my doctor which strain was most likely. He said that htese days it's impossible to differentiate as people engage in such a variety of practices, namely oral sex, which means that it's just as easy to get 2 on the face as 1 on the genitals and vice versa. He also said you can never tell without a test. Did you manage to find an STI clinic? I would honestly say from my point of view knowing what you're dealing with takes a lot of the strain off.........
Hope you're doing okay!

Answer:
Bumper is right, unless you go get type tested you won't know what type you have. Because of the oral sex revolution the types of herpes has really been given an excellent chance to mix. Seeing that you just contracted it, it's going to be really hard to even GUESS what type it could possibly be. But at the end of the day, it doesnt really matter what type it is..you have herpes...and herpes is herpes. Type one is just as contagious and can reside in either place of the body just like type two. If you have type one genitally, it's going to come out sounding just as bad as if you had type 2 genitally. Saying I have cold sores on my lip sounds fairly harmless to most people but saying I have herpes on my genitals is scary for people to deal with reguardless of the type.
Usually type 2 breaks out more often (as Im sure you've already figured out by reading)and more severe, but you can't take that to the bank because each persons body reacts differently to the virus.
I don't even think they type tested me when I was diagnosed, I just assume its type 1 because of my mild outbreaks and do to the fact that I rarely break out. That and I got it from a cold sore on my husbands lip..but even then, many people have type 2 on the lips, so..who knows.
As far as herbs, lemon balm has been known for centuries to fight off hsv. I drink it alot as a tea. Also the leaves of the balm and elecampane leaves applied directly to the area of infection has been said to reduce inflamation. It has a very soothing kind of a warming quality to it. But the balm is easier to get ahold of. It grows like madcrazy, I have a big bush of it in my backyard. It's a mint, so its easy to grow, hardy, grows large and it's hard to kill.
As far as affecting your sex life, it will affect your sex life. I've also heard of people applying wet tea bags to the area for comfort.
Alot of the people here have a hella time with dating, just do to the fact that they have an obligation to tell potential partners...and alot of those partners bail. I don't have problems with my sex life because I 'm married, and contracted herpes from my husbands cold sore, so he's not worried about it. He accepts the fact that he may one day get it, he doesnt want to, obviously, but he understands that it is a possibility. I have been told by doctors that its almost impossible for my husband to get it genitally from me because his body has built up antibodies for this hsv type from years of getting cold sores. Now impossible, I doubt, unlikely, more a possibly. As long as herpes has been around you'd think doctors would have more of an understanding about it but they really dont, so I dont take what they say as 100%. But its been 5 years, and he still hasnt gotten it and we have an active sex life and use no protection at all.
If there is anything I missed, let me know. It's early and I haven't had my coffee.LOL grab me if you want me. I have yahoo ladydelilahjones if you wanna yack.

Answer:
"Alot of the people here have a hella time with dating, just do to the fact that they have an obligation to tell potential partners...and alot of those partners bail."


Sorry this is probably the scareist quote ive heard since ive been on this board..........I don't know how we can all deal with this. I have to tell a girl Ive been dating for 3 weeks.......shes probably gonna bail isnt she?
This does not help my spirits or anyone elses im sure

Answer:
Im sorry for upsetting you, that wasnt my intentions. But it happens all the time, people post about it alot. It's an unfortunate fact of living with herpes. Understandably really, I wouldnt imagine that alot of people with a completely clean bill of health, herpes free, would be thrilled to jump in the sack with someone that they may contract herpes from. There are people out there that are loving and caring and will learn to deal with it because they fall in love with you, but I'd imagine that you'd have to go through a few others to get to them. There is a good possibility that your girl isnt going to be real thrilled with the news, then again she may take it very well. It's hard to say. Please don't get angry with her if she takes it badly though, you can't blame her. She has the rest of her life to think about and a lifelong viral infection may not be what she wants to see in her cards. But you have to give her the choice. But I really didnt mean to shadow your day, for that I'm sorry. I hope for you the best in whatever answer you get. Be well.

Answer:
Of course Delilah's right, it will be trickier than sleeping wiht people when you have a clean bill of health but I'd just like to say that I took a deep breath and told the guy that I most recently slept with, and who I suspected I contracted it from, and he couldn't have been calmer and nicer about it. Very level headed and philosophical about it and as it turns out, got symptoms exactly the same time as me so I could have given it to him, and he could have turned on me. But he didn't. So there's a tale of hope. If there are people like us on here, there are good people out there too. I look at it might even be a filter for stopping me getting involved with people who aren't compassionate and understanding. Who knows.