Question:
I have been living with herpes for about 6 years now and have finally found someone kind enough and accepting enough to let me into their life. The talk was really hard, but it went well i guess. I am curious what other people have to say about transmission. My infected spot is kinda right at my underwear line. Annoying place to have it, and harder to prevent transmission, unless i wear a full body comdom. My doc. said to leave my underwear on during sex. Now i can't believe this does anything to protect my possible sexual partner for contracting this awful crap. Any insight will be helpful I'm sure. Thanks.

Answer:
The virus is most active at OB sites, but it can also shed or transmit from anywhere in the boxer shorts region, from your upper thigh to your lower abdomen (where you get your obs). Leaving your underwear on will protect your partner from that one OB spot, but not from other spots where the virus may be present. The virus actually lives deep in your body, in your lower spine area, and travels the nerve pathways to the genital area. It can at any time take any path, and the fact that it has chosen the same path repeatedly when outbreaks occur does not mean it has to follow that path all the time.

Basically, the only way to really protect yourself is laytex boxers!

Answer:
So..Are you saying at any time the virus could decide to show up anywhere on my body? That is kinda scary. I have what I believe to be a mild case of hsv1, I only see it about twice a year. The length of time between outbreaks is greater each time...Will this be a continuing trend?

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate being able to talk to anyone about this. It is so hard for me to even talk to my doctor, forget about friends and family. It is just so embarassing.

Answer:
No, not anywhere on your body. Just anywhere in your boxer shorts region -- the area that your boxers would cover. She can't get HSV from your arm, but she CAN get it from your upper thigh. Yes, it is scary. The good news is, unless you're having an OB, the chance of her catching it from you is about 4% (that's the rate at which we believe asymptomatic shedding occurs, which would have to happen in order for her to come into contact with the virus). There are lots of people on this forum who have full sex lives and, with simple precautions, have avoided passing it to their partners for years. However, it would be important to remind her that there is never a 0% chance of transmission -- there's always that small chance.

Chances are you will continue to see a greater time between outbreaks. Generally as your body gets the virus more under control, builds more antibodies, etc, your outbreaks will lessen. Not all people experience that decrease, but it sounds like you will.

I understand needing someone to talk to. Honestly, what helped me the most was doing as much research as i could (here, the links on the left, and other places) so i felt like i understood what i was dealing with. In the last 7 months, last month was the first time i didn't get an ob, thanks to all i know now. If your outbreaks aren't severe enough for antiviral medications, i suggest you consider something topical, like Dynamiclear. You can put it on when you first start to tingle, or when your outbreak is at full-blast, and it should help decrease the severity and length of your outbreaks. Good luck!

Answer:
Wow thanks so much for the info. I am realizing that this site is better that my doctor's office. Do you use Dynamiclear personally? Doc said topical meds don't really do much.? I was on acyclovir but stopped taking it because i hardly get outbreaks and I wasn't sexually active. I just got a new script for valtrex. Once a day is a little easier for me to remember. I couldn't bring myself to think about it twice a day to take the pill, when I was trying so hard to not think about it...Weird right?

Have you found that diet can really control outbreaks? It seems logical to me, and if it does why didn't my doc tell me about this a long time ago?? Not that you know the answer to that one but really, I am starting to loose faith in my medical treatment. Thanks for listening.