Question:
Hello, I was diagnosed with Herpes a little over a year ago. My first outbreak was tough and painful; but once I saw my doctor and got medicine, things improved tremndously.

Over the past year I've been getting used to this, trying to listen to my nody, eating healthier, etc. And I've had a LOT of out breaks this first year, (10... 11 if you count the one I feel coming on).

Lesions aren't too much of a problem during my outbreaks, mainly because when I experience prodonal symptoms I immediately start taking the appropiate dosage of acylovir, (I take it daily for supression). My prodonal symptoms include tingling/ itching in my infection sites (before the lesion appears), and horrible lower back pain paired with severe nausea. I've heard of the lower back pain and nausea occuring with initial outbreaks, but does anyone else out their suffer through excrutiating back pain with every outbreak like I do? (It is, however a good warning to abstain from sex with my partner, but jeesh, it hurts).

If anyone has experiende with this and has suggestions besides good drugs, (thinking about asking the doctor for back pills), please share, i would truly appreciate it.

And since this is my first post, I would like to say thank you to all of you out there that have chosen to be honest and responsible--- I decided on the same path the day I was diagnosed.

Answer:
Hi belladonna....

you know, I have constant back pain (hip back problems....long story...sigh) so if I DID have any backpain from the outbreak, I wouldn't know it. :roll:

BUT with this last outbreak, I had the weirdest pain in my upper thigh...like behind my thigh, in the muscle, right under the ole butt cheek. At first I thought I pulled something, but then I noticed the tell tale tingling and like the next day...voila....big ole sore on the labia.
this was something new for me. Maybe the back and leg aches are a sign of a more severe outbreak? Not sure.

I never had outbreaks before and when I did, it was once every six months and teeny tiny. I didn't take anything for it, because I found it wasn't bad enough to warrant meds.

THEN when I was pregnant, I had an outbreak so bad, I could barely walk. it was horrible and frightening. Since then I have had several bad outbreaks. I do not know why. I tried the meds, valtrex was ok, but I always felt like I was in the prodomme phase when I took it. Do not get me started in acyclovir, that stuff hates me or something! :P

I was taking just lysine, bcomplex and not much else and I didn't have an outbreak for about 6 months. THen last month I had a horrific one. I feel this was brought on by eating oatmeal (something I had NO CLUE could trigger an OB, but apparently, it is really bad!!!!) So I cut out the oatmeal, the nuts (these never gave me any grief, but I am being super careful) cut back the caffeine, cut out my beloved diet sodas (can we say FRESCA?!?! I love this stuff!!!) just to see what happens.

What happened was the bad outbreak cleared up after 3 weeks...I had a week of respite....THEN I had another bad outbreak!!!! GRRRR

So I drank a ton of coffee, bought some diet sod and ate a handful of nuts yesterday! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I am experimenting with Cholarphor and posting my results there, you can read them in the treatment section...where I am the "human guinea pig!"


The best thing to do is be your own guinea pig, as we are all so different and have different triggers to set off our happy little herpes :roll:

I think for me, the key thing is to get some dicipline and get myself back on a super lo carb, ultra high protein and fiber diet. (fiber from fruits and veggies) no more "whites" meaning, no sugars, no flour, no breads, no pastas...nada! When I did this in the past, I had NO outbreaks and I felt good and I even ate almonds and peanuts all the time...no outbreak. All that protein in me was kicks some major booty, so....I need to get myself back into control and get back on that diet, see what happens.

Good luck to you. I sure hope the outbreaks subside for you soon.

Answer:
Thank you for the advice, Ouch; but i was asking to see if anyone else had experienced this type of back pain with EVERY outbreak, no matter the size. At first, I wasn't on any type of suppressive therapy, I was using the suggested mix of lysine, b-complex, and really watching what I ate, (no foods high in arginine, steering clear of ALL caffeine, etc.)--- and there was no relief. I was having an outbreak monthly or more. About three months ago I went on acylovir and this is my first outbreak since, so suppression is working well with my system. I'm very happy with suppressive therapy and I'm going to stick with it, along with eating healthy, taking lysine & b-complex, and avoiding caffine. I just wanted to know if my lower back pain was a common ailment of other HSV sufferers. My doctor has told me that it's not common, but completely normal, (due to where the virus resides when it is dormant).

I'll have an outbreak where I'll barely have a lesion, and yet I will feel like someone is squeezing my lower spinal cord--- so it does not seem to correspond to the severity of the outbreak, as you suggested.

If anyone out there is experiencing this type of pain, (and nausea), with their outbreaks, please let me know. Thank you!