Question:
So, dealing with things and finding I have a lot of questions, and so I bring another to the board here:

What precisely constitutes a primary outbreak? If I've had this for over a year, why is it that my primary is as bad as the primary ob for someone who just contracted it?

Also, If I went for a year without any outward signs, why now? Will I go through all the same things as someone who just contracted this and see a reduction in the number of ob's?

I ask because I had a really really bad ob last month - it was HORRIBLE and now, six weeks later, I find I'm having another small ob at the opening of my vagina (post sex, of course). I know from extensive reading on this board and elsewhere, that nobody has "typical" symptoms and everyone's experience is different, but in some ways we can relate, so I was hoping that someone had some answer to this one. Is the resistance to this built up purely in our blood, or is it also built up at the site of infection?

Answer:
I'll give you my best shot by sharing my own experience.

I think I probably contracted this virus 10-12 years ago. I never had a primary or inital ob. All that I remember back then was that one day it seemed like I was suddenly allergic to tampons. I thought it was weird but started taking notes and eventually changing brands. It didn't help much (I also was having a strange back pain called sciatica). My marriage was on the rocks and my ex husband was acting so weird. I thought he was losing his sh** so I didn't stop to consider that just maybe he'd had an affair and was having his own initial ob. I do remember him freaking out about itching.

We broke up and I moved out - far away. I was really stressed. I immediately lost weight (20#) and started having weird itching. This time I thought I must be allergic to the laundry soap and the bath soap. I saw a dr and they never mentioned hsv, but gave me cortisone creams to apply and believe it or not antidepressants. It finally calmed down and I soon disregarded the problem even though the itch would eventually come back.

This year I had the mother of all ob's. I had severe itching, blisters, pain . . . I ran to the dr's immediately and had a culture taken and sure enough was diagnosed with hsv2. In the past I had a kick-a** immune system but over time it was weakened by long hours at work, allergies and steroid medications, lack of sleep and in the end, the straw that broke the camels back, I lost someone very dear to me and was overcome by sorrow. It took about 4 months for me to get back on track and now the symptoms are going away. But I only ever had 2 real ob's the rest has been mostly symptoms.

So yes sometimes your immune system can overcome that first initial ob and you can have a big one down the line but it isn't necessarily like starting over it is just because your immune system can only handle so much at one time. I don't think the infection spot has anything to do with it.