Question:
does anyone know how long a person can have this and not know, can you have gotten it like 10 years ago ( or however many) and all the sudden get an ob?

Answer:
took me 10 years to get a diagnosis and until then I didn't know it was hsv. I went to plenty of dr's who didn't recognize my symptoms as hsv related.

btw I did not have classic symptoms or ob's.

I had my first classic ob in 2005 and I was probably infected around 1996.

Answer:
what were your symptoms that they did not recognize?

Answer:
I had severe back pain that the dr's thought was from a back injury. For this I saw chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists. I was prescribed ibuprofen and relefen and nabumetone. The pain pills caused stomach problems and chronic diarrhea. Then they prescribed meds for GERD which threw me into a rash from head to toe that caused me to require hospitalization for a week and more steroids. (btw steroids are a big no no with hsv)

I also exhibited problems with my bladder and kidneys. I went through 2 phases were I had back to back bladder infections and times when I couldn't urinate at all and would be doubled up in pain.

I had excruciating headaches. The dr's tested my eyes, I had ct scans, I had allergy tests. Even though the tests were inconclusive they put me on 5 straight years of steroids and the headaches still persisted. Pain pills did little to help and caused me problems sleeping.

I had itching in my genital area but never a blister or an ulcer or a lesion. There was no rash or visible evidence of an ob. The dr's swabbed the area multiple times and the tests were always negative so they prescribed topical steroid creams and antidepressants. It would itch mostly at night when I'd get hot. I'd wake up bloody from scratching.

I thought I was crazy. Really crazy. It just didn't make sense to have all of these symptoms but no explanation.

Answer:
oh god, all this was from herpes? sounds worse than outbreaks-how is all that now?