Question:
Hello, i recently was diagnosed with genital herpes. I think i got the virus anywhere between february and july. I remember seeing a small, ennie, minnie, tiny little biddy bump on my penis (not the head of my penis). It didnt hurt at all. I went to the clinic, and the lady told me that i had nothing to worry about, that it was just a skin irritation (without testing me of course). So i didnt worry, went home, and cut that little, tiny, ennie, minie small pimple like thing. When i got back to NY in august, i went to my doctor and got tested for it. The truth came out, i had herpes. My major question is. How painful is the first outbreak? was that an outbreak i was having when i had that little ennie minnie zit? I currently have very very small bumps on my penis...but they never go away, dont hurt, no blisters...nothing. is it possible that i will not get an outbreak? did i contract a weak form of the virus? I will be waiting for your response.

Thanks a lot.

J

Answer:
Hi J. It's very interesting to read of other peoples' experiences especially with their first outbreak. I was dx'd in August and after my 2nd outbreak. My 1st outbreak luckily was not very painful. I did not experience pain with urinating or fever or a lot of the other symptoms I hear about. I had a pimple that was kind of pus filled. It was annoying but did not hurt, it lasted about 3 wks then healed over. 2nd outbreak was about 2 mths later and characterized by little pustules. I hope there is such a thing as a weak strain of the virus but I really don't know. I use Valtrex when i have an outbreak and lesions heal within 3-4 days. I also started taking lysine to see if the o/b's are fewer and further between. Sorry to ramble on, hope your symptoms continue to be mild.

Take care

Answer:
Knoir your probably gonna love to hear this bro... First off think back, do you remember ever getting cold sores on your lips??? If you've ever had cold sores on your lips it means you in fact infected with HSV-1 (facial herpes) 50 - 80% of the general populations have this virus... Generally ppl get it by being kissed as youngsters... If you remember having cold sores that test you took detected the antibodies used to fight the cold sores from 5 - 10 - 20 years go... The anti bodies stay in your body for life... So that little pimple you got was not herpes it was in fact a pimple, I'm 95% sure of that... Herpes HSV-2 is an agressive virus, your not gonna get a little tiny bump in an outbreak, your probably gonna get several bumps(clusters)... Blood tests have a tough time telling the differance between HSV-1 and 2, your gonna need to take a sample from an open sore if you wanna be sure weather you have HSV-1 or 2 :)

Rich