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Hi Terri,
I read on another post that we do not asympomatic shed through the thick skin…i keep feeling a little tingle about once or twice a day on my butt.. I also have a little tingle on the outside of my vagina sometimes is this shedding? I was recently diagnosed in July. I have also recently had sex for the first time and obviously have been trying to keep him as safe as possible I’m on valtrex and we’ve been using condoms.
Thank you! -
It is correct that shedding does not occur from thick skin like the buttocks. If you are feeling a tingle there, it could or could not be herpes. Once a person is diagnosed with herpes, they begin to notice every little tingle that might previously have been blown off or went unnoticed. Also it is hard to know if the tingle on the labia is herpes, same thinking. The only way to know if a particular symptoms is related to herpes or not is to gather a swab (preferably PCR) from that skin area and have it analyzed. We do have patients sending swabs into our clinic regularly for that purpose but perhaps your own local provider could help you with that. Sometimes it takes several months for people to become truly familiar with what precedes an outbreak and what is just normal skin sensation. I’m glad you are taking Valtrex and using condoms – that’s about as much as you can do in addition to avoiding sex with outbreaks.
terri
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It’s pretty normal to feel like this, though I know it isn’t fun. I think it may be helpful to recognize that there is only so much you personally can do – do your best to recognize symptoms, take daily antiviral medicine, disclose the herpes to partners and use condoms. That’s what you can do and that’s really all you can do. This will reduce your risk of transmitting to the lowest levels possible during sex.
Terri
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Tough question. It depends upon how often you have these prodromal symptoms. Is it every day? It sounds like it is every day and if that is the case, you would be avoiding sex every day. If you are doing antiviral therapy, your partner knows about the herpes, you are encouraging the use of condoms and avoiding sex during outbreaks, that’s all you can do. Tingle or no tingle, there is no 100% perfect day to have sex and avoid transmission. Do your best, that is really all you can do. You can shed virus with no tingle at all, you know, but you need to live fully. Do what you can (see above ) and your partner needs to take the risk on from there. There is only so much you can do.
Terri
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