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Question on shedding

› Forums › Herpes Questions › Question on shedding

  • This topic has 5 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 3 months ago by Terri Warren.
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    • October 23, 2015 at 6:56 pm #10249
      As89
      Participant

      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!

    • October 25, 2015 at 10:44 am #10269
      Terri Warren
      Keymaster

      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

    • October 25, 2015 at 10:51 am #10272
      As89
      Participant

      My doctor said don’t talk yourself into symptoms :/ maybe that’s what I’m doing here. Should I avoid having sex when I feel these little tingles? I’m so overly obsessing over this and it’s driving me crazy! My outbreak and prodrome I had when I had an outbreak was very tender skin on the inside of the things shooting pains in my left left and a lot of itchiness down there.. I’m
      Hoping that it will continue to be the same so I can more or less tell when I should avoid having sex and double up on meds. Thanks for the info 🙂

    • October 25, 2015 at 11:27 am #10284
      Terri Warren
      Keymaster

      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

    • October 25, 2015 at 11:52 am #10287
      As89
      Participant

      How long should I wait after having prodrome to have sex? Should I avoid sex during the time I have those tingles?

    • October 26, 2015 at 8:06 pm #10305
      Terri Warren
      Keymaster

      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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