Shedding

[littleone]

Hello,
I am female, my significant other is male. We have been dating for 4 months. We have had intercourse once. He contracted Herpes from genital rubbing (outercourse?) 12 years ago. Symptoms were blisters in his pubic area. He has been asymptomatic for 3 years. He uses acyclovir and we used a condom for intercourse. I do not have herpes. Is using a condom helpful for intercourse? I see conflicting information on this.

If the shedding is only at his out break site (pubic area) then is his penis not shedding?

If the penis does not shed does that mean a condom would not decrease the risk?

If both his penis and pubic area are shedding then does a condom help or does it not matter because I could get herpes from his pubic area touching my pubic area anyway?

We are long distance right now but when we visit each other we have sexual genital contact of some kind at least once a day.
I hope that’s clear. Thx

[Terri Warren]

Do you know if he has HSV 1 or HSV 2 genitally? Have you been tested to know what, if any herpes you have or are you just going on your history of symptoms to think you are not infected?
Using condoms for intercourse and him taking daily antiviral therapy are both great steps to reduce transmission.
He can shed from the penis, even though his outbreak was in the pubic hair, yes. His pubic hair area does not shed virus as it is too thick so he is infectious from there only if he has an outbreak there.

Please let me know what other questions you might have

Terri

[littleone]

He has HSV 2. I have never been tested but I had sex ed counseling training when I was 18 so I have been aware of risks and what symptoms look like since then. I plan to get tested eventually.
If I want to try to get pregnant with him what precautions would be overboard? Should we have unprotected intercourse to attempt pregnancy and then abstain entirely from intercourse the next 9 months? Have unprotected intercourse up until the last trimester? Have unprotected intercourse to get pregnant and then resume use of a condom immediately after pregnancy? Or go with a petri dish/turkey baster method where we don’t have unprotected intercourse at all and he ejaculates in a cup?

[Terri Warren]

If you had good sex ed counseling, then you likely know that 80% of those infected with HSV 2 deny any symptoms consistent with HSV 2 infection, so symptoms are not really the way to know if you have HSV 2 or not. If you want to get pregnant and you are very worried about getting infected, if in fact you are not already, then you could do artificial insemination but continue to have intercourse with condoms. That would be the safest way to go. If you do have unprotected intercourse, you should definitely stop that I would say about half way through the pregnancy.
The turkey baster method works very well, by the way.

Terri

[littleone]

Are there any known side effects for acyclovir?
And does the scrotum also shed?
Thanks!

[Terri Warren]

Fewer than 5% of people who take this medicine have side effects and the most common are headache and nausea and they usually resolve within a few weeks of beginning to take the medication. The scrotum is generally too thick skin to shed virus.

Terri

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