Type 1 genital

[Deathtoherpes]

Hi Terri,
I am a male and blood tested positive for hsv 1 and 2. My female partner is blood tested positive for just type 1 and has had cold sores on her mouth. Is it safe for us to perform oral sex on each other without risk of spreading our existing type 1 to our genitals? If there is any risk, can u please describe the severity of risk?

[Terri Warren]

Yes, you are safe in terms of HSV 1. But, if indeed, you really have HSV 2, she could acquire HSV 2 from you by giving you oral sex, though the risk is not high. Do you know what the index value was for you HSV 2 test? Sometimes, having a strong positive HSV 1 can create a false positive on the HSV 2 test. If your result is under 3.5, I would recommend confirmation to avoid the possibility of a false positive.

Terri

[Deathtoherpes]

My hsv 2 test was over 5. Can you give me an idea of how big the risk is for her to get hsv 2 from giving me oral sex? Could you gives chances with and without suppressive daily valtrex?

[Deathtoherpes]

Also, would the risk of her giving me oral be that she would get hsv 2 on her mouth? If that happened, would she then be safe from ever getting 2 on her genitals? Not that i think this is a great idea, but would exposing your mouth to 1 and 2 effectively protect u from ever getting genital herpes?

[Terri Warren]

We don’t have genital to oral transmission rates. Generally speaking valtrex reduces transmission of a just speak to another partner by about half. I think it would be reasonable to assume that some kind of reduction similar to that would be the case with gentle to oral transmission. Yes she acquired HSV 2 orally then that would basically vaccinate her against genital infection. Well not many people opt for that some do particularly women who want to have children in the future. Does she ever get cold sores on her mouth?

Terri

• This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by Terri Warren.

[Deathtoherpes]

Yes she does.

[Terri Warren]

So if she got another, she could not know for certain if that would be HSV 1 recurring or a new HSV 2 infection from you, without a swab test.

Terri

[Deathtoherpes]

This question is in regard to valtrex. There are a couple reasons why i am averse to taking it every day. First is that it is very expensive, around 80/month for me. Second is that i know my outbreaks are few and far between and extremely extremely mild.

However if taking daily suppressive treatment truly reduces risk of transmission by half, then it may be worth it.

My two questions:
1) would the medicine provide the same protection if i were to just take it on days that i have sex? Does it work somewhat like sunscreen in that taking it provides a window of protection and then wears off? Or does taking it every day provide a cumulative buildup of protections? If that is the case, how about taking it every other day plus days i have sex?

2) are u aware of any cheaper ways to aquire meds or something similar?

[Terri Warren]

I don’t recommend Valtrex – too expensive. I recommend acyclovir 400 mg twice a day with the same effectiveness when taken as directed. There needs to be five days of full dosing before it can be considered maximally effective. Taking it any other way increases the risk of transmission.

Terri

[Deathtoherpes]

Hi Terry,
To remind you of my situation, i had blood tested positive for 1 and 2 6 years ago, and only saw very mild symptoms on penis for the first time since then about 3 weeks ago. I blood tested again positive for 1 and 2 definitely. The light spots went away in about 4 days and i also started taking daily suppressive valtrex 500mg. Now today i am noticing new spots on lips and 1 on penis. All are very mild and almost unnoticeable, similar to 3 weeks ago. Does it make any sense that i would have 2 episodes within one month, while its been 6 years since the last time? Especially since i started taking medication and i had never taken it before?

[Terri Warren]

You know, that does seem unlikely. Red spots aren’t necessarily herpes. Did the red spots become raised or make a firm bump or anything besides a red spot?

Terri

[Deathtoherpes]

Very slightly raised on penis, but more so on lips and zero pain anywhere.I think im suspicious of whats on my penis because there is a tingling feeling down there (not really an itch, just a tingle), combined with whats on my lips. Honestly this is very similar to my overall experience with herpes. Very very minor and generally undiagnoseable symptoms on their own, but because my blood says i have herpes, i guess it must be herpes.

Oh some additional information as well. I had been having unprotected sex with a girl for 2 months who just got tested and was negative for type 2. I also reached out to an ex girlfriend of 8 months who also has been tested after we broke up and is all clear. We used condoms maybe at the beginning but stopped using them after a while. Until 3 weeks ago i never took meds.

Again, two definitive blood tests separated by 6 years both confirmed antibodies for 1 and 2, but aside from that what i have experienced is very different from what others describe on this website and others.

Im just confused about what this all means and in what ways should this impact my life.

[Terri Warren]

You know you have herpes – what you don’t know is whether these particular symptoms are herpes or not. I would suggest that you obtain PCR swabs to have at home so you can swab things like this to get more familiar with what symptoms IN YOU represent herpes outbreaks and which do not.

This your final post on this subscription.

Terri

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