- This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 3 days ago by .
-
Posts
-
-
Backstory: (I am 44, married almost 1 year. He has OHSV1) I was diagnosed with GHVS1 in Sept 2021. I began having symptoms of burning/itching a couple days after exposure, both genitally and on my lip. Exposure was to both places on the same night. A cold sore developed & more vaginal burning. a friend gave me a couple valacyclovir pills she had for cold sores. I think that helped the sore but the vaginal issues continued. Doctor saw 1 lesion & gave me STI testing. It came back pos for HSV1. Swab was neg. GP put me on several courses of valacyclovir 2gm a day for months trying to relieve the vaginal symptoms. I also discontinued Humira for arthritis & began seeing a naturalpath to manage arthritis with diet. that’s working great. No arthritis problems as long as I maintain low inflammation diet. The vaginal burning/discomfort lasted from Sept until Jan, slowly lessening as the months went by. MY GP & ObGYN could not determine the cause of my vaginal issues. I looked red and irritated, but no sores. I did a course of steroid cream. Not a big help. Then tried estrogen cream & it seemed to help some. I have stayed on 500mg valacyclovir daily. Since Jan 2022 I have not had much trouble until very end of Jan this year. I was sore after sex & when I looked things were wrong. My GP and I both thought it looked like genital warts. She put me on 2gm valacyclovir, swabbed a little lesion, & had me make apt with ObGYN for three days later. By the time the ObGYN saw me whatever the GP & I had seen was gone. Warts don’t do that. But still red & irritated. Lesion was neg. ObGYN gave steroid cream again to try calm down the irritation. Since then, Feb 1, I have had the burning sensation. It comes and goes now, but I’m still very sensitive & at times look red & irritated down there. Still taking 1.5 gm valacyclovir daily. I don’t see the ObGYN again until beginning of March. My questions: is this normal? Do you think arthritis or Humira has cause an atypical reaction to HSV?
-
Wow. Exactly what test was positive for HSV 1 – Igg, IgM, and at what index value?
Had you ever had a cold sore prior to that one that you described? and how long was that taken after the cold sore appeared?
The fact that the vaginal swab was negative AND that valtrex 2 grams per day for months (not what probably should have happened) didn’t make an impact suggests to me that what you are experiencing genitally is not HSV 1. HSV 1 genitally is normally quiet but may recur more in the first year in some people. But not constant. But putting steroids on herpes can keep it going for a while. Still, no positive swab test genitally.Terri
-
-
-
The index value has nothing to do with whether you have a lesion when the blood is drawn. The index value tells you that this is certainly not a new infection; it is a long-standing infection, whether you recall symptoms of a cold sore in the past or not. This represents a history of cold sores, in your case. I don’t think for a moment that your genital symptoms are related to HSV 1.
First, once you have an oral infection, it is highly unlikely that you would subsequently acquire it in a new location. Second, HSV 1 would definitely not cause symptoms for so long. It is normally a quiet infection with short infrequent recurrences. So, I don’t know what is going on here.
Terri
-
-
In your opinion, judging from the bloodwork and timeline, you would say the Hsv1 infection predated the assumed 08.28 exposure date? Did my taking some valacyclovir prior to the blood tests muddy the results?
Without question you had this prior to 8-28. The valacyclovir did NOT muddy the results -they were strongly positiveI have so many questions. If this isn’t Hsv what was the burning/discomfort for 5 months? And what were the wart like bumps my doctor saw most recently that disappeared in 3 days? Do you have any experience with vestibular papillomatosis? I believe I have those and will confirm with my ObGyn in a couple weeks. But everything I’ve read says they’re harmless & painless.
They are harmless and painless and part of normal female anatomy. Have you had bacterial and fungal cultures done of the are that is burning?I know you are not able to give me the answers to all these questions. It’s just very confusing. Thank you so much for your time!
You are most welcome. WishTerri
-
You must register to ask your own question or be logged in to reply to this question.