Hi Terri,
I’m sorry for the confusion, but I got locked out of my account and wanted to follow up on my experience.
I swabbed my lesions in March and definitely had herpes.
I think I have another outbreak on my labia, but I’m still waiting to see if it has the yellow scabbing crust. It’s a lesion but it’s hard to tell until it scabs. It’s annoying because last time the skin became red and swollen, and then a blister appeared. This time it’s just a lesion with a thin white layer of healing(?) skin over it, so it didn’t follow the usual process… I think… but there’s no reason I would have a lesion for any other reason, I think!
I have a very patient partner and I am grateful for their support, as always. I am still on 1g of Valtrex every day, and I’m annoyed that I’m still having outbreaks very consistently. It feels very consistent though, that I’ve had outbreaks, most recently, as:
June
August
mid-October
late-December
March
June
This is SO FREQUENT. Are there hormone cycles that might reflect a trigger in this pattern? I menustrate, but it’s every month so that’s not it. I swabbed in March and my doctor asked me recently if I wanted to swab my lesion last week and I said no. I hate how I make progress in the healing process and then the doctors undo that by breaking open the scab (OUCH, who doesn’t hate this?).
Should I be swabbing EVERY time I get an outbreak? I feel like I’m a herpes expert now. Also, to your earlier point, what does it mean if my herpes is Valtrex resistant? My partner hasn’t shown symptoms even though we have had careful unprotected sex around my various outbreaks for the past year now.
I’m at a loss and would appreciate further guidance. I will be doing bloodwork, so if you have ideas on what I should be looking for when I review it with my doctor, most appreciated.
–flowerfultrees