[whatislikelytohappen]

Could you help me understand what you mean by new skin?

When my boyfriend gets cold sores above his lip, the skin can remain pinkish red for several weeks after the blister is gone. I’m not sure if the reddened area of the skin would be considered new skin or not.

I understand that there is never a time to be completely sure that no virus is present, but I’ve read that viral shedding is much more likely in the week before and the week after the outbreak, so I just wasn’t sure how to conceptualize that time frame. I’ve heard it described as seven days after the scab falls off naturally, but there was no scab this time.

I did not realize that the virus isn’t typically present in saliva.

[whatislikelytohappen]

I really appreciate your answers to my questions, they have been really helpful.

Just to clarify your answer to my last question, you mean that the Valtrex will indeed still have the same effectiveness if I need to take it in the future?

I decided to stop the Valtrex after taking it for a week since I am not completely certain whether or not I was infected.

It is important for me to know my status. The last time I took an IGG test was in July of 2014. I plan to take an IGG again in a couple months to see if it comes up postive.

However, I did not realize that IGG tests have such a high rate of false negatives for HSV1.

If this next test is negative, how long would I need to wait (from the date of exposure) to take the Western Blot and how would I start the process of ordering it?

Thank you again, this forum has been a very valuable resource.

[whatislikelytohappen]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think I may have worded some of my questions in a confusing way. I am wondering if discontinuing the valcyclovir now after taking it for a week would put me at a greater risk of severe symptoms than if I had never stated it.

If I was infected orally, what I am most concerned about is accidentally infecting other parts of my body. Since I am not producing as many antibiotics due to the daily medicine, do you think I would be at a higher risk for this for a longer period of time?

Since I have only taken 7 days of valcyclovir, would stopping it now allow me to return to the typical time period for hsv testing?

If I were to stop taking the medicine now, would I likely return to the same odds of having an outbreak as I would have had if I had never started it?

If I stopped taking it now and waited to see if I start to get a primary outbreak, and if so, got back on the medicine, do you think it would it still have the same effectiveness at potentially preventing future outbreaks or making them less severe, or would stopping it and then restarting it put me at a disadvantage?

Thanks so much again.

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