Constant herpes prodrome symptoms, no outbreak - herpes neuropathy?

I've had constant lower back, buttock, and leg pain the past 5 weeks. It hurts to sit and the pain gets worse by evening. Occasional my penis will feel sore and irritated. Slight redness. There is no physical outbreak. It seems the pain travels gradually. The pain began two weeks after initial encounter. It started with a pain felt inside penis.

Question - Are these possible recurrent symptoms but no outbreak? Or one long prodrome phase? What is the likelihood of onset neuropathy issues with herpes? Is there a concern regarding nerve damage? Should I continue antivirals?

Anyone else have experience with this?

Hey Gaotu! Welcome, brother!

All of that pain does sound like your nerves. A lot of people say they experience similar nerve pain as herpes prodrome symptoms. Herpes uses the nerve ganglia from the base of the spine to travel to the skin, so it sounds like it's working those nerve highways. Just trust that whatever pain you are experiencing is just your body's response to building a defense against herpes. That's why the first few months as your body is building an immune response is so important to take care of yourself and be healthy. Get enough sleep, eat right, think positively. In the future, once this immediate nerve pain dies down, then similar nerve pain could signal that a herpes outbreak is starting to surface, so you can take episodic suppressive medication to potentially sidestep full-on herpes outbreaks in the future.

As far as herpes neuropathy goes, I'm not too well-versed in that as I haven't encountered many cases of it through hosting this forum. Sorry I can't be of more help with that. Have you seen these?

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/peripheralneuropathy/detail_peripheralneuropathy.htm

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurology/Herpes-and-Peripheral-Neuropathy/show/296693

Neuropathy can settle with the shingles. I had a patient that had shingle years ago and developed neuropathy in the neck.

I treated her with ETPS acupoint stimulation, joint mobilization to the neck, and massage therapy

No known cases of HSV-2 that later leads to sacral neuropathy

Thank god!! But u can find cases that shingles can cause neuropathy. Kinda makes me glad that the form of herpes that I have won't cause that

See if u can find photos of how far and where the sacral ganglia extend esp within the detmatomes. Sometimes you will feel sharp pangs or tingles in those areas...evendown the legs.

Makes me want to pull out my Anatomy and Physiology books out along with my mukuloskeletal books to check out nerve endings

Nice, tNd! I'm glad we have such a knowledgeable community member! ;)

Thanks for your encouragement and support. Is there any hope the discomfort will subside? I've taken full prescriptions of valtrex. I've also started taking supplements and of course watch diet and rest. It's been nearly a month and a half!

Was going to post a link on here last night but my cell phone wouldnt cut and paste it. Google dermatomes of the human body and u will find that the sacral dermatome extends from the buttocks, back of the legs, ankles, and the genitals :-/

I've had this same problem and it's been making me so paranoid that I'm going to have an outbreak any day now but nothing ever pops up. It's been going on for almost 2 months now. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that's experiencing it. Any ideas on how to stop it, or does it just go away with time? It makes me really irritable when I feel like this all the time.

Hi Lucky, is this your first exposure as well? Yes, it's good to know other people are also experiencing the same situation. To be honest I'd rather have the outbreak then constant pain. I've been taking 1000mg lysine 3x daily which might offer some relief. There has been maybe 2-3 days when the pain diminishes, but then it picks right back up!

I actually am having that same pain right now. However, I've had numerous herpes outbreaks. This isn't my first at all. I've been having this pain for a week, but nothing is there. I'm starting to freak out a little bit. I have no soreness, and no itchy, tingly pain in my vaginal region. I just keep taking meds for it.

Hi Stephanie! Thanks for your feedback. I work in an office all day so it's hard not to be observant when your ass and legs ache all day. I never experienced the tingly, itch or pain either. Are you on regular dosage of suppressive antivirals? Have you found that one medication works better than others?

Hi Gaotu. I currently dont work, but I do know what you're feeling. Sometimes when I lie down at night, I can just feel my leg ache. Good thing is, its only that one leg. I did research on it yesterday, and it does say that HSV can cause neuropathy. It hasn't been studied on a great deal, but there has been studies stating that it does indeed cause pain. Whether it's prodromal or whether its neuropathy, the pain is, in fact, real.

On to the meds, I do not do suppressive therapy. I have only had 2 OB in a year. I do, however, take them periodically. Only when I have an OB or when I feel one coming on, I will start right then. I take Zovirax 800 mgs for 10 days and thats it. It works fairly great for me. I tried valtrex, but my body didn't adjust to it very well. When I do take the meds, the pain that I feel does go away. As long as I take it on schedule for those 10 days. Have you tried any acetaminophen? Usually that will help, too. At least it does for me. It calms the pain, which kinda makes me think that it isn't neuropathy, it's just the virus being activated again. I hope everything does get better and the pain for you does subside. If you need to talk, feel free to message me. :) have a great day!

Hi Gaotu and Stephanie. I've had 2 OBs that I know of since my first one in May. I've had one that I thought was one so I started the valcyclovir that day and the spot went away after about 2 days, so I don't know if that's normal for a recurrent OB or not. My first was around my butt and the second was on my thigh, so I don't know what the recurrent ones are like. I've tried taking the L lysine but it just gave me a constant headache so I had to stop taking it. I do take ibuprofen sometimes and that does help some but not for very long. Does taking the zovirax help any with the pain for either of you? I never thought to look any of this up, so thank you for all of this info so far.

Gaotu, did the pain ever go away? I am experiencing the same symptoms and it has been 4 weeks since my primary outbreak. Please let me know. Thanks!

Hi Fonda - Yes, rest assured the pain went away. However, it took about 2-3 months. Occasionally the pain will reoccur but only a 1/10th of the severity. Still no outbreak though after nearly four years. Hang in there!

Has anyone experienced burning when you work out on a treadmill. I have hsv1 vagina. I can't power walk without terrible burning pain. Help

I have the same symptoms. Four years already. Constant prodrome without much outbreaks (1-2 per year). I'm really down. Don't see any way to be cured.

This is exactly what I seem to have. I have never had an outbreak, just went to the doctor for my annual and she said I have HSV 1. I constantly have aches and pains in my lower buttocks area and tingly itching around my bottom as well. This has been happening for a year now, but still have never had an outbreak. How do I get past this stage? I am terrified to be intimate with anyone because I don't want to irritate what ever is happening. I see no end to this in the foreseeable future?

Right, if you have the pain or tingling, the virus is active and more contagious. When I had the prodrome sensation my partner also acquired HSV, appromixately a year later. This was after all the doctors telling me I'm HSV negative because no shown antibodies...smh

Gaotu, what did the pain feel like? Was it a dull ache? Throbbing? Shooting? I'm trying to understand what I'm feeling right now. My legs and hips have been hitting for about 3 weeks (particularly the right side). It feels like a dull ache that will shift to different parts of my leg. Sometimes it's the hip, then it'll move to the knee, then the thigh, occasionally the calf and/or ankle.

On 1/9/2019 at 10:57 AM, Idontlikeusernames said:

Gaotu, what did the pain feel like? Was it a dull ache? Throbbing? Shooting? I'm trying to understand what I'm feeling right now. My legs and hips have been hitting for about 3 weeks (particularly the right side). It feels like a dull ache that will shift to different parts of my leg. Sometimes it's the hip, then it'll move to the knee, then the thigh, occasionally the calf and/or ankle.

I’ve been infected for 30+ years. My prodromes almost always involved leg pain (weird neuropathic pain), but I’m having a episode now where there’s this weird dull ache, and some uncomfortable sensations and twitches. I feel really fatigued too, which is common for an ob. Not sure exactly what is going on. This is definitely a prodromal variant, however I gotta say that prodromes have varied over the years. This is the first time I’ve felt deeper muscular symptoms (it’s usually very superficial, skin-level sensations). 

I’ve been infected for 10+ years, with constant prodromal symptoms and full outbreaks every month in winter and every second months when it’s summer autumn. 
Apart of what has been mentioned above I often have a need for frequent urination (which often was quite a misleading sign, as it is more common for infections). Also sometimes I have Candida albicans, probably because herpes decreases the immunity in vagina.

i am planing to have a treatment with immunomodulators and interferons too to check whether it will help to decrease the outbreaks and prodromal time.

i bielive spine problems (sacralization of L5, scoliosis in L-S segments and etc) can be one of the reasons why people have the outbreaks more often: pressure on tissues/nerves—>local inflammation—>positive environment for constant viral replication.

NB! Came across an article which states that herpevirus never “sleeps”, it constantly replicates, but quite a small amount of visions. 
 

KR,

Sonia

@Sonia Thank you for all of this insight! The spine-related issues would make sense since genital HSV lives in the base of the spine. I am going to look into that! 

Would you mind posting the link to the article(s) where you found the information you mentioned here?

Thank you so much! 🌟

I've had hsv2 for 20 yrs or so... and yes, what you are dealing with is common...I've had all the symptoms for a couple weeks (ie no sleep, lower back pain, fatigue, sadness, anxiety,many more) and then nothing ever happens... just goes away... You'll know when it's done its traveling when you wake one morning and suddenly you are in a good mood... 

   Right now, I'm currently in the prodrome phase and about my 2nd-3rd day... I made the mistake of using the body hair trimmer and was also out in the sun quite a bit...  These are both very herp provoking...

  The good news for you...  it goes away once you're immune system takes hold...  Just be strong right now and don't take the negative thoughts too seriously.. yes, it does that too..

Gadamsgrega, do you ever break out or just get those symptoms? And when you have those symptoms you are contagious right? So should abstain from sexual activities..I’m new to herpes. So I am trying to learn everything.  Do you take an antiviral?

I've had both situations...  I'd get ALL the symptoms then an eventual outbreak  which would end things..

Or I'd get symptoms... and no outbreak which happens a little less often. 

Yea, not a good idea to be having sexy during that time when you are feeling those symptoms..  better off to be safe with it all, just wear protection...  But I will say that during these times, the sexual desire isn't really there anyways...  let it pass..