herpes on arm?

Ugh. I've had HSV-2 genital since Late July. I'm taking valacyclovir daily (500 mg) and haven't had a second outbreak since. I now have a cluster of small white blisters on my arm the size of a nickel. There was a pimple there and I was messing with it. I was wondering if it was HSV-2 and if it was possible to spread it from my genitals not during an outbreak to my arm. I get so worried that I have something else (the other big H) and am going crazy :( I did contact my doc. Oh, and I'm stressed out from work and have a cold/soar throat now :(

Hi Boba! Welcome to the forums! It's veeeeery unlikely that HSV-2 will spread to your arm unless you have a very low immune system. And even then, you'd have to rub your outbreak, then rub that into an open wound on your arm to make the transfer. But to ease your worries, have your doctor swab it and test it. That's the only way to know for sure. The paranoia that herpes tends to bring with it has us assuming we're a walking disease factory and that it spreads somewhere by us just looking there. But it's actually pretty hard to auto-inoculate. :)

Hi Adrial. Happy thanksgiving. I'm worried that I do have low immune system since my HIV test was done at the time of my HSV test, but it would be too soon to pick up HIV antibodies. I'll update after I go to the docs. My stomach feels like there is a lead ball in it. HSV, I'm handling. HIV. Whole other ballgame.

Oh jeeze Boba - ... so sorry you are dealing with this one-two punch. We will be crossing fingers for you that the HIV is negative. Do you have a reason to believe you were exposed to both?

It IS possible to get the Herpes on your arm but if you had HSV for quite some time, as Adrial said, it's less likely you would pass it to another area as your antibodies help to keep it from spreading once they have built up to a certain point.

But as Adrial said, best to have it swabbed to be sure... and hopefully put your mind to rest....

(((HUGS))))

It's possible. I mean, I got one, why not the other? So far, the rash really looks like the images of HSV on the skin. The HIV rashers look red and spread out, if that actually means anything. I've only had HSV2 for 4 months, but I understand autoinnoculation is more common during the primary outbreak.

Did your partner have HIV???? Most of us who have HSV don't have HIV - it's not a guarantee ... however, if a partner had it or you have...er... been somewhat free about who you sleep with, then perhaps your risk factor is higher.

In the grand scheme of things, if you also have it on the arm, that is still nothing in relationship to the HIV issue. AND, the one "good" thing is that if you DO have HIV and they caught it early, your survival rates are at 40+ years - and there are talks about some people being cured. It certainly isn't what it was even 5-10 years ago. :(

But I'm going to start an Intention Avalanche here - that anyone who reads this will be sending health-filled vibes your way that you are HIV free.....

I don't know your back-story but perhaps this is a wake-up call for you - whether it be in your past sexual practices, choice of partners (many of us here now realize we made a LOT of poor choices here in the past!), or maybe your personal growth is being tested. We try to see the "Positive" side of being Positive on here...... the Opportunity to learn about ourselves through it all.

Glad you found us. Keep us posted about your results ....

Hi WCSD. Thanks for reaching out and asking others send the good vibes my way. I was in a 9 year relationship and I got HSV2 from the first person I slept with after that. He had a rash on the top of his leg and it went to my nether-regions. He was tested for the full spectrum as well, but his story might not be truthful. I mean, who really knows? I haven't been with anyone since him.

I think I'm just blowing this out of proportion. It is possible that it's a secondary HSV infection like the one wrestlers get or zoster, though it's not on my ribs. I guess, get tested and see and let everyone know :)

Boba - Sounds like you have a decent hold on the reality of your situation.... and you are right to get tested for HIV - did you get tested for all the other STD's too while you were at it? Might as well... to be safe. And then you know for any future relationship ;)

I did, but the chance of HIV showing up at the time I was tested, like less than 2 weeks post- HSV exposure, is low. I was going to get re-tested in Jan or Feb. I mean, the HIV rashes are spread apart, not raised, and red. Sorry, I phenotype things a lot. I'm a scientist. But I like genotyping for confirmation. I'm not sure if the HIV test was serum genotyping or antibodies.

Which test did they do - the oral swab or blood? The Ora-quick Rapid test (that has a result in about 20 min) is the "normal" test nowadays and looks for antibodies from what I can tell. From what I can see you may want the Eilsa test or the Western Blot to give you a more accurate answer....

I'm not a scientist but I'm a Massage Therapist and I tend to research anything to do with health when a conversation comes up so I know for myself in the future... :p

Until you can get retested tho, try to relax and not over think this. From what you are saying I'd guess you have the wrestlers/zoster on your arm at the worst.... but better to be safe than sorry! (((HUGS)))

The doc took a swab from the active lesion on my genitals. Then I think they did a culture and then I'm not sure what he did with the culture I think that's how they did it. but they were testing everything they took blood is well. there wasn't any oral swabs. I'm going to see the doctor at 10:30 AM today. I guess that I have a lot to talk about with him since I haven't seen him since I got my diagnosis. I'll let everybody know once I find out thanks for your help :-)

By the way, I could probably use a massage after this ha ha

I'm sure you could. Good luck with your appointment ... I'll be crossing fingers for you :)

Doc said it looked herpatic- took a swab and increased my valacyclovir from 500mg to 1000 mg with higher dose during the outbreak. He told me not to worry too much, that it can get anywhere. But, we'll do HIV in Jan or Feb since it hasn't been 6 mo since the last one when I got my dx.

This is quite an interesting case, Boba. It is really rare for herpes to randomly spread to other parts of the body, but if your doc says it's herpetic, then it might be. I'd be interested in hearing the results of the swab of your arm so we can get even more educated ourselves on these rare cases of auto-inoculation. Thanks for sharing this with us and for keeping us up to snuff!

Yeah...but perhaps since I did have broken skin there and a tendency to, err, scratch myself down there when partially awake (I'm like a guy sometimes), maybe I moved it? I doubt it jumped nerves internally. I'll let you know when the culture comes back

Hey guys- Its been a long time and I thought I would send and update, thanks to a little email prompting from Adrial asking 'where are you?' :) Well, the results from the herpes test on the arm were inconclusive but the topical anti-viral cream helped it heal within a week and some days. I was retested for HIV this past fall (14 months post HSV2 exposure) and the HIV test was negative. Woot woot! I did have a cold for almost the entire month prior to the outbreak on my arm and I was extremely stressed with the holidays; it was Thanksgiving and the day before I realized I couldn't afford to travel home to see my family. Thus, my guess is that just over three months post H exposure, my immune system still hadn't built up enough antibodies or that my arm was also infected during the initial exposure but didn't flare up at the time- if that is possible. The funny thing is, the spot on my arm had a second outbreak this past February despite being on 1000 mg of valacyclovir a day. I thankfully haven't had a second genital outbreak. Knock. On. Wood. After reading this forum and watching the fun and educational videos on this site, I realized that the second outbreak was nothing more than a manifestation of stress, and boy was I stressed with my birthday and valentines day in the same week compounded with these firsts with my boyfriend. I don't know if he'll make it, but I know I will!

Thanks for the update!!!! The "good" thing about the spot on the arm is that you can cover it with a Bandaid to keep from giving it to anyone ... and it sounds like it may be your "barometer" that you need to look after yourself :)

(((HUGS)))