My vagina is still miserable after last herpes outbreak ...

Newly diagnosed and apparently I've had it awhile unfortunately. My most recent outbreak was the worst so far, and it started almost a month ago. Even though the papercut sores have healed awhile ago, I STILL feel itchy, burny, and irritated with the same discharge as the outbreak. I've been taking Valtrex, olive leaf extract, and a probiotic daily. Will I ever feel ok again down there? Or will I always have some kind of symptoms like these? My boyfriend has hsv2 as well, but has only had one outbreak. We have not had sex in a month due to these issues, which don't seem to be going away. I was recently tested for everything else too, and all was negative. Anyway, looking for advice, hopeful stories, etc. I just want to feel normal again at some point and try to have a normal life.

It's very normal for things to take awhile to settle down after the first OB - the skin and nerves need to heal and your body is still waging a battle to control the virus.

Try some of the things in the links below - the Epsom Salts baths, blow drier (to totally dry the area), going commando are all a great place to start... but there's lots of other things people have done that seem to help in there :)

I've had it 35 yrs and I have the occasional OB, but I know what to do to knock mine down and they are usually gone in 1-3 days now ... so just keep trying things till you find out what works best to support YOUR body :)

Treatments/medications

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/6024/dealing-with-outbreaks#latest includes links below

http://supporttruthanddialog.com/easy-simple-self-help-tips-for-relief-from-herpes-outbreaks/

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/4810/bactine-for-oral-and-even-genital-herpes

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-treatment/

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-medication/

Links to some of the items suggested in the links

http://tinyurl.com/pmosahc Link to Alum

http://tinyurl.com/Aloecream

http://tinyurl.com/bactine

http://tinyurl.com/Oragelsgldose

http://tinyurl.com/DMSO4HSV

Thanks so much! :). So are you currently taking antivirals? The valtrex was causing me backpain in my kidney area, so I've been cutting them in half. Since then, no pain but I'm hoping that's enough to keep the outbreaks at bay...

I'm not taking them for supressive because my body is doing a great job on it's own and I'm not in a relationship. I have used them as a supressive during one relationship because he had concerns about getting it ... otherwise I use them when I feel an OB coming on ... I take a double dose on the first sign then daily till I feel it drying up ... for me that's about 2-3 days.

@Sadpanda

Yes, the valtrex can cause that pain. Mine lasted for about 6 months then went away. I am on 500mg a day. After 15 yrs of no meds and regular OB's (I was one of the people who's ob's didn't subside) I decided to get on suppression to protect a new partner and man.... its been great!!! I use to get ob's every 3 months or so. Now I have had one ob in a year and a half and it went away after 2 days. ( I topped up the meds for a few days when I felt the symptoms come on)

I use acyclovir which is the older version of Valtrex and had some side discomfort. I stopped all the supplements I was taking and went to 1 a day ( rx was a misprinted 3 a day, actually 2 a day). they went away really fast. I then went to my normal rx of 2 a day and added some supplements back. I don't take lysine as it seems to me to be basically the same as antivirals. and I only take zinc here and there if I feel prodomes and only in evening after dinner because it upsets my tummy.

Thanks everyone. Maybe I will stick with the valtrex awhile longer then and see what happens.

Is it kidney pain or muscle pain? The area where I have it feels like it's in the kidneys, but my pee is fine. When I called my dr, the nurse said "valtrex doesn't cause backpain, you must've hurt your back". But I didn't, and I didn't have the pain before the valtrex, even when on acyclovir. I switched to valtrex because I was still getting ob symptoms with the ayclovir. It's crazy that my bf and I both were newly diagnosed, and I've had at least one ob a mth and he's only had one and isn't taking meds.

Ha! I love how the "experts" don't seem to know fuck all (in many cases). I have a fantastic infectious disease doc and he warned me about the back pain symptom so I knew what to expect. You didn't do anything to your back!!! Organ pain can refer in different ways, so it may feel muscular at times but it's more of an "ache". Give it some time, hopefully it subsides like mine did. Men tend to get less ob's, ours often coincide with our period :(

Thanks for the info, will do. And I think the irritation I have is from this new birth control I'm taking. I thought it might be another ob starting, but no papercuts or discharge, or flu symptoms. Buts it's making me crazy. Think I will stop it and see if that helps. Not like I can have sex anyway.

Also, I only have 3 refills for valtrex. I'm hoping they won't give me a hard time about wanting to use it longterm if I do get used to it. Are there ways around that? My bf's doc doesn't want to start him on meds unless he has frequent obs...

the fact that you both have herpes means the meds are for your ob's not to prevent transmission so they may encourage you to only use it for ob's BUT in my experience, if you get 6 or more ob's per year they are more inclined to write the Rx. I know my doc gave me all the facts, pros and cons and was happy to support which ever choice I made. Hopefully you wont have any issues with that...in your case, I would suggest taking the meds to get the ob's under control for some reprieve then wean off them when your body gets use to the virus. you may not need them forever, just for now to get you back on track. its amazing how much better we feel emotionally when our vag isn't in constant pain :)

Yes! I cannot WAIT for that day to come again! Thanks for all the advice, I'm thinking I'm one who def needs the meds for awhile. The lysine was making my kidneys hurt too so I quit that. Really curious why ayclovir didn't do that to me when it's essentially the same medicine...

*and on a side note, I am loving the crazy dreams the antivirals are giving me. I never have dreams otherwise, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

@MissingMe, I'm sorry. They are not the same thing. I was referring to acyclovir and valtrex being essentially the same medicine. However, acyclovir does not hurt my back the way valtrex and the supplement lysine do. It doesn't make sense to me since I thought valtrex and ayclovir were the same thing. I'm switching back to acyclovir today. It's not as effective as the valtrex, but I can't handle the back pain anymore. It kept me up last night.

Similar question re Valtrex - has anyone had fatigue as a side effect?

@chikitta13

Yes - fatigue is reported on here a lot ... sometimes it goes once the body adjusts to dealing with the virus AND the meds ...

@Sadpanda

Likely the reason is the delivery method - Valtrex is time released ... Acyclovir is not which is why you have to take it 2x/day ...

Never heard of issues with Lysine though ... that's a new one to me :/

I am having back pain without taking anything have tried Anti viral and Lycine? Fit girl you had the symptoms for 6months? Im like you I know I didn't hurt it anyway and that this is h related.

Thanks @WCSDancer2010. I was thinking it may be the combo. I am considering cutting my daily intake to half and seeing how I do. I'm currently at 500 mg of valcyclovir.

My back pain was from the drugs (I have had the virus for 15+ yrs) the pain started when I started valtrex (500mg/day) but after six months it went away and I have no side effects (other than the vivid dreams which are fine :)

@Getbetter111

Just because you have a symptom that *might* be related to herpes doesn't mean it is ... we already explained to you that a vast amount of back pain is related to depression/emotional upset. ( I know, I've experienced it and since I've done the personal work to let go of all my stuff, I haven't had ONE bout of back pain since) ...

Back pain *might* be from herpes ... it *might* be from the meds (you can usually figure that one out by going off of them) ... it may be from a crappy bed, shoveling snow or whatever ... but I'd say that at least half of the pain of "non-explainable origin" that comes into my office is emotionally based ....

Today I started taking acyclovir again and didn't have the back pain, but it made me feel crappy all over. Like I was coming down with something. The valtrex never did that to me, just the back pain. Not sure which one is worse. I'm tempted to see how I do without the meds. I'm scared, but tempted. I don't want to feel like crap every day, but I don't want to experience peeing with lesions again either. Does anyone know if the crappy muscle pains goes away after time with acyclovir? And how effective is episodic therapy? Do you still get lesions when you take as needed?

*also, I found out it WAS my birth control that was causing the insane burning itch from hell. I looked up the reviews last night and so many other women had the same thing. I was scared it was another ob coming on, but I have been off of it for 48 hrs now and already am improving. Stay far away from aviane, toxic stuff..

you may want to try starting with 1/4 dose or even 1/2 dose of the anti-viral - see how your body responds ... if you are only trying to reduce OB's (ie, not protecting a partner) then you only need as much anti-viral as it takes to keep the OB at bay ... if you still get OB's ... try to increase the dose SLOWLY to let your body adjust to it (like one does with anti-depressants) .... also if you then decide to go off them, wean off so your body can take over suppressing the virus :)

Thanks, I'll try that. Today and yesterday I took the usual 800 mg of acyclovir. But I honestly don't know if I'm trying to have an ob or not right now. STILL having horrible itching and burning (no lesions yet), still have body aches but today I also have tingling and numbness in my fingers and hands. What causes that? Plan on taking a salt bath after work. Someone tell me I'll feel normal again. :(.

Not sure about the hands ...I'm still trying to understand all the other weird symptoms that many people report (and figure out what is really attributable to Herpes and what is either anxiety or something else) ... it's only recently that I have heard a lot of these symptoms and I've been on forums on and off for about 10 yrs....