Herpes for 13 years, for some reason getting worse?

Hey there all. . . .I've had herpes now for about 13 years and it's been very manageable. it was really bad the first year or two but after that I barely ever got any outbreaks, once every couple of years maaayyybbee, anyway, about a year and a half ago I started having more outbreaks and now I'm up to 1-2 outbreaks a month. The only thing I've been doing differently is I got a new partner around the time my outbreaks got worse and we've been together ever since. He knows, and hasn't gotten it yet- but now they're happening so sporadically it's making sex stressfull. Even tonight- about an hour after sex I noticed one small sore bump that I didn't notice all day, or before sex! So now I'm worried I gave it to him and confused why after more than a decade this is getting worse :/

Hello,

I have had herpes 28 years now. I just got an out break today for the first time in at least 18 months maybe longer...ugh...

I noticed you said this started about the same time you got your current partner. This may be out there but I thought of something I saw on The Doctors, the daytime show. A woman was having vaginal rashes and the like but all the std tests were negative. It was finally figured out that she was allergic to her husbands semen. According to a doctor on the show this is somewhat common. Then again, if you all always use condoms this probably would not be likely.

Might see if your doctor can run some test and see if you may have a hormone imbalance, especially if you may be around the age menopause. I know some women in that stage of life can experience more frequent outbreaks for a time.

Hang in there, I hope things settle down for you soon.

Usually an allergy to semen, is accompanied by burning and not just a rash.

What is your age dear? You may be going through hormonal fluctuations and maybe have sex w a condom and see what happens, just to rule out it being caused by semen.

I'm currently 28- so a bit young but then again my mom went through menopause in her late 30's.Still have been having clockwork menstruation and such. I wonder if birth control might help? I haven't been on suppressive therapy at all but now I'm considering it.

Women can start perimenpauae as young as early 20s, so may bc could help. I have heard of a girl coming off bc to get pregnant and she started having obs. I think starting suppressive therapy is a good start and taking daily probiotics was a game changer for me.

You've had it for a long time. May I ask how disclosure has been for you and have you ever passed it and what type do you have?

I've never had a problem with telling partners. I came down with herpes 1 early, after my 3rd partner when I was 14/15. All of my partners have been understanding and I've told every one of them, I've had about 19 different partners since then. I've only infected one person- and that was an ex that I was with for years. And it was basically him wanting to have sex after I was symptomatic. I should have just said no, I told him what was up but he insisted. At that point I hadn't had an outbreak in 2 years. So 2 weeks later he had a very tiny outbreak and has never had one since then, that I know of. I was young and being dumb, so was he, and I think we just got too comfortable with our situation and weren't thinking. All in all in the end it didn't effect us or him too much. I'm really worried about the guy I'm with now though. He had a long term relationship with another girl that had herpes- and we've been together for 2 years and have been somewhat careful. He knows the risk- but that doesn't put my mind at ease. tonight really threw me off. I'm sincerely hope that bump showed up later, and not that I didn't notice it during sex :/

I had a friend about two weeks ago have a scare and said that 3 res dots showed up on his penis right after sex. I told him to keep it to himself, do as not to freak her out every time they have sex, because if he did give it to her, nothing she can do now in all honesty (yes, she knows he has herpes and knows the risks) and herpes can pop up super fast after sex, doesn't mean you were shedding enough virus at the time either to actually be contagious. Just try to relax for the time being. He knows his risks and is a big boy... After all, you're not the first girl he's been w that has it.

Your response was very encourgaing to hear about your experience w disclosure.

Was your ex mad at you when he got it and did he ever throw it in your face? @justagirl219

@justagirl219

I'm in the camp that would guess that you are having issues with his semen ... if the other partners didn't cause you to have OB's with sex (assuming you were not using protection) and this started when you started seeing him, it's very possible that his seminal fluids are irritating you *just* enough to cause an OB after sex (and OB's after sex are reasonably common for some).

You can certainly try going on BC (which isn't a bad idea if you don't want to have children yet) ... but you may still get OB's right before your period. What I generally do is to have anti-virals on hand and I take them as soon as I feel anything. If I was in a relationship and knew that sex caused an OB, I'd probably take one or two pills either right before or right after sex ... I've taken a precautionary dose when traveling in the past because that can set me off sometimes. So that may be a solution for you :)

Given you have HSV1, that is the more difficult one to pass genitally, so that's in your favor.

(((HUGS)))

@2legit2quit Yeah, I almost told my boyfriend about my scare tonight but realized he has work in the morning so I'll bring it up later when we don't need the sleep. . . Just so he knows to look for anything weird. I'll keep y'all updated on that.

But about my ex- no, he wasn't mad. A bit disappointed, I honestly felt worse about it than him. He assured me it wasn't my fault and he knew the risks. After a short while it was a non-issue for both of us. We had an extremely messy breakup in the end but herpes was never mentioned- it was really the last thing on our minds, especially because he never had another outbreak. Actually herpes hasn't been an issue at all for me until the autumn of 2013 when I started dating my current partner. Maybe I am sensitive to his biology. . . .

Oh, btw, i have genital hsv1 that i got from someone with oral hsv1. They thought they just had a bad zit on their lip. They didn't know they were infected.

Your story of how you got is is VERY common nowadays... 50% of all new genital H cases happen this way :(