Questions about severe initial outbreak...

Hi everyone,

My first (and only, thus far) OB was in mid November of last year ...the most excruciating thing I've ever been through. It was, according to what i've read, pretty bad. It hit me hard with horribly painful sores that literally covered the entire vaginal area, inside and out. I photographd and documented everything....and my closest estimate count of sores was about 125. There was not one millimeter of real estate down there that was not covered in painful sores. I also had a terrible greenish discharge. It was HELL, as I'm sure you all know. It took about six weeks to completely clear up, with some residual nerve pain. I've been on acyclovir ever since (and all through) the OB...thank god, I've not had a reccurance yet.

My question is: when an initial OB is really really bad, as mine was, is it safe to assume that I did NOT have this lurking in my body for years and years...that this is the textbook initial OB that happens within a few days of exposure? I just simply cannot believe that this had been sitting in my body and just suddenly reared it's ugly head! This thing slammed me and had my body in absolute shock.

Am I correct in assuming this? What do you think?

I don't know for sure, but sounds like an initial onset. My gosh, sounds really bad. How soon after your encounter did this appear?? Typically it's within 4 to 10 days following sexual encounter, but others have gone for years without an ob and then then a stressful situation in their life brings on the ob.

I agree....thanks Katidid, for your thoughts. I'm still trying to figure out where I picked this up. Not that it matters so terribly much, but primarily so I can get this guy in to be tested. I had told everyone in the "ten day window" (and I actually took it out to all partners I'd been with in the last month)...and everyone was coming back negative. Of course, I was much-relieved, but still stewing a bit about where this came from. Then I remembered one brief encounter with my ex-parter I had actually all but forgotten. If HE comes back negative, well, I'll be completely stumped. Because this thing was SO severe...it HAD to be an initial OB in the roughly 10-day exposure window. I was not under any stress at the time; on the contrary, I was happy and content. So the whole "stress onset" just doesn't fit.

Hey, I'm actually in the same boat. I refuse to believe that this was sitting in my system and just decided to ruin my life. Like you I had a terrible initial outbreak. I've read that when you're first exposed to the virus it takes a toll on your body and that will be the worst ever. I've always had check ups and test done, even two weeks before my first outbreak. So I refuse to believe my partner didn't pass this on to me. I'm still waiting for him to go get tested but I wish you the best on pinpointing where it came from.