Diagnosed 3 months ago and looking for tips to help manage HSV

Hello everyone and thanks Adrial for accepting my membership request.

Sorry in advance for the very long post and probably a few language mistakes in it (I'm french and I'm so happy to have found this amazing website, for the last months I've been researching about HSV it's the only place where I found people experiencing symptoms similar to mine)

So, I just turned 30, I'm female, and I got my first outbreak of genital herpes at the end of January 2017. Actually I didn't even notice it until the healing phase, because it felt very ticklish. I had a couple of scabs in the groin area and that's it. A couple of days later I had a pretty nasty and painful sore on my buttocks, that shit took ages to heal and I still keep a scar from it today. I think I was in some kind of denial at first, because it's only at that point that I decided to go see the doctor, who immediatly said "it's herpes", then gave me a prescription for 1000mg of valacyclovir per day during 10 days + 3 months of valacyclovir 500mg per day in case of another breakout.

Did some blood tests a couple of weeks ago, it said "HSV2 negative with IgG < 2 UR/ml and 0,2 IgM ratio" and "HSV1 positive with 103,0 UR/ml IgG and 0,3 IgM ratio". No idea what all these numbers means.

I guess I had only one another identifiable breakout a week ago, while on valacyclovir 1000mg per day. 2 small blisters appeared on my groin after a couple of bad nights, a bit of stress and eating chocolate, thinking that "suppressive" therapy would put the virus in sleeping mode like magic. And I'm quite sure that I had a bunch of aborted outbreaks before that, since I felt this weird pain and soreness in my groin and in my thighs (never really had the itching, the tingling nor the burning sensations) and boom I noticed redness, skin sensitivity and a few small bumps in that area. In such cases I usually apply essential oils (tea tree, niaouli, lemongrass, ravintsara and lavender) mixed with coconut and tamanu oils, it works quite well and most of the time everything is gone 2 days later. Though I'm not 100% sure they really were herpes blisters in the making. Like usually does it immediatly looks like a blister or is there a "the fuck is that" phase where you're hesistating between blister, pimple, tingle ?? I remember that during my second OB, it looked like a small blister since the beginning.

That said, I don't know for sure who gave me herpes, and I don't really care. I have no problem at all talking about it to my friends and to the people I used to have sex with – past tense because right now I kind of quit every single possibility of sexual encounter for a few weeks, taking the time to figure things out and get the virus under control. Plus I know I might be very contagious right now.

I started to take supplements on top of those I was already taking prior to the diagnosis (that is Vitamin C 150mg/day, alpha-lipoic acid and rhodiola rosea). I introduced L-lysine 1000mg a day, olive leaf, vitamins A and D, zinc, garlic, reishi and from time to time some essential oils that are known to boost the immune system. I've changed my diet a bit (turns out I eat much better now), cut back on caffeine and improved my sleep patterns. I already quit smoking years ago. I'm also trying to motivate myself to go running and swimming again. Stress management is the trickiest issue, but all in good time. I know I do all that just to regain control, but as my doctor told me, even with the healthiest lifestyle there is, you never know for sure how the virus is going to react, right ?

So most of the time I'm okay with living with HSV, except for one thing : nothing, and I mean nothing, depresses me like the fear of an outbreak after a party with heavy drinking, which I usually indulge myself in once a month at most. Like yesterday I had 5 or 6 pints followed by a bad night because obviously I was drunk and I also have a cold at the moment, and pardon my french but I've been checking in my pants like 30 times since this morning and couldn't help but notice small red pimples all over, almost like a rash, and felt so fucking depressed about it. Maybe it's nothing, I don't know at the moment, but it still makes me feel like I won't be able to let go anymore, that I'm always going to have to be careful not to lose control over the virus that's now in my body forever and ever till death do us part. In moments like this I can't help but feel guilty and shameful. Not to mention that I can be a bit paranoid at times, because so far I haven't been able to clearly identify any prodrome, the OB is already there since a day or two when I finally notice it. I think I can feel a weird tingle in the pubic area a least twice a day every 2 days, but that's it, and it hasn't been outbreak-related so far. So I'm always stressing myself out and checking if there's something suscpicious down there, it's kind of boring.

Anyway ! I'll continue with a few questions I've been having, this is already taking too long :D

1/ Since almost 2 months I've had this weird soreness and myalgia on my groin and thighs. It wasn't there at all during my very first OB. It started in february during my period, I was off the medication but I managed to control the supposedly incoming outbreak using natural stuff. However this weird feeling didn't go away, it's pretty much always there since then. At first my groin hurt, then it moved down to the thighs. Some other times like this morning it's in the buttocks. Then the groin. Then the pubic area. Then the front and inner sides of the thighs. it's not a precise spot, it really "wanders" around. No skin sensitivity at all. It's not that painful, it's just soreness like I've been running the whole day or something. Please does this thing ever goes away ? Does this means I'm contagious when I feel like this ? Is there a medication I can take to ease the symptoms ? I'm so tired of having sore legs all the time. Of course my gynecologist had never heard of such a thing, I've seen 3 doctors about this and well tbh I can safely say they didn't know a thing about HSV. Thank god websites like this one exist, so we can still educate ourselves.

2/ Is my body still learning how to fight the virus even though I'm on suppressive therapy ? Won't it come back "good as new" as soon as I stop the meds ? A friend of mine had a very severe case of HSV2 with an outbreak every two weeks, then she started to take valacyclovir daily (1000mg a day for a few months then 500mg a day), and she only had 2 outbreaks in 8 years, with 0 side effect. This feels like a dream. However as soon as she stops the treatment, the outbreaks come back almost immediatly.

3/ I have been wondering if 1000mg might not be a bit too much in the long term ? My plan is to keep that dosage for 2 or 3 months, then switch to 500mg a day, and then maybe consider going off the suppressive therapy after 6 months or so.

And to end up with stupid questions :

4 / I've had chronic UTI for at least 2 months now. Very mild symptoms but still, it's quite unusual for me. Could this be a side effect of valacyclovir ? Or do I have to blame HSV ?

5/ Can sunshine be a trigger for genital herpes ? I don't like the beach and stuff so I'm very rarely in a bathing suit or exposing my private parts in the sunlight. I've never had oral outbreaks so far. So can I assume I don't have to worry about that kind of thing ?

6/ Can masturbation be a trigger ? Considering the blood rush, the friction and all ? Like I know that frictions due to rough sex can be a trigger for genital herpes. I'm very much afraid there might be a connection with fapping as well. No sex for a few months is alright but masturbating while fearing another outbreak, might as well go on antidepressants right now.

A thousand thanks to those who had the endurance to read everything, and to those who might have some answers for me.

Cheers !