Men w/ GHSV2

I am a woman. I have been living with herpes for about 8 months and it has been a rough road. There are many other women on this forum experiencing the same.

The topics/responses I have seen on this forum regarding men seem to show that women tend to have a tougher experience with this virus than men. Obviously, there are the exceptions. I know there are many women on here who are asymptomatic.

I'd like to hear from the men that have had a difficult time with this virus, physically, and their experience. This is important to me because I'd like to be able to speak intelligently and well-informed to my potential future partners. I'd like to know the risks they are putting themselves up against.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

I'm a 30 year veteran at this point. Got HSV2 at age 20. Outbreaks were fairly routine early on. Took suppressive dosage of acyclovir for a few months back in 1990 and had zero outbreaks during that time. About 5 years later I had a rather prolonged and intense outbreak. The doctor prescribed famvir but it didn't seem to help. I went back and he prescribed acyclovir and the outbreak cleared right up.

I had a rather physically stressful job for 16 years so outbreaks were fairly common, I'd say every 3 or 4 months. Most of the time they were mild and not to much of a nuisance.

Nine years ago I transferred into a job that is not stressful at all and the outbreaks have really dwindled away. It has now been just over 2 years since my last outbreak.

@ihaveittoo Thank you so much for your response! Do you mind if I ask you details about your outbreaks? What type of symptoms/discomforts do you usually experience during an outbreak? How many years did it take for your outbreaks to lessen?

I would usually get a blister or two and lots of itching. In the last 9 years is when I've noticed a considerable drop in frequency. It happens to coincide with a major reduction of stress in my life. I worked outdoors for 16 years in all weather conditions from the blistering heat of summer to the freezing cold of winter. The time I was prescribed famvir was during a particularly intense summer heat wave. I got the outbreak, then with the heat I sweat so much that at the end of the day I had to peel my clothes off. Being constantly wet for hours on end is not good for the sores. After my first outbreak that was definately the worst one I ever had.

I would say, at least in my case, reducing stress is the best thing you can do. Unfortunately most of the time that is something easier said than done.