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Herpes and yeast infection?


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About 3 weeks ago I had my first herpes outbreak and tested positive for hsv 2. I just had another test result come back which was also a swab, for a yeast infection. Two tests...two diagnosis. Anyone else have yeast infections? Could herpes cause a yeast infection? My herpes symptoms have since cleared up but the past couple days I'm feeling itchy and a little swollen.

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@yamahjam I contracted herpes 8 months ago. I had a really tough initial outbreak and ever since, I have an outbreak and yeast infection monthly or ever other month. This usually occurs a few days after my ovulation cycle, when my progesterone levels ramp up before my period. I've had my gynecologist provide me with a year long prescription of valacyclovir and difflucan. This way I have control and can minimize my discomfort as quickly as possible.

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@yamahjam and @WideAwake17....I am glad you asked these questions because I am wondering the same thing also. I was diagnosed 5 months ago with genital HSV1. I know exactly who gave it to me an to spare everyone the details, he scrammed at the first questions I started to ask him when I found out. Here's where I am totally confused. I have friends who contracted the HSV 2 many years ago so I thought I learned from their experience but apparently not. I really thought herpes would hurt and be so painful that you can't walk and will need to be admitted to a hospital just to pee because its so bad. Since I found out (through a pap smear on my cervix), I have experienced what I guess are the "signs of a possible outbreak". My doctor started me on Valtrex the day I was told about the test. So I have never experienced any blisters/sores or pain in the capacity I am reading about. I also understand genital HSV1 has less outbreaks that HSV2. But I thought the symptoms would come and go like a little itch here and then sometimes a burning sensation inside my vagina. Again I am on the daily suppressive meds so I don't get why this is constantly coming up. The most I have gone is a week without symptoms but my question I really want to know is what does genital HSV 1 feel like? Am I not letting my body have a full blown outbreak and it just keeps lingering hoping it can pop up and start the blisters? Don't get me wrong I have read these forums and HSV2 sounds so painful and my heart goes out to people that have it as my partner had 1 & 2 and I somehow I only caught HSV1 from oral sex. Sorry to sound so "uneducated" but my doctors downplay this, telling me no need to disclose because it can't be spread. I just want to say for the record, it will get disclosed if and when I decide to ever have sex again. They just give me meds and I have had two blood tests both showing HSV1 positive using IGG, and negative for HSV2. The last being a week ago so that was right at 18 weeks so I feel that I may be ok for not having HSV2. I just don't understand they symptoms. My close friend told me this is a yeast infection, not herpes. I tried two yeast treatments, itching still comes back. Burning returns. I have discovered tea tree oil and as soon as I put that on my hoo haa, all is well. Since the smell is overwhelming, I only use it at home. At work I use the Walmart brand Vagicaine and it numbs it. However I am constantly battling this with meds, creams, money, depression, anxiety, doctor bills, etc. I guess I don't know what genital HSV1 should feel like and everyone is different. I keep hearing the first year is the worst. So is this itching/burning going to finally taper off in 6 months or so? And would you even call those "outbreaks". Since mine is on my cervix, I am assuming the outbreak is happening on the inside and in turn produces itching/burning? Didn't mean to write a book but this website has been a lifesaver. Just wondering if anyone else feels what I am going through. Any advice is welcome.

 

Thanks for listening-

New2this2017

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@New2this2017 when you were diagnosed did you have any other std tests done? If you never had a blister you could have hsv 1 without symptoms and you might have a different std. a lot of people have the virus in their blood without having symptoms. The pain is normally associated with the blisters but I've heard people also have flu like symptoms but since I had hsv 1 all my life, when I had an hsv 2 outbreak it wasn't all that painful, it was small and went away quickly.

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@tooyoungtocrumble I was tested on a yearly basis for all STD's and always came back clean at least in the last ten years I started testing. I actually was tested on 2-3-17 and got the all clear. However I hadn't met my awesome giver at this point and he fessed up that he had 1 & 2 and basically I just needed to get over it (of course after I showed him my blood results) WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD TO KNOW THIS INFO BEFORE HAVING SEX WITH THIS IDIOT. I have had cultures done, one came back with zero yeast but a bacterial infection. I was on ampicillin at 500 four times a day for ten days. I was prescribed diflucan three times and the itch always returns. I think this is HSV 1 being newly acquired and it's my body's way of fighting it......but I won't let it get me. I am 46 and have a whole life to live so this is pretty petty and I want everybody to know on here that we are not alone. This effects millions of people and it really is just a skin condition. A very annoying one in a bad place but just a skin condition. If I hear one more person say how awful people are that have it I am going to scream. So judgmental and ignorant at the same time. Also my index value for the HSV 1 came back most recently at 1.68. My doctor said "basically you really don't have anything". WHAAAAAA? Doctors as so uneducated. Sad that in this day and age there is no cure for this. I hope in my lifetime I can see that happen.

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@New2this2017 I'm so sorry! I swore to myself since my diagnosis (less than a week ago) that I will never ever engage in anything intimate with any guy without them knowing I have something transmittable! I faced my first rejection yesterday. It's an annoying skin problem, you've got that right!! But managing it the right way can really improve the episodes! Also I've read other posts with index values, I don't know what they mean and I don't know my own but I heard something about if it's under a certain number there's a chance for false positive or something OR it means the antibody isn't strong enough in your blood yet. I've read both but don't quote me on that, I'm not educated enough on it! Haha I haven't started the antivirals yet, but I feel as good as I can for a 23 year that just recently had to reevaluate life! I figure I'll start then when I get my next outbreak or when I find someone worth taking a pill for everyday for the rest of my life. Until then I guess I'll just be celibate. I figure the easiest solution is to fall in love with someone else that has it. Try to stay positive :)

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Hi, @yamahjam. I've had more than my fair share of yeast infections over the years! Since I acquired HSV decades before being diagnosed with it, I can see now that I attributed my mild symptoms of a herpes outbreak to a a yeast infection. I'm convinced, that for me, the monthly hormonal changes related to my cycle can be triggers for both yeast infections and herpes outbreaks. When I switched from Valtrex to acyclovir earlier this year (not because my outbreaks really even needed meds, but because I wanted to find an antiviral I tolerated well for when I start dating again), I was shocked to realize how much of the itching and other symptoms I attributed to yeast infections went away. If I do get a mild yeast infection, I've found boric acid to be a godsend and a little bit of coconut oil for the itching helps a ton.

 

@newtothis2017, from what I've read of other posters experiences, it's common for a new infection with noticeable symptoms to come and go frequently for the first few months. Hang in there! Symptoms for anyone with HSV1 or HSV2 can really be all over the map. I went 20+ years with no clue whatsoever that I had it. I had some itching pretty regularly, and every few years I'd feel a bit of tenderness or stinging if water hit certain parts in the shower, but I never saw a bump until last fall. My outbreaks aren't severe enough to swab, so I don't know for sure where I have HSV1 and where I have HSV2, but statistically speaking, it's most likely that I have oral HSV1 with no symptoms and genital HSV2 with mild symptoms.

 

When it comes to the index values on IgG tests, <.0.9 is negative, 0.9 to 1.1 is equivocal (unclear/gray area--recommend retesting) and >1.1 is positive. However, there is a fairly good chance of false positives for index values between 1.1 and 3.5. (My index value for HSV2 was only 3.27 and I later tested positive with a western blot.) Since the IgG test is measuring antibodies (not the virus itself), a low index value may also mean that someone has a brand new infection and their body is still building antibodies.

 

Once you're definitively positive, there is no special meaning to your index value. Since I acquired HSV2 18-25 years before ever being diagnosed with it (which I know because my ex husband tested negative, as did a guy I was seeing at the time I got my diagnosis), I'm a good example of how having a higher index value doesn't necessarily equate with having had the virus a long time. Did you ever test positive with a swab test?

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@new2this2017

Hi, I'm sorry we're in the same boat having genital HSV-1! I was diagnosed this week during initial outbreak. I'm wondering where you got info about HSV-1 causing less genital outbreaks than HSV-2. Also, I hope you're right!

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